For entertainment value, most people rate doing taxes right up there with root canals and organizing the garage. Taxes can be confusing, time-consuming and frustrating. GHCU is happy to present an easier way to do taxes and a great tool for managing your money all year long: TurboTax Online.

TurboTax Online (TTO) is a faster, more accurate way to do taxes. Because TTO is integrated into GHCU’s online banking, tax and account data are securely, automatically imported into the TurboTax program. And you can choose to have your return directly deposited into your account, saving you time. Since your information will be safely stored with TurboTax, you’ll have records that carry over from year to year—saving you the time and annoyance of digging up old records to find information. This information is secure and can only be accessed by your unique password and user name.

There are several versions of TurboTax Online available to GHCU members, including a free Federal Edition. For those members who choose a paid product, a 15% discount will be applied to their chosen version. Members who are already using a desktop version of TurboTax can integrate it with GHCU’s TTO version and still receive the discounted price.

Do you want to use TurboTax Online but are not yet enrolled in online banking? You can quickly and easily register for GHCU’s free online banking by calling our Virtual Branch at 800-562-5515 or 206-298-9394. Once you’re signed on to online banking, you can enjoy its many additional benefits: see your accounts at any time, transfer funds, order checks and conduct many other financial transactions from the comfort of your home or office.

If you have online banking and would like to take advantage of this service, log in to your online banking account and check for the “My TurboTax” tab at the top of the page. It’s that simple to get started!

Most of us know by now that eStatements and online banking and bill pay require less paper and produce less waste. However, not everyone is convinced that switching to digital versions of paper statements and bills is the best, or safest, alternative. In an effort to promote our earth-friendly (and wallet-friendly) banking choices, GHCU instituted its “Neighborhood Harvest” campaign.

To spark interest and conversation, five immature fruit trees were distributed among our five branches to live for the month of September. On October 3, the trees were planted in their permanent home at the Dakota p-patch and orchard in Seattle’s Rainier Valley. There the trees will be tended by the 30 p-patch gardeners.

It’s a win-win-win: GHCU’s members win, because our initiatives are “green” in more ways than one. Mailing paper statements costs the credit union—and its members—money. eStatements are far less expensive, and we can pass the difference back to our members in the form of better rates. Additionally, eStatements and online bill pay are more secure than their paper counterparts: mailbox theft is a leading cause of identity fraud in the United States.

The Rainier Valley community also wins. Many of the p-patch
gardeners rely on their plots to supplement their tables. Overflow fruit will be given to the surrounding community and local food banks to provide fresh produce to people who might otherwise
go without.

And the earth wins. Every member who opts for online banking, bill pay and eStatements will save around 6.6 pounds of paper, 4.5 gallons of gas and 63 gallons of wastewater every year.*

Saving the planet is hard. Saving 6.6 pounds of paper a year is easy! Information on how to sign up for online banking, bill pay and eStatements is available on our website, ghcu.org.

*Information from payitgreen.org.

If you’re in Seattle on October 3, we’d like to invite you to attend our tree planting ceremony and celebration. It’s the culmination of our Neighborhood Harvest campaign, and we’ll be planting our five fruit trees in their permanent home at the Dakota p-patch and orchard (map).

The trees have been in our branch locations throughout September to remind us that there are steps we can all take to preserve our natural resources. (Hint: signing up for online banking, bill pay and eStatements is a great way to reduce use of paper, water and fuel and cut down on waste!)

Once planted, the trees will be tended by the gardeners of the Dakota p-patch. When the trees are mature, the fruit they produce will be shared among the community. Overflow fruit will be donated to local food banks.

We hope you’ll join us at 10 am, October 3 for the planting and to share some refreshments. All are welcome!

There’s a bit more foliage in our branch locations right now, all part of our Neighborhood Harvest campaign for the month of September.

To promote our “green” initiatives, we’ve brought a little bit of nature in to our branches: five immature fruit trees. Each branch is “fostering” a tree for the month of September, then the trees will go to their permanent homes at the Dakota p-patch and orchard in Rainier Valley. The gardeners at the p-patch will tend the trees and share the fruit with the local community.

Our green initiatives are all about taking steps to reduce our carbon footprint and to provide our members with the opportunity to do the same. eStatements, digital Gear Up newsletter, online banking and bill pay all reduce paper and water usage, lower the amount of fuel we require to do business, and lessen the amount of waste we produce.

Fortunately, what’s good for the planet is also good for our members and good for business.

• eStatements, online banking and bill pay are all more secure than their paper-dependent counterparts. One of the main causes of identity theft is having personal information filched from your mailbox or your trash.
• Our green initiatives save on postage–yours and ours! When you pay your bills automatically, no stamps are required. And the credit union can save itself (and its members) a great deal of money now spent on postage by sending out more statements electronically.
• Electronic banking saves on storage and waste. Your electronic statements are archived for a year–no filing cabinets or storage closets required! And if you don’t get paper, you don’t have paper to store or dispose of.

The official planting of our trees in their permanent homes is tentatively scheduled for October 3. Please join us to celebrate! As we get closer to planting day, more details will be available here, at our branches or on our website.

Special thanks to Michael R. Clapp of nwnature.net, for permission to use his beautiful photographs of NW birds in our campaign!