SAFE Credit Union expands in Granite Bay, looks to reach younger customers
SAFE Credit Union plans to open a new branch in Granite Bay early next year.
The Folsom-based institution shuttered its former Granite Bay branch on Jan. 31. With a new site, it looks to address some of the challenges customers previously faced with parking and access, Tiffani Vargas, chief operating officer of SAFE Credit Union, said in an interview Tuesday.
Once the new site opens, SAFE will have 18 locations, down from 22 in 2015. Vargas said the credit union has shifted based on where its customers are located, and like other large businesses in the Sacramento area, SAFE Credit Union has been watching the population grow in outlying parts of the metro area.
Vargas said the credit union is simultaneously trying to improve its online offerings — it launched a new banking interface last week — and its in-person services. Some members have spent years accustomed to visiting a nearby branch for banking services, and especially those who are younger or were previously unbanked tend to want the comfort and information that credit union staff can offer in person.
And many of SAFE’s newer members, Vargas said, are younger.
“We’re finding that the membership is shifting, from a demographic standpoint, to a younger population: The millennial population,” Vargas said.
SAFE launched a marketing campaign earlier this year based on “what’s next” in member’s lives, like paying off student loans or buying a house or a car.
“The demographic that’s really being drawn to us — that messaging really resonates for them,” Vargas said.
The credit union was founded in 1940 and was initially limited to employees at McClellan Air Force Base — hence the acronym, “Sacramento Air Force Employees.” Nowadays, Vargas said, membership is open to anyone in the 13 counties where SAFE operates.
The Granite Bay site is under construction at the intersection of Douglas and Sierra College Boulevard, and is expected to open in early February.
This story was originally published November 4, 2025 at 2:42 PM.
