BANKING / FINANCE : Teachers Federal Credit Union Seeks Senior Citizens With Silver Plus Club

In its first effort to enlist the general public, the Orange County Teachers Federal Credit Union has formed the Silver Plus Club as a way to reach more than 500,000 county residents over the age of 50.

The club is open only to older residents who receive some form of retirement benefit, such as Social Security, a military pension or annuity payments. As club members, the residents are eligible to join the Santa Ana-based teachers credit union, the largest in the county and third-largest in the state.

Until now, only educators have been eligible to join the teachers credit union, said Lilly McBee, director of marketing. The credit union had to get regulatory approval to form the Silver Plus Club as a vehicle to add non-educators to its membership.

“We believe there is a need in the fixed-income market for financial services that are free,” McBee said. The credit union offers free-interest checking with minimum deposits of $50, Visa charge cards with no annual fees and free use of automated teller machines.