Credit union opens in Bailey’s Crossroads

Apple Federal Credit Union opened a new branch in Bailey’s Crossroads with a ribbon-cutting on Aug. 16. The new branch is located at 5701-D Columbia Pike.

The public is invited to drop by this week to enter a raffle for a chance to win one of these prizes: a 50-inch Toshiba TV, Xbox Series 5 and headset bundle, HP laptop, Nespresso coffee bundle, and Ninja Foodie Smart XL. The drawing will be held Aug. 21.

It’s the 21st Apple Federal Credit Union branch and the first one in Mason District. All the branches are in Northern Virginia except for one in Winchester.

Apple offers the same services as a regular bank, such as checking and savings accounts, mortgage loans, home equity loans, commercial loans, CDs, money markets, and auto loans.

Unlike banks, however, credit unions are owned by the members, not stockholders, and that allows them to offer better interest rates, says CEO Andy Grimm. Apple Federal Credit Union has 241,000 members.

Despite the rise in online banking, local branches won’t go away, Grimm says. “We believe in good old-fashioned face-to-face communications.”

The precursor of the Apple Federal Credit Union was started in 1956 by a group of teachers who wanted to raise money so a colleague could get a loan for car tires, says. The credit union was formerly limited to educators, first responders, and medical professionals, but is now open to everyone.

The new branch is in a storefront formerly occupied by a phone store and is next door to a future Shah’s Halal Food restaurant. 

For decades that area was taken up by the sprawling Alward’s Garage, “which was the closest thing we had to a superfund cleanup site,” says Mason Supervisor Penny Gross. Soon after she was elected, in 1996, it was replaced with a small retail center.