TALAHASSEE, Fla. — Personal service combined with a relentless advertising blitz are the dual engines driving Florida Rural Electric CU's success.
The $18-mllion credit union, which took second place in its asset size in the "Member Service Usage" category of Callahan & Associates' Return of the Member rankings, does not have any walk-in traffic, so it relies instead on its representatives at its SEG's facilities as well as its electronic and over the phone services.
"We still believe in the old philosophy of people interacting. Whenever a member calls here we have a real live human being answering the phones. We don't have any automation," said CEO Kenn Rice. "The majority of our members can call us we know who it is by their voices.
Complimenting the live phone service is the work by the credit union reps at members' offices who answer questions and also handle virtually any transaction. With down-line printers at many of the co-op locations, members can even get through the loan process at their work locations
"Everything we do pretty much is electronic," Rice pointed out. "When we do loans we can print all the documents there and all they do is gather the information and give it to the member. The only thing they can't do at the location is receive cash and make deposits." The credit union relies on its shared ATM network for deposits and cash withdrawals.
Bringing In New Members
Recently the Florida Rural Electric stepped up its efforts to bring in new members and it did so the only way it knows how-speaking directly to potential members at the electric co-ops' facilities.
"What we wanted to do last year was to grow not only assets but also to grow members as well. We got out and went to were the employees worked, talked with them, answered their questions - that was the driving force behind it all," Rice explained.
To get its message out, the credit union used its SEG connections to send out 3x8 advertisements a couple of times per quarter to members and prospective members alike via their paycheck envelopes.
"They are graciously inserting those ads into the paychecks and that has really gotten the word out about the credit union," said vice president Rhonda Pigott. "Most of the co-ops CEOs or senior managers are on our board of directors and they heavily support the credit union and push it. The only thing I had to do was call and ask the credit union reps and ask if they would put in the inserts and they said OK."
The crash on Wall Street also sent members scrambling to the credit union to help with their retirement planning. Their IRAs are being shopped against the co-ops 401k programs with many members choosing the CU's savings options. Rice said their rates play a key role in bringing in new deposits.
"We left rates up a little bit high. Management took the decision that we would suffer with our ROA and have more money returning to the members."
Members are also moving their credit cards over to the credit union at a rapid rate as interest rates on the cards have soared recently. The CU saw its portfolio jump by $150,000 to $200,000 once it began advertising its card rates.
