Visions - March 2007Click a headline below to view articles:
Custom Plastics Now Offer AffordabilityCustomization is everywhere: from downloadable music to pay-per-view TV programming. Why not debit and credit cards? PSCU Financial Services offers new digital plastics that allow credit unions to create five unique designs. These images can be linked to marketing campaigns and are ideal for select employee groups, youth, associations, small businesses and other market segments. Credit unions can select a custom image and print in full color from edge-to-edge. Including the brand of employers or community groups on the card delivers excellent market reach, especially for credit unions that are expanding their charters. Best of all, credit unions only pay for the cards they order, no minimum order is required and the price is comparable to standardized plastics. A Wealth of Data. It’s Your Choice!With the new DataChoice™ solution, card issuers can manage their portfolio performance in a whole new way, diving deeper into cardholder level activity. With DataChoice, credit unions can retrieve information to measure trends and performance, review campaign success, and much more. Cardholder information is updated throughout the month, so there’s no more waiting until month-end to retrieve solid numbers. DataChoice is the answer for marketing, finance, operations, risk Looking Forward...
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“The PartnerCare system is user-friendly and easy to navigate. I was pleased to discover that our most commonly used options are easily accessible on the Account Overview screen.” –Yvonne Muniz, A+ Federal Credit Union |
Faster, better and fewer clicks—these are the benefits offered by PartnerCare, CheckFree’s next generation Customer Care Solution provided by PSCU Financial Services.
Online bill payment subscriber inquiries can be handled much more efficiently thanks to a dashboard approach that enhances ease of use and simultaneously saves time for credit union staff and members. The new program provides a more intuitive interface with rapid access to member data, including messages and correspondence. The system offers reduced links and clicks, less scrolling and simplified case creation and review. For example, with one-click case creation our seasoned reps can stop payments and obtain proof of electronic payment, so these two common requests can be resolved in the initial call.
Key features include:
- Payment window displays payment information for the last 90 days
- Case history section delivers snapshot of past and current cases
- Subscriber area shows user data
- Correspondence window shows five most recent
messages - Improved search capabilities can be used to locate a subscriber or case; and
- Active and inactive payees can be viewed and sorted.
In addition, security has been improved by making the authentication process less dependent upon the subscriber’s full social security number and by simplifying administrative processes to deliver greater control and efficiency.
PartnerCare’s new features were developed in response to user feedback and extensive research and input from PSCU Financial Services.
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Online Bill Pay Promos Pay Off
Marketing Support Makes The Difference
Georgia Telco Credit Union’s sweepstakes campaign in Q4 of 2006 had dramatic results: enrollment for their PayLynxSM online bill payment program increased by 11% (compared to Q4 of 2005) and the subscriber base grew by 10%.
As part of the campaign, 10 winners were selected in a random drawing. Each subscriber was credited up to $100 for one of their bills paid during the promotional period. “The cash prize was the right incentive for our members to activate and make more payments,” said Kelly Garmon, Vice President of Marketing, Georgia Telco Credit Union. The credit union’s promotion was accompanied by a comprehensive marketing campaign that included a radio ad as well as traditional member communications methods including a postcard mailer co-funded by PSCU Financial Services.
“PSCU Financial Services’ sponsorship helped create awareness for our members, which dramatically increased interest and inquiries in our branches,” said Garmon.
Assisting members with adoption of online bill pay is just one goal; 
encouraging activation is critical to retaining profitable members.
Goldenwest Credit Union launched an email activation
campaign targeting bill payment users who had not made
a payment in the last 90 days. Two emails were sent
encouraging users to rediscover the benefits of online bill pay. Over 23% of subscribers, totaling 494 users, responded by making payments.
“The PSCU Financial Services’ team is always looking for ways to improve our success, and this campaign is a great example. They recognized our high inactive rate and recommended this promotion, and we were very pleased with the results,” said Patrick Van Aarle, Marketing Analyst Goldenwest Credit Union.
Powered by CheckFree®, PayLynx is the premier online bill payment solution with the features credit union members want and outstanding 24 X 7 service through PSCU Financial Services’ contact centers. For more information about PayLynx, contact sales@pscufs.com.
Great American Account Management Specialists Sighted in Arizona and Florida
Good Account Management Specialists are hard to find. Here’s a tongue-in-cheek look at just how rare they might be...
The discovery of a sizeable population of Great American Account Management Specialists at PSCU Financial Services’ contact centers sent waves of relief rolling over the shores of the credit union industry.
“I honestly thought they were all gone,” said a visibly moved credit union president. “And I never thought they’d show
up in such great numbers in an environment outside of a credit union.”
Representatives of PSCU Financial Services expressed surprise at this reaction. “I don’t understand what all the fuss is about. We’ve had them here for quite some time,” said Tina Savings, Contact Center Manager. “The first ones showed up in late 2003 and we’ve added dozens since then. We’ve even featured them and what they do in our newsletters and direct mail campaigns. It’s not like they’re a big secret.”
Melanie Draft, Director of Knowledge Management for PSCU Financial Services, added, “We started them on fairly simple credit and debit card activities, then introduced them to bill pay support skills. The next thing you know, they’re transferring funds between deposit accounts,
resetting home banking PINs, making payments on loan
accounts, walking members through multi-factor authentication enrollment, and initiating ACH transactions. There’s really no limit to what they can do for a member. ”
Credit unions want to expand the availability of member service however, concerns about maintaining quality make some reluctant to delegate the service of their members to third-party providers, even ones with established and experienced contact centers.
That attitude is changing due to technology that connects third-party contact centers to a credit unions’ core processing system and representatives that can handle unique requests for service. This is especially true among credit unions intent on providing 24 x 7 service availability. “It was a real dilemma and challenge for us,” said Charles Transfer, President of Central States Employees Federal Credit Union. “We realized the need to provide 24 x 7 support for our members, but how could we do that without adding expenses for recruiting, hiring, training, facilities, and technology?”
That’s why the discovery of Great American Account Management Specialists working effectively from a third-party service provider has resonated so forcefully throughout the credit union community. These representatives are a nocturnal bunch and can process calls at any time of day or night. They also work weekends and holidays. A clearly ecstatic Transfer smiled broadly and said, “Hey, as far as our members are concerned, we’re always open. What’s not to like about that?”
But seriously, PSCU Financial Services’ Great American Account Management Specialists support the company’s CUAlways™ member service solution, which is used by 10 credit unions with a combined membership of nearly 500,000 members. To find out more, call 800-443-7728 ext 4590 or 4506.
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Video Promos Boost Online bill pay
In the few minutes it takes the husband to load luggage prior to leaving for vacation, the wife pays all the monthly bills online. That attention-grabbing scenario is part of a new online video promoting the convenience and security of online bill payment programs, developed for PSCU Financial Services by an outside firm.
Member-owner credit unions can post the video on their Web sites to attract new subscribers for the PayLynxSM online bill payment program. To increase brand recognition credit unions can customize the video with the
credit union’s name, logo, and, website colors.
This online video is expected to help credit unions achieve a 30 to 40 percent increase in bill
payment enrollments, due to the popularity of short online video segments. The successful
PayLynx program has been deployed by more than 250 financial institutions and boasts
400,000 subscribers.
