Visions - March 2006Click a headline below to view articles:
Y Cool?“Credit unions are losing the battle and perhaps the war in their attempts to bring young members to their doors,” according to Mark Mark is the author of “Build Credit with Y,” a Cool Solutions report, funded in part by PSCU Financial Services, recently released by Filene. He explains that although some credit unions recognize the power of Gen Y, few have expanded their lending products or policies to serve this key demographic. Credit unions are starting to get Gen Y in the door, but fail to offer “starter” lending products to meet their needs and lifestyle. This Cool Solutions report, the second in the series, provides strategies and options on what credit unions need to do: create responsible credit building opportunities for Gen Y, including the first credit and debit cards, student loans and other gateway products. This report also provides a summary of actionable research findings from Filene and other organizations as well as advice on how to implement these ideas. PSCU Financial Services’ financial support for this important study was provided to help all credit unions grow and prosper. “The future success of the credit union market depends upon being able to target major market segments, most notably young adults and young families. This age group has very different needs and If you would like a FREE copy of this report, please call (800) 443-7728 ext 7877, inquire via our website, or send an email to coolsolutions@pscufs.com. Credit Unions Donate $200,000 to Red Cross Hurricane Relief
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Meyer, Director of Innovation for the
Filene Research Institute.
Green Screens Make You Blue? PSCU Financial Services is proud to introduce our
Evolve Customer Service is a tested and proven technology that will revolutionize the way you provide service to your credit and signature debit cardholders. And best of all, we are providing it at no charge. Watch for your Evolve packet in the mail to provide details on implementing Evolve Customer Service. |
that’s exactly what the user-friendly Evolve® interface for the FDR system does, according to credit unions that used it as part of an initial launch.
Evolve, which is now being offered to all PSCU Financial Services’ member-owner credit unions, allows tellers and other staff members to quickly and easily handle a variety of credit and debit cardholder requests. Functions can be performed in a Windows environment by clicking on icons, which replaces the need to memorize a cumbersome list of codes as dictated by the green screen user interface.
The result is a process that is easy to learn and much faster for staff to access information for cardholders. BECU, formerly Boeing Employees’ Credit Union, of Seattle, Wash., was one of PSCU Financial Services’ test sites and has been using Evolve since the end of September 2005.
“Converting to Evolve has been a very smooth transition. It just takes a few hours to learn, and the menus and icons are easy to remember. That’s helpful since some employees do not use it every day,” said Traci Vahl, BECU’s Senior Card Services Specialist.
Evolve’s ease of use allowed BECU to change the way it handles its credit cardholder requests. Instead of being directed to a back office staff, cardholder requests are now handled by more than 350 contact center and member services representatives.
“We elected to reserve a few security-sensitive tasks for our back office staff alone, but the vast majority of cardholder requests can be handled by our member services staff. The Evolve system is so efficient that it saves time for our employees and our members, so everyone has been pleased with this transition,” she said.
Evolve allows account access and update to be processed in real-time and ensures consistent and accurate information for cardholders. The system provides multiple levels of security, and allows credit unions to set their own security standards.
Credit unions can also create different classes of users, and delegate sensitive functions to selected staff members.
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Identity Theft – Are Your Members Protected?
In 2005, 4% of U.S. adults fell victim to Identity Fraud. The average resolution time per fraud event was 40 hours with an average consumer cost of $422. A free white paper on Identity Theft is now available to you on MemberConnect.
To combat this growing problem, PSCU Financial Services will be rolling out a new Identity Theft Solution. With our new Identity Theft Solution you will be able to offer restoration services for your members and employees. Here’s how it works. If an Identity Theft event occurs, a recovery advocate is assigned to create a customized recovery plan, work with the credit bureaus, Social Security Administration, US Postal Service, Department of Motor Vehicles, FTC, local and federal law enforcement, and others, and coordinate legal and investigative assistance.
As an added value, your members and employees will be able to purchase enhanced services including credit monitoring, expense reimbursement, and member education.
For information regarding PSCU Financial Services’ new Identity Theft Solution, please contact your Account Executive.
A Million Reasons for Plastics
A Manhattan commuter won 1 million points in the 2005 ‘Quick
PSCU Financial Services recently performed research into the effectiveness of CURewards™ on overall portfolio performance. We randomly selected 16 credit unions that have implemented CURewards within the last four years. We evaluated the average annual change in their portfolios from the time they implement Rewards through 2005 and determined the following facts:
These results provide further proof of the benefits that a strong Rewards |
“This annual sweepstakes is an extremely effective way to build top-of-wallet attention and boost transaction volumes for our cards during the busy holiday season,” said Christian Roach, Marketing Supervisor, TruMark Financial Credit Union. “We are extremely excited that one of our members won one of the prizes, especially the grand prize of 1 million points.”
