St. Petersburg, FL, Oct. 3, 2011 – Financial institutions that participated in PSCU Financial Services’ “Win $10 Grand and You Can…” Bill Pay Summer Sweepstakes achieved an overall 15% lift in new subscriber enrollments and a 14% gain in activation. There was also a 5% gain in the number of subscribers making more than 3 payments a month.

The sweepstakes offered: a grand prize of $10,000; first place prize was a $2,000 travel certificate; and two second place prizes of Apple® iPad® 2 devices with cases. Each of the 135 participating credit unions was guaranteed one $100 winner. The two-month promotion ran from June 1 to July 31, 2011. Each subscriber that made at least three online bill payments in June and July was automatically entered into the contest, and they received subsequent entries for additional payments made during the month.  

“This is our fourth annual sweepstakes and we continue to achieve results that exceed similar sweepstakes campaigns in the industry. Our participating financial institutions were extremely pleased with the results and the way our staff collaborated to help them promote the program. Not surprisingly, the financial institutions that employed the largest number of marketing tactics and member touch points saw the highest percentage increase,” said Cindy McGinness, Director of Client Relations, PSCU Financial Services.

The $10,000 grand prize winner came from Achieva Credit Union of  Largo, Fla; first prize winner was from Lockheed Federal Credit Union of Burbank, Calif.; and second prize winners came from Citadel Federal Credit Union, Thorndale, Penn.; and Belvoir Federal Credit Union, Woodbridge, Va.   

The prize winners were drawn randomly. Financial institutions that use PayLynx™ needed to enroll in the sweepstakes in order for their subscribers to be included. PSCU Financial Services underwrote all expenses and provided marketing design files for web and in-branch promotions.

The cooperative’s popular online bill payment product has more than 1.23 million subscribers and is deployed at 263 institutions, including more than 250 credit unions. PayLynx subscribers are making more than 4.4 million payments online each month.

Subscribers benefit from the cooperative’s award-winning 24/7 Contact Center and our FraudNet bill payment fraud detection and prevention tool. PayLynx boasts a greater percentage of active subscribers and higher rates of acceptance for electronic bill payment by billers than other online bill pay providers. The CUSO also offers a specialized online bill payment solution for small businesses.

About PSCU Financial Services

Based in St. Petersburg, Florida, PSCU Financial Services is the nation's largest credit union service organization (CUSO) and serves more than 1,500 financial institutions nationwide. As a non-profit cooperative, the company is owned by more than 680 member credit unions representing 16 million credit, debit, prepaid, online bill payment and electronic banking accounts. Its Contact Centers handle more than 18 million inquiries a year.

PSCU Financial Services offers 24/7 member support through four Contact Centers: its Eastern operations center in St. Petersburg, Fla.; a Western operations center based in Phoenix, Ariz.; and two call centers in Detroit, Mich. These Contact Centers perform member servicing and new member acquisition, cross-selling and automated lending solutions as well as support for debit/credit/prepaid cardholders, online bill payment and electronic banking subscribers.

Established in 1977, PSCU Financial Services offers its members a full range of processing options, any combination from full service to in-house pass through processing for credit, debit and ATM transactions. As a leader in the credit union movement, the company offers gateway access to national and regional networks. It also provides full function ATM terminal driving services. For more information, visit PSCU Financial Services’ website at www.pscufs.com.