Redwood Credit Union Redwood Credit Union (RCU) has been providing banking and financial services to the North Bay since 1950. As a not-for-profit financial cooperative, RCU’s focus is on serving the best interests of its members and community, and helping people succeed.
More than 70 years ago, the Credit Union was created by seven employees of the County of Sonoma who came together to pool their funds and provide bridge loans to each other to help make ends meet between paychecks. As word spread of the credit union’s affordable banking services, more people wanted to join and benefit, and in 1982, it was renamed Redwood Credit Union to reflect the growing demand for the credit union’s services throughout the Redwood Empire.
Since then, Redwood Credit Union has continued to grow, adding locations throughout the North Bay and San Francisco and providing a complete array of personal and business banking services—including checking and savings accounts, auto and home loans, credit cards, mobile wallets, commercial and SBA lending, investments and financial planning, and more. Additionally, RCU offers competitive insurance coverage through RCU Insurance Services, and new and used auto sales through RCU Auto Services.
RCU has a long history of supporting its communities through challenging times, including the 2017 North Bay Fires. RCU’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit arm—the Redwood Credit Union Community Fund (RCUCF)—collected and distributed more than $32 million dollars to assist fire survivors. Since then, the RCUCF has continued to provide support during fire season to community members and students who have lost homes, and to local nonprofits providing fire relief services.
During the pandemic, RCU stepped up to help local businesses. RCU Business Services (usually a team of 20) trained an additional 40 team members from other departments to help people navigate the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) process. The credit union also hosted free webinars and provided helpful video guides. Overall RCU funded 3,882 PPP loans and distributed over $201 million in funds to help local businesses through the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, saving an estimated 17,000 jobs. As a result, RCU was ranked by S&P Global Markets as the top PPP lender among all California credit unions.
Now, with over $7 billion in assets, RCU serves more than 385,000 Members with branch locations throughout the North Bay and San Francisco, plus convenient fee-free ATM access nationwide, and free online and mobile banking. Forbes magazine has named RCU a California Best-in-State credit union for the past two consecutive years.
For more information, call 1 (800) 479-7928 or visit www.redwoodcu.org. 
