RICHMOND, Va. - It's unusual to find a coin-counting machine in a U.S. credit union-only about 25% offer the service-yet automated coin-counting helps keep members from wandering off to other financial institutions, according to two credit unions.
"Before we had any type of coin-counting machines, members would have to roll the coin themselves or take their coin to other places for automated coin-counting," explained John Campbell, manager, automated delivery systems at Virginia CU here.
"Lots of families with children come to our branches year after year with coins," he continued. "They don't want to have to roll the coins, and we don't want to turn them away."
People can choose to have their coins automatically counted-at 600 per minute-and receive a voucher to redeem for cash or for deposit to a Virginia CU account at the teller line.
Virginia CU's machines counted more than $133,000 in coin last year, and that amount should increase as the CU continues to place coin-counting machines into each new branch, according to Campbell.
To date, the $1.6-billion CU has installed nine coin-counting kiosks offered by Bellevue, Wash.-based Coinstar Inc. All the CU had to do was provide a phone line and a power outlet for each counter.
Coinstar maintains the machines, so Virginia CU doesn't have to worry about "overburdening the staff with maintenance duties," Campbell said. The credit union pays an 8.9% fee per transaction to Coinstar.
Two of the nine kiosks are Coinstar's Madison model, "part of a quieter line with a different look based on the expressed needs of credit unions and banks," said Gretchen Marks, Coinstar's corporate vice president, marketing.
At PBC CU in West Palm Beach, Fla., members use a single De La Rue Cash Systems self-service QuickChange machine, which counted about $100,000 in coins in 2005, Judith Dugo, special projects manager at the $104-million credit union told Credit Union Journal.
Both PBC and Virginia CUs said they are making the experience all the more unique for people by undercutting the local coin-counting competition.
PBC owns its machine, which counts at a rate of 2,500 coins per minute, and offers the service to members for free, whereas other financial institutions and grocery stores charge patrons up to 10%, Dugo said.
Virginia CU still charges for the service, but not as much as others do. "Our members felt we should offer the service for a lesser fee than the grocery stores, so in response to our members, we lowered the service fee from 8.9% to 3% in 2007," said Campbell.
That means the CU absorbs 5.9% of the 8.9% fee charged by Coinstar and has to pay telecommunications and power costs for the machines, as well. "These are expenses we are willing to incur to provide these types of user friendly services to our members," Campbell said.
Area groceries charge people 8.9% and credit union service centers charge 4%, Campbell added.
Only 25% of U.S. credit unions offer automated coin counting, including self-service and back-office, according to a 2004 CUNA report. A 2003 Hebert Research study said that more than 80% of Coinstar users make a special trip to supermarkets to use the machines.
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For info on this story:
* www.pbccu.coop
* www.vacu.org
* www.coinstar.com(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/
