BECU Nearly Doubles Credit Card Outstandings In Just 2 Years Thanks to Targeted Promotions

Credit Union Worked With PSCU Financial Services’ AdvisorsPlus™ Team

St. Petersburg, FL, October 30, 2007 – At the beginning of 2005, BECU (formerly Boeing Employees Credit Union) of Seattle, Washington, decided to invest in its credit card portfolio and set a goal of nearly doubling balances from $268 million to $500 million by the end of 2007. The credit union is on track to meet its ambitious goal, since it reached $430 million in balances at the end of September 2007. The credit union has $7.6 billion in assets and 520,000 members.

“We had a plain vanilla credit card portfolio and growth had been flat for years. Doubling our portfolio in 28 months seemed like quite a stretch,” said BECU Credit Card Product Manager Nancy Davis.

She attributes the credit union’s success to hard work and strategically-driven promotions. BECU converted its credit servicing to PSCU Financial Services in September 2005 and retained AdvisorsPlus consulting services. “The knowledge and experience of AdvisorsPlus™ representatives played an integral role in our success,” added Davis. “They worked with us to design effective promotions and target the cardholders who are most likely to respond. In addition, their analysis and reporting is much more detailed than we would be able to accomplish on our own.”

The credit union currently conducts three annual promotions: a post-holiday balance transfer with transaction level processing (TLP) for the convenience check mailing; a summer pre-approval offer with a promotional interest rate that uses TLP and a fall credit line increase that includes convenience checks.

The credit union’s most recent balance transfer offer netted $25.1 million in transfers with a 8.44% response rate, while its summer acquisition campaign brought in $9 million and a 2.75% response rate, adds BECU Senior Product Manager Bob Stroup.

“Within the credit union, we have an excellent staff that is very experienced,” explains Stroup. “But AdvisorsPlus specialists offer additional industry knowledge and best practices training that we cannot expect from our in-house staff. These specialists make an excellent partner for achieving credit card growth for a credit union of any size.”

“This impressive achievement demonstrates the power of partnership,” said David J. Serlo, President and CEO, PSCU Financial Services. “BECU was fully committing to investing in its credit portfolio and our AdvisorsPlus representatives provided valuable industry knowledge to maximize their efforts and help them achieve their goals.”

About BECU

Originally founded in 1935 by just 18 Boeing employees, today BECU has 520,000 members and assets of $7.6 billion. It is ranked as the fourth largest credit union (by asset size) in the United States. True to the spirit that has helped BECU achieve this remarkable position, planning continues for additional products, services and improvements. For more information, visit www.becu.org.

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 1,100 financial institutions nationwide. As a non-profit cooperative, the company is owned by more than 500 member credit unions representing over 11 million cardholder accounts and more than 470,000 online bill payment subscribers. Its Contact Center handles more than 12 million inquiries a year. PSCU Financial Services maintains an Eastern operations center in St. Petersburg, Florida, and a Western operations center based in Phoenix, Arizona. The cooperative’s wholly owned subsidiary, Digital Dialogue, operates two 24/7 call centers in Detroit, Mich., that specialize in member services, new member acquisition, cross-selling and automated lending solutions.

Established in 1977, the company provides a broad array of cost-effective, high quality financial services that include credit, debit, ATM, prepaid bill payment and contact center solutions. PSCU Financial Services uniquely 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 the leader in the credit union industry, the company offers gateway access to national and regional networks. It also provides full function ATM terminal driving services. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.pscufs.com.

Top