Our Story

Why join Scient Federal Credit Union

• Our culture is grounded in integrity, trust and the desire to help others.
• Profits of the Credit Union are returned to you in the form of lower loan rates, higher deposit rates and lower cost services.
• By having an account at Scient FCU, you are a member-owner of the credit union.

Our History

1968: Pfizer Employees Credit Union

In the early 1960s, Donald (Red) Gallup who worked in the Antibiotic Recovery division of Pfizer in Groton, CT, felt that Pfizer would benefit from an employee credit union. He brought the idea to Pfizer Groton Plant Manager Stanley Ensminger, who finally agreed to think about the idea and assigned Tom Keogh, Pfizer's Groton accounting manager, the arduous task of how to begin.

Tom quickly learned that the success of an employee credit union was the willingness of the employer to allow payroll deductions as the principal path of deposits. This issue became an obstacle for a very long time, as Pfizer’s Personnel Department felt that the additional “competition” for a share of employee take-home pay might jeopardize the success of a recently installed company-wide Savings and Stock Plan.

But Stanley persisted in his discussions with Pfizer’s New York headquarters. E.T. Pratt, Pfizer's controller (later the CEO) got involved and gave the green light to the credit union concept as he recognized it could provide employees with lower loan rates. And so on February 20, 1968, Pfizer Employees Credit Union was founded.

The credit union was originally set up on a large table in a conference room in Pfizer Groton’s Building 41, using an old bookkeeping machine donated by the Connecticut Credit Union League. Any time a corporate meeting was scheduled, the credit union would have to stop operations and allow Pfizer to use the conference room. Helen McMahon and Prudence Sylvia were the first two employees and helped the credit union grow during our first years.

The conference room quickly became too small for credit union operations and Pfizer allowed (and bore the expense for) the credit union to move to No. 1 Bill Avenue, the last residential structure of what was once Bill Park, a wartime housing development where President Jimmy Carter lived while attending Submarine School.

1983: Pfizer Employees Federal Credit Union

In 1983, Pfizer Employees Credit Union converted from a state to a federally chartered credit union, and we changed our name to Pfizer Employees Federal Credit Union. This move enabled the credit union to offer insurance protection for each account and changed the rules under which we operated.

At this time, the field of membership was extended to include spouses and immediate family members of Pfizer employees so they could also take advantage of credit union membership.

1993: Ledge Light Federal Credit Union

In 1993, we changed our name to acknowledge the fact that membership had expanded from Pfizer employees to many of their family members. The name Ledge Light Federal Credit Union was chosen to pay tribute to the historic Ledge Lighthouse perched out in Fishers Island Sound at the mouth of the Thames River in nearby New London, CT.

In the late 1990s, we expanded our reach beyond Pfizer and our membership charter was expanded to include Select Employee Groups in the life science industry.

In the late 1990s, an onsite branch was opened in Pfizer’s Building 220 to further service members. In 2001, another onsite branch in Pfizer New London was opened.

The demand for our credit union spread nationwide. In 2010, we opened a mobile branch at Pfizer’s New York headquarters, and in 2012 we opened mobile branches in Pfizer’s Andover, MA and Cambridge, MA locations. Also in 2012 we opened a branch office in Pfizer’s La Jolla (San Diego) location.

2012: Scient Federal Credit Union

In October 2012, due to our nationwide growth and expansion, we changed our name to Scient Federal Credit Union. We began serving over 15,000 members across the United States with a full suite of banking services tailored to the unique needs of our membership.

2015: new Haven postal employees federal credit union merge

In February 2015, we merged with New Haven Postal Employees Federal Credit Union to provide an increase in products and services to better meet their members needs.  Membership is now available to postal employees and their families from over 35 communities in CT. 

2022: new london municipal employees credit union merge

In August 2022, we merged with New London Municipal Employees Credit Union to provide their members with an increase in products and services, as well as, access to online and mobile banking.  Membership is open to City of New London and New London Board of Education employees and their families.  

Today we serve over 19,000 members, including family members, from dozens of companies, organizations and government offices, as well as individuals living or working within 12 census tracts in New London County, and members of the American Consumer Council (ACC), with a full-suite of banking products and services tailored to their unique needs.  At Scient, our goal is improving people's lives with creative solutions.