WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.-Members at Truliant FCU here have now saved $1 million through the credit union's "rainy day" savings accounts.
The $1.3-billion Truliant hit the milestone just 14 months after introducing the product, which transfers any "change" (any amount to the right of the decimal) left in a member's checking account at the end of each business day to a savings account.
"To reach $1 million in that short of a time period, we consider that a success," said Truliant's Director of Deposit Services, Donnie Peaks.
While many other financial institutions have such a product in place, Truliant's is unique in that it is totally opt-in and it is not tied to debit card usage. The credit union also mandates that members who use the service have online banking or phone teller access as well as a preferred line of credit or ChecProtect in place.
A survey of similar products at other financial institutions showed that tying card swipes to a "keep the change" type program increased the incidence of overdrafting, which was antithetical to what Truliant was trying to accomplish, Peaks explained. When tying such a service to card swipes, consumers tend to lose track of how much money is being transferred out of their checking accounts and into savings, especially for frequent debit card users.
The system Truliant has put in place is akin to simply dropping any spare change a member has in his pocket at the end of a day into a jar without any hurdles or obstacles, said Peaks.
"We wanted this to be a systematic savings program, not a way to end up increasing NSFs," he continued. "[And] we didn't want our members to have to spend to save. This allows them to save without a lot of effort and allows them to save out of habit."
More than 5,200 members, about 3% of the membership, have signed up for the service, which averages 47-54 cents per transaction.
