The Value of Member Testimonials

Tena Lozano
August 31, 2010

Member testimonials can be a valuable marketing and public relations tool in letting potential members—and even legislators—know how your credit union reaches out and helps people achieve financial success.

Some credit unions use comments and praises from members for their websites; others have used them for their newsletters. But they can also be used for so much more—ads, brochures, radio, television, and advocacy visits. The cost is minimal, and a good word from a member can be more powerful than advertising.

For some, the idea may seem daunting. But through this testimonial- based approach, the League's Community Outreach Committee has developed a comprehensive online toolkit to assist credit unions in promoting their message to members, the community at large, and the media.

The toolkit, which can be found online here, includes guidelines on how to collect member testimonials via video, audio, and written means. It also features trigger events that can help in collecting remarks, such as a member appreciation event. The toolkit contains the National Credit Union Foundation's (NCUF) Guide to Gathering Member Testimonials and a sample release form for members. This sample agreement is for illustrative purposes only and is intended to be modified by credit unions as needed in order to comply with operational needs and applicable law.

If you need assistance with media publicity efforts, the Leagues' Public Affairs Department can help your credit union with those efforts—from creating custom media contact lists, to drafting news releases on your credit union's behalf. Please contact Public Affairs and Community Outreach Specialist Tina Ramos-Ingold at tinar@ccul.org.

Tena Lozano is director of credit union development for the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues. This article was reprinted with permission from Credit Union Digest, the publication of the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues.

Remote Deposit Capture is Focus of New Tech Council White Paper

CUNA Councils
August 24, 2010

Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) promises to extend greater convenience to members while at the same time potentially reducing operational costs and investment in building infrastructure, according to a new white paper from the CUNA Technology Council.

RDC is when a member or business account holder utilizes an optical scanning device, such as a home-office scanner or mobile cell phone camera, to capture (scan) images of checks for deposit, upload them to a computer on site, and through a software application, edit and send the front and back images securely over the Internet to the credit union for processing and deposit.

As noted in “Remote Deposit Capture: Thinking Out of the Branch To Better Serve Members,” RDC is a valuable tool for credit unions that have:

• members who reside some distance away from a branch
• members who frequently travel or are stationed in other countries
• members whose college-age children are in a location without a branch
• members who wish or need to make deposits during non-business hours

RDC may also prove useful to credit unions that have a small number of branches in comparison to a large field of membership, as is the case with some select employee group (SEG)-based credit unions.

The new white paper covers key points related to RDC and RDC application development, including:

• the business rationale for offering Remote Deposit Capture
• eligibility criteria and deposit limits
• hardware and software considerations, including functionality and platform expansion
• image correction concerns
• vendor partnership
• fraud detection and risk management controls, including duplicate detection
• the importance of member education and trained back-up support

In addition, four credit unions are profiled through in-depth case studies, providing the reader with an understanding of how remote deposit capture functions as well as its primary challenges and advantages.

CUNA Council members are entitled to complimentary copies of these and more than 200 white papers; non-members may purchase the white papers for a price of $50 per copy.

The paper is available online in the white paper section of each council site – select the “Tech” tab.

Belvoir Federal Credit Union Marketing Scores Big with Website Game

Ron Daly
August 23, 2010

Looking for a creative way to increase members' awareness of its products and services, Belvoir Federal Credit Union put on its game face.

The Woodbridge, Virginia credit union had launched a “For Life” awareness campaign, aligning its products with the different life stages of its members – everything from buying a first car, to having a baby, to changing jobs, to entering retirement. To promote the campaign, the credit union realigned its website around this theme. But it needed an effective way to drive members to the site, where they could learn more about the credit union's products suited to their life stage. Belvoir Federal Credit Union found the solution through the interactive CU Web Hunt game.

Working with DigitalMailer and the credit union marketing technology company, Code Green, Belvoir Federal Credit Union launched the CU Web Hunt game this past spring. The contest encouraged members to explore the website, read about the credit union's products and find “slices of life” icons to complete a pie chart. Once members had navigated the website and found all nine pieces of the pie, they were entered in a prize drawing.

Belvoir turned to its Automatic Relationship Builder (ARB) e-mail program to help announce and promote the contest. Using the ARB, the credit union targeted its members with t ailored messages and measured the delivery and open-rate responses. Belvoir FCU members were sent a series of five customized e-mails to alert them to contest dates and prizes. Over the 45-day campaign, more than 70,000 messages were delivered, measuring above-average in click-through rates. On the first day alone, 95 visitors logged on and entered the contest.

The CU Web Hunt game system was developed by Code Green, which used the credit union's website as the “game board” for the Web Hunt. Code Green develops interactive web technologies specifically targeted to the challenges facing credit union marketers. Overall, the contest helped Belvoir Federal Credit Union surpass its marketing goals by 400 percent. “Our expectations were greatly exceeded when we saw the final numbers,” said Belvoir's Amy Shanks.

During the six-week contest, the credit union's website drew 134,380 viewers – nearly 40,000 more than during Belvoir FCU's new website launch the previous year. In addition, total page views almost doubled, and visitors spent an average of 12 minutes navigating through the web site. “That's a very sticky web site for us,” said Shanks.

And considering the original purpose of the “For Life” campaign was to increase members awareness of Belvoir Federal Credit Union's products and services, Shanks says there's no doubt of its success. “We definitely know our members are aware of what products and services we have now,” she said.

Ron Daly is president of DigitalMailer. Contact him at rdaly@digitalmailer.com. For more information on Code Green, visit www.codegreen.org.

Effective Strategies for Credit Card Pricing is Subject of Latest OpSS Council White Paper

CUNA Councils
August 19, 2010

Credit unions have a real opportunity to gain credit card market share from banks today, according to a new white paper by the CUNA Operations, Sales & Service (OpSS) Council. Even before the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act) took effect, big banks were drawing consumers' ire, between the bailouts, their reactions to the economy's effects on their credit card programs and their preparations for the new regulatory environment.

The new paper, “Credit Card Pricing: Effective Strategies for a Post-CARD Act Market,” notes that with a well-designed, competitive value proposition—including pricing strategies that make their cards attractive without posing excessive risk—and a comprehensive marketing/communications plan that trumpets the credit union difference, credit cards can still be a credit union's highest-yielding asset.

This white paper for the CUNA OpSS Council specifically discusses:

• Significant CARD Act provisions and pricing implications
• Effective pricing strategies
• Credit union advantages
• Metrics
• Marketplace forecasts

It also includes three case studies showing how credit unions' pricing has evolved to fit today's marketplace.

CUNA Council members are entitled to complimentary copies of these and more than 200 white papers; non-members may purchase the white papers for a price of $50 per copy.

The paper is available online in the white paper section of each council site – select the “OpSS” tab.

Two Recent Regulatory Comment Calls

CUNA
August 19, 2010

NCUA Interim Final Rule Clarifies Regulation DD Overdraft Protection Rules

The National Credit Union Administration has issued an interim final rule that clarifies the recent final rules amending Regulation DD, the Truth in Savings Act, that changed the disclosure requirements for overdraft protection plans.

> View Full Comment Call at CUNA.org

Interim Final Rule that Extends the Effective Date for Certain Provisions of the CARD Act Gift Card Rules

The Federal Reserve Board has issued an interim final rule that implements an amendment to the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (CARD Act) that was signed by President Obama on July 27, 2010.  This amendment delays the August 22, 2010 effective date of certain provisions of the CARD Act rules that impose restrictions on the fees and expiration dates for gift certificates, store gift cards, and general-use prepaid cards.

> View Full Comment Call at CUNA.org

 

> Regulatory & Legislative Resources for Council Members