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PSCU Financial Services Helps Parents Teach Money Management to Gen Y

St. Petersburg, FL, September 2, 2008 – As part of its commitment to helping credit unions attract and serve Gen Y, PSCU Financial Services has launched a new web site, www.GiveMe20.com, designed to help parents educate their children about budgeting, credit/debit cards and other financial basics. This site provides links to local credit unions and more than 100 of the cooperative’s member-owner credit unions are part of the site’s “Find a Credit Union” search database.

“After supporting extensive research into the financial habits and preferences of Gen Y, we are taking a leadership role in equipping credit unions to attract this generation of 79 million teenagers and young adults that will shape the future of financial services,” according to John Pembroke, Chief Marketing Officer, PSCU Financial Services. “Reaching out to parents is imperative since most Gen Yers will establish their first accounts with their parents’ financial institution. Studies show that these young adults tend to be very loyal to their chosen brands and affiliations, so this first step could result in a long-term member relationship.”

The GiveMe20.com site provides tools and tips to help parents teach the concepts of living within a budget, differentiating wants from needs, and saving money for future purchases. Helpful tools include: a spending/savings worksheet; interactive calculators that show growth of savings over time; loan schedules that show monthly payments for big ticket items and the long-term cost of a credit card purchase with interest.

Samples of the web site’s money management tips include:

Give your child a monthly allowance on a prepaid student card. Kids like having a card with their name on it, and this card helps them learn to budget for an entire month. Every transaction is also available for review (unlike cash).
Call it a spending plan, not a budget. Most teens prefer spending to saving, so this online tool allows your teens to create a wish list and then ‘budget’ their savings to buy what they want. You can also show your teen how to modify a budget by categorizing expenses as either needs or wants (and that these terms are not synonymous!)
Values-based spending. Encourage your child to set goals that are based on his or her values, not what other teens have or want.
The power of dollar matching. Motivate your child to save money toward big ticket items by offering to match what he or she saves. For instance, you might match every dollar your child sets aside for a car or for college with $1-$3 (based on your family budget).

“In a cash economy, financial issues are very concrete. However our culture offers a complicated mix of credit, debit and lending options. Every teenager needs to see a spreadsheet that shows how much a new iPod or clothing spree costs when charged on a credit card with minimum payments,” said Pembroke. “Gen Yers need to understand the short-term and long-term benefits and consequences of our society’s financial tools so that they can make decisions that enhance their financial future.”

The site name, GiveMe20.com, is a reference to a common request: “Can I have $20 to …?” Instructions are grouped by age: 12-15, 16-18 years, and 19-22 years. The web site provides links to individual credit unions so parents can find local providers of financial services and also lists books about teaching money management to teens.

PSCU Financial Services will launch a consumer marketing campaign designed to drive parents to the website and offer them the opportunity to join a local credit union. The marketing campaign will employ a combination of online and traditional advertising and PR: pay-per-click, content network and social network advertising along with placements in major consumer magazines and newspapers.

PSCU Financial Services also hosts a Project New Age web site, www.ProjectNewAge.com, that provides insights into Gen Y’s financial preferences and habits, and showcases information about brand and media preferences and how Gen Yers use blogs, social networks, and viral communications to share information and develop affinities with financial institutions and other companies. In addition, the site features products and services that specifically appeal to young adults including: online bill pay, gift and reloadable prepaid cards, online account enrollment, and digital plastics with customized graphics.

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 615,000 online bill payment subscribers. Its Contact Center handles more than 14 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, Michigan 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 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.

PSCU Financial Services debit program is rapidly expanding. It topped 500 million transactions in 2007, a 117% growth over 2003 transaction volume. Debit account growth is up 66 percent for credit unions who process debit through the cooperative, from 4.1 million accounts in 2003 to 6.9 million at the end of 2007. For more information, visit PSCU Financial Services’ website at www.pscufs.com.

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