About PSFCU
The Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union was established in 1976 by the founders of the Polish & Slavic Center led by Rev. Longin Tolczyk. The founders wanted to help immigrants who, upon arrival in New York City, wanted to buy houses in Greenpoint but were turned down by the banks. Banks were unwilling to extend credit for purchases or renovations of real estate properties to people who did not yet have an established credit history, especially since these properties were located in an area that was run-down at the time.
On December 27, 1976 federal authorities of the National Credit Union Administration registered the “Industrial and Commercial Federal Credit Union”. The Credit Union charter was signed by Rev. Emil Altmajer, Marek Luniewski, Jan Raczkowski, Rev. Longin Tolczyk, Jozef Waltos, Jerzy Wolinski and Halina Zolnierowicz.
Two and a half years later, the name of the Credit Union was changed to “Polish & Slavic Federal Credit Union”. The first PSFCU office was located at 940 Manhattan Avenue, adjacent to the canteen of the Polish & Slavic Center. In 1981, PSFCU purchased a building at 140 Greenpoint Avenue, which served as its headquarters.
In 1987, our Credit Union opened a second branch located in Union, NJ, offering its services to the vast community of Polish immigrants residing in that part of the state. Subsequent years witnessed a quick growth of the PSFCU, with new branches being opened on Kent Street, Brooklyn, NY (1992), in Boro Park, Brooklyn, NY (1996), Clifton, NJ (1996), Ridgewood, Queens, NY (2001), Linden, NJ (2003), Copiague, NY (2004), McGuinness Blvd., Brooklyn, NY (2005), Maspeth, Queens, NY (2008), Staten Island, NY (2012). On February 25, 2007, PSFCU expanded into Pennsylvania, where it deployed an ATM for Polish pilgrims at American Czestochowa in Doylestown, and a branch was opened in Stroudsburg, PA in 2019. In 2010, PSFCU started its expansion into Illinois into the areas surrounding Chicago, with branches in Norridge and Mr. Prospect, and soon after added another branches in Bridgeview (2011) and in Schaumburg (2015), Glendale Heights, IL (2018), Orland Park, IL (2019), and Algonquin (2023). In 2022, a new branch was opened in our Operations Center in Fairfield, NJ.
In addition to our branches, our Credit Union also has a modern Operations Center located in Fairfield, NJ, allowing us to serve over 108 thousand members. With over 2,5 billion dollars in assets, PSFCU is currently the largest ethnic credit union in the United States.
View PSFCU organizational documents:
A credit union is owned by all its members. Credit union members, all of whom have equal voting rights, elect the Board of Directors which oversees its daily operations and sets its strategic goals for the future. A bank, on the other hand, is owned by its shareholders.
A credit union is an integral part of the community it serves; profits earned by a credit union serve all its members and the local community they represent, including various community organizations (schools, churches, scouting and student organizations, etc.)
By contrast, a bank is seldom interested in the prosperity of its local community since it is geared towards earning the highest possible profit for its shareholders who rarely reside in, or are in touch with, the immediate neighborhood of a local bank branch.
In order to become a member of our Credit Union, or any other credit union, one must meet certain specific conditions. In the case of PSFCU, prospective member must be a member of one of the eleven sponsoring organizations: the Polish & Slavic Center (Brooklyn, NY), Polish Cultural Foundation (Clark, NJ), Polonia of Long Island, Inc. (Copiague, NY), the Polish Supplementary School Council of America (Brooklyn, NY), the General Pulaski Memorial Parade Committee (Brooklyn, NY), Alliance of Polish Clubs in the United States (Chicago, IL) or the Polish Highlanders Alliance of North America (Chicago, IL), Kosciuszko Foundation (New York, NY), The Copernicus Foundation (Chicago, IL), The Polish Army Veterans Association of America (New York, NY), and the Polish Museum of America (Chicago, IL).
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