CASH PATRONAGE
RETURNING
$6,000,000
TO MEMBERS
FROM 2015
OVER $78 MILLION Returned
to Member-Owners Since 2002
What is Cash Patronage?
Cash patronage is a way of distributing a portion of United
FCS’ annual net income to member-owners. When you
obtain a United FCS loan, you become a member-owner of
the United FCS cooperative.
A cooperative is unlike other businesses because the
owners and customers are the same people - the members.
While most businesses return some of their earnings to
investors, their customers don’t benefit. United FCS has the
opportunity to annually return some earnings back to
customers because they are also member-owners. That is
the cooperative way of doing business!
Why is Cash Patronage Important?
Cash patronage, payable 100% in cash, effectively reduces
the cost of borrowing. It is an added advantage for you
beyond our already competitive rates.
Who Qualifies for Cash Patronage?
Borrowers with accrual loan balances held by the
Association qualify for cash patronage. However, at the
Association discretion, the cash patronage amount may be
applied against a borrower’s loan balance if they are not
deemed to be in good standing.
A cooperative devoted to the success of our members
www.unitedfcs.com
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Serving Rural America since 1916
How is the Amount of Cash
Patronage Determined?
One of the basic cooperative principles is that members
derive benefits based upon their usage of the cooperative’s
services. The larger your net interest contribution paid on
your loans, the larger your potenial patronage. The
distribution amount is set by your Board (if declared in any
given year) and varies based upon the amount of
Association earnings.
Because United FCS also generates earnings from other
non-patronage sources, any increased profitability of these
activies creates an opportunity for a larger patronage
distribution.
Patronage checks are not issued if the amount calculated is
less than $25.
When is Cash Patronage Issued?
Patronage checks must be paid before September 15th of
the year after patronage was earned. At United FCS, our
goal is to distribute all patronage before the end of March.
Each January, United FCS will send you an IRS Form 1099PATR if you recieved cash patronage during the preceding
year. It will include the total amount of all patronage issued
to you during that year.
Although your Association intends to pay patronage to
eligible shareholders, it has no obligation to do so. The receipt
of patronage in any year is not a guarantee of patronage in
future years. The information in this flyer is provided as a
summary of the basic framework of the patronage program
and does not address all situations nor all aspects of the
program.
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