Truliant Federal Credit Union was chartered in 1952 to serve the employees of Western Electric and was known as Radio Shops Credit Union. It began serving about 2,000 members and offered credit union services in Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Burlington. In 1962, the name was changed to North Carolina Works Credit Union. Membership growth continued and increased to about 14,000 members by the end of the decade. In 1983, the name was changed again, to AT&T Family Federal Credit Union, accompanied by growth in services, with more mortgage loan services, credit cards, and checking accounts offered. By 1988 the credit union had 46,000 members. New branches were added in Virginia and North Carolina and the credit union began growing its presence in Charlotte. In the early 1990s, new branches were added to accompany membership growth. The credit union launched its first website, and began to offer debit cards and online banking services. By 2000, with membership at about 163,000, Truliant began opening branches in areas of South Carolina and Virginia. In 2004, the credit union expanded to North Carolina, and Victory Masonic Credit Union, the oldest historically-black credit union in North Carolina, merged with Truliant. In 2007, Truliant's Victory branch opened in a developing area of downtown Winston-Salem, N.C. In 2005, it passed $1 billion in assets and opened its Truliant Way headquarters, where its administrative offices are located today. In 2008, it opened a second location in Greensboro, North Carolina. More recently, the credit union began an intensive expansion of credit union services, adding a second branch in Burlington and a sixth branch Forsyth County in 2014. The credit union surpassed 200,000 members and $2 billion in assets in 2016. On June 17, 2019, Truliant Federal Credit Union filed suit against SunTrust and BB&T claiming trademark infringement over the proposed new name of the merged entity, Truist Financial Corporation. Truliant is concerned about confusion between the similar names, including Truliant products with "Tru" in their names.
AT&T Family Federal played a key role in a court case that ultimately resulted in the 1998 signing into law of the Credit Union Membership Access Act, which expanded credit union membership nationally. H.R. 1151 enabled credit unions to expand their charters to include additional occupational groups and community groups, people who lived, worked, worshiped or attended school in the community, to have access to credit union membership and benefits. AT&T Family Federal Credit Union then changed its name in 1999 to Truliant Federal Credit Union to reflect this change.
Growth Plans In Charlotte
In 2014, the credit union began adding the first of ten new locations in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region of North Carolina. The build was complete in Spring 2017, giving Truliant 33 Member Financial Centers. Truliant has opened new branches in Mint Hill, Harrisburg, Cornelius, South Boulevard, Waverly, Steele Creek, Ballantyne, Huntersville, Mallard Creek, and Park Road sections of Charlotte. Truliant is insured by the National Credit Union Administration and is an equal housing lender.
