By Amy Tennery

On Friday, Sept. 14, Cambridge Portuguese Credit Union (CPCU) CEO Rui F. Domingos and CFO James Roy came to The Somerville News editorial office to discuss significant changes to the nearly 80-year-old CPCU. Originally founded to assist the Portuguese immigrant population, CPCU now affords membership to non-Portuguese residents.

While some may be concerned that such a change could cost the CPCU its identity, Domingos said the CPCU remains vested in the needs of the Cambridge and Somerville community. 
“We’re able to make change a lot faster than other [larger banks]. We’re a lot more reactive to the people’s needs,” said Domingos.

Unlike traditional banks, credit unions are cooperative financial organizations in which the members control every decision made within the institution. Credit unions are non-profit and other banks cannot buy them out — a credit union can only merge with another credit union if the members vote to do so. Additionally, a member-elected Board of Directors set credit union policies regarding interest rates and any profits made are given back to members in the form of interest on deposits.

This community-based financial institution has been popular within the immigrant community since CPCU‚Äôs founding in 1928, Domingos said.  According to Domingos, the large Brazilian immigrant population in Cambridge and Somerville was instrumental in CPCU‚Äôs popularity.  According to the most recent Somerville Census, nearly one third of Somerville residents are foreign born and 35 percent speak a language other than English at home.

But today, as the Haitian immigrant community expands in the greater Boston area, the Portuguese are no longer the dominant immigrant group. Domingos associates this change with the foundation of the European Union, after which Portuguese citizens found it easier to immigrate to countries within the European continent.

Despite their change in policy, the CPCU still plans to make significant efforts to work closely with the immigrant community and the Somerville community at large.  Many of CPCU‚Äôs tellers are multilingual and the group offers particularly competitive home equity products to help first-time buyers, he said. Additionally, said Domingos, CPCU is focusing its efforts on forming alliances with community groups, such as The Portuguese School, ‚Äúfor a more local feel.‚Äù 

Adding to this ‚Äúlocal feel‚Äù will be CPCU‚Äôs ‚ÄúMembership Month‚Äù this October, featuring various workshops focusing on the theme of financial independence. Topics will include understanding how credit works, home buying, understanding mortgages and how to get out of ‚Äúrenter‚Äôs trap.‚Äù  These seminars will be conducted in English, Portuguese and Spanish, with particular attention paid to achieving home ownership and to immigrant-specific issues.

Domingos said someone‚Äôs goals and personal history are an important factor in deciding whether or not to offer someone a loan.  ‚ÄúYou are going to come in,‚Äù said Domingos, ‚Äúyou are going to meet with someone and [if your credit score isn‚Äôt ideal] you are not necessarily going to be denied.‚Äù

In the near future Domingos hopes to enhance CPCU‚Äôs modern advances.  With the addition of an online banking branch, CPCU is getting closer to that goal. ‚ÄúOur goal is to continue to deliver a high level of personalized member service and to continuously respond to the needs of our members. [The CPCU] website is simply an extension of the quality of our services to those members who prefer the convenience of online banking,‚Äù said Domingos in an open letter to the credit union members.