History
First Tech began its life as Tektronix Federal Credit Union, formed by seven Tektronix employees on January 14, 1952. In 1961, the name was changed to Tektronix Employees Federal Credit Union to reflect the credit union's membership. From very early on, technical innovation was used and resulted in First Tech's motto of "Think Forward". As early as 1976, the credit union began using computers for online data processing. By 1979, Tektronix Employees Federal Credit Union had begun the use of ATMs. In 1985, the credit union unveiled Call 24 which allowed members to check balances and transfer funds by phone.
In 1986, the name changed to First Technology Credit Union and the membership opened to include employees in the technology industry of the Pacific Northwest. In 1989, First Technology Credit Union developed and implemented the first online banking. This helped lead to the 1992 addition of Microsoft to the First Technology membership. The 1995 launch of the company's website paved the way for the credit union to become the second financial institution in the world to perform secure internet transactions. Two years later, a decision was made to shorten the name to First Tech Credit Union. First Tech has remained an early adopter of new technology in the twenty first century, offering mobile banking in 2000, account aggregation in 2001, and biometric two-factor authentication in 2007. With over 156,000 members, and over 1.8 billion dollars in assets (2007), First Tech was one of the largest state chartered credit unions in the Pacific Northwest.
In March 2010, the company announced it would merge with California-based Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union, which served the employees of Hewlett Packard Company, Agilent Technologies, CH2M Hill, and many other technology based companies, pending government and member approval. The deal was approved by the government and credit union members, and became effective on January 1, 2011, with the new entity named First Tech Federal Credit Union.
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