Netflix doesn't have it-but an online bill payment movie here is good enough that more than one-third of the members who watch it sign up for bill pay.
Electronic bill pay services are commonly ignored by members at most credit unions-on average, fewer than 5% of homebanking members use the service, according to Callahan and Associates.
But at AEA FCU, nearly 30% of Internet banking members actively use bill pay, according to Randy Pettus, branch manager at the $310-million institution.
"The bill pay video is very professional and explains how easy the program is to use," Pettus explained.
In an effort to promote bill pay, AEA has featured the flick at its website for six months. Since then, 35% of the members who watch the movie decide to pay their bills online, Pettus said.
"The demand for an online bill pay demo came to us in direct conversations with our financial institution clients," said John Insko, chief revenue officer of iPay Technologies, LLC, of Elizabethtown, Ky, which provides AEA's bill payment service.
"The results of adding the demo to the service are tremendous," Insko continued. "A $200-million credit union had 72 members enroll in just two weeks, whereas another client tripled bill pay sign-up. On average, nearly 40% of the people who view the demo click to enroll in bill payment."
Like most great movies, the success of AEA's bill pay movie has spawned two sequels: an online banking movie and an e-statements movie, Pettus said.
The bill pay adoption rate at AEA can't be explained away by demographic information, Pettus continued.
"Our membership is largely Hispanic and elderly winter visitors, not typically those you might think are strong adopters of online services," he said. "But we're finding that our members are using our online services more and more."
The movies tackle the biggest obstacle with online services, Pettus asserted. "Members will sign up for bill pay or online banking, but they'll never actually use them.
"The videos are teasers that get members interested in using the programs," he explained. "They last about 45 seconds, and they're not training videos.
"And they're better than banner ads because they bring the member into a multimedia experience instead of having members just sit there and read," he continued.
The credit union flashes a banner advertisement for the e-movies at the top of its home page on the Internet, said Pettus. After a member clicks on the banner, a movie menu pops up along with an online bill pay enrollment button.
AEA representatives ensure that online enrollments are processed within one day, Pettus said.
"You can't have more than a day's lag time when someone enrolls if you want the member to use the service," he said. "Once we receive the enrollment, it takes less than a minute for us to validate and process it."
AEA features additional marketing and education alongside the e-movies, Pettus said. Bill Pay is offered free of charge, and the CU provides face-to-face training sessions, statement inserts, cross-selling at branches and roadside billboards, as well as lobby advertisements and plasma screen presentations.
Next year, the credit union will add member-training movies to the online menu, Pettus added.
AEA's e-services movies are provided for broadband or dial-up users by ClickVue, a developer of Web-based tutorials, in partnership with iPay.
"This is impressive, high-speed stuff that retains the look and feel of the credit union," said Pettus. "And the fee was a no-brainer."
CUs pay from $750 to $2400 to configure the movies and from $600 to $3,000 for annual licensing, depending on asset size, according to iPay.
CUJ Resources
For additional info:
* AEA FCU www.aeafcu.org
* iPay Technologies www.ipaymybills.com
* ClickVue www.clickvue.com
