Safe 1 Credit Union

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
951812302
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Bakersfield, CA, US
Phone
(877) 723-3128
Rating
44
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Credit Unions

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$58,951,487
Expenses
$45,235,986
Assets
$1,001,281,015
Liabilities
$849,673,057

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • David King (CEO/President)

Highest reported compensation

  • David King (CEO/President): $649,537 total reported compensation
  • Cindy Wonderly (CFO/EVP-Finance): $314,823 total reported compensation
  • Lorraine Townsend (EVP-Operations): $276,098 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Provided deposit and loan accounts to 81,521 members. Provided low cost source of credit and low cost financial services to our members. Provided source for member savings and checking account needs.

Safe 1 Credit Union is a member-owned financial cooperative serving communities in California, with branches including Granite Falls. It offers a full range of products: savings and checking accounts, certificates, money market savings, club accounts, IRAs, auto loans, credit cards, and mortgages. The credit union provides digital services such as mobile banking, MyCardRules for card management, and CASHBACK+ rewards. It is federally insured by the NCUA and an Equal Housing Lender.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 67% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 0
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Program expense ratio: 0%; rating input score 0
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 23.3%; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 22.13; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.85; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.3%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 12.6% per year; rating input score 100; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.9% per year; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: Mission, programs, and operating context captured from the official website.
  • Where the money goes: 0% of revenue deployed · 0% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $650K · 25 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 11 of 12 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 16 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Functional expense sum did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 10/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.