Roach notes that his credit union promoted the sweepstakes program through newsletters, table toppers and other marketing materials. “This sweepstakes is a tremendous opportunity for our members. Every time they use their card, they are entered in the drawing. So they have a chance to win amazing merchandise and travel awards without even
filling out a form.”
PSCU Financial Services underwrites the campaign, which is conducted at no charge to credit unions. Other credit unions with winning CURewards Sweepstakes 2005 cardholders include: Baxter Credit Union, Vernon Hills, Ill., Tinker Federal Credit Union, Oklahoma City, Okla., 66 Federal Credit Union, Bartlesville, Okla. and GTE FCU, Tampa, Fla.
The annual sweepstakes is conducted to help encourage credit union card usage during the holiday season. Each cardholder transaction made between October 1 and December 31, 2005 was automatically entered into the 2005 ‘Quick Million’ Sweepstakes. Each year 10 cardholders will win additional points as part of the CURewards Sweepstakes.
More than 190 member-owner credit unions—representing 1.75 million credit and debit accounts—currently offer CURewards for credit and/or debit card programs. Rewards programs have proven rewarding for credit unions as well as cardholders, with rewards-based card programs posting an average of two additional transactions per month over those without rewards.
“The CURewards sweepstakes promotion is an innovative way for our credit union member-owners to encourage acceptance and utilization of their debit and credit card programs,” said PSCU Financial Services President David J. Serlo. “This is the third CURewards sweepstakes that we have underwritten as part of our continuing commitment to help our members build profitable, successful credit and debit programs.”
Online Tools To Chart Your Course
PerformanceOne™ delivers to your credit union key credit and debit portfolio performance and profitability metrics,
right at your fingertips. Viewing how your credit and debit programs are performing is as simple as logging into
MemberConnect. PerformanceOne provides a fast and convenient comparison against your credit union’s peers as well as helping you chart your course to even greater success.
PerformanceOne provides your credit union with the
ability to:
- View key credit and debit portfolio performance &
profitability metrics - Compare your metrics against their performance one
year ago - Compare your performance against your peers
- Define and save up to 5 customized peers
- Export all PerformanceOne reports using Excel, PDF, HTML or CSV
- View Resources and Help screens
The most recent monthly data is always available and is automatically updated.
To learn more about PerformanceOne, please log on to MemberConnect and select PerformanceOne. You will want to use the “Getting Started” tutorial located in the Help drop down menu option to learn about all the features and functionality of this tool.
Investment in Credit Yields Immediate Results
FAIRWINDS Credit Union, Orlando, Fla., achieved an immediate return on its investment in its credit card portfolio. As a first step, credit union executives added a dedicated manager for credit cards, based on advice from PSCU Financial Services.
Credit Card Manager James Ford’s first marketing campaign lasted four months—from the beginning of September 2005 through the end of the year.
Ford exceeded his goal by increasing outstanding balances by 20 percent, by bringing in $3.6 million.
This promotion targeted both cardholding and non-cardholding members. A direct mail campaign to cardholders offered a credit line increase and a balance transfer offer of 3.99 percent for 12 months. The promotion received an impressive 5.5 percent response rate.
At the same time, Ford launched an incentive program to encourage branch employees to open new credit accounts. After an employee opened five accounts, he or she began receiving $5 for each new account. The credit union also ran a contest that distributed an additional $2,000 to branch employees. More than 500 new credit accounts were opened during the promotion period.
“FAIRWINDS worked closely with AdvisorsPlus™ representatives to help design the promotion and to set parameters for participating cardholders,” says Ford. “I firmly believe that we can continue to boost outstanding balances by offering different promotions throughout the year.”
Ford has already planned a series of promotions for 2006 and FAIRWINDS Marketing Department is redesigning the appearance of the credit union’s cards to provide greater appeal.
The credit union offers two Visa cards: one card features the CURewards™ program and is designed to boost transactions with cardholders that typically pay off the card every month. It carries a higher interest rate.
The other card features a lower interest rate and is targeted at cardholders who maintain balances. It does not offer a rewards program.
Ford believes credit cardholders form the foundation for cross selling of loan and other services. “My past experience in consumer lending leads me to believe that the credit card relationship is extremely important and can be used by credit unions as a springboard to successfully market other services and to strengthen member loyalty.”
Your credit union can also energize its credit card portfolio with expert advice from our AdvisorsPlus specialists. Our industry experts use the latest intelligence to help you design and launch a marketing program that dramatically increases outstanding balances and activation and usage rates.
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