BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-With just 45% of the average credit union's members using its checking account as a primary checking service, Dennis Dollar says it's great to see CUs aggressively going after this product in 2013.
"Credit unions are making great progress in marketing the most profitable of all accounts, the checking account," said the principal partner at Dollar Associates. "There were over four million new credit union checking accounts opened in the last eighteen months-a record number. We believe this trend will continue and credit unions will continue to look for ways to make their checking account marketing more innovative and to make their accounts more marketable."
Earned rewards for increased debit usage and ACH activity are translating into higher checking interest rates, refunded foreign ATM fees and even "no-hold" deposit credit, observed Dollar. "Credit unions are no longer playing defense when it comes to checking accounts, having felt they were trailing the market for several decades."
With interchange fee income under attack and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau targeting overdraft fees, credit unions are in a position to make up for in volume some of what they may lose in fee income per transaction, offered the former NCUA chairman.
Some credit unions are bundling credit card usage into the rewards programs for their checking accounts. This is an aggressive change of pace for many credit unions that have taken a 'come-what-may' approach to checking and credit card marketing, and it is one that should pay great dividends over the next few years.
