CHICAGO American consumers have come to expect some sort of reward with the plastic cards they used, as evidenced by the barrage of non-stop advertising by the national card programs.
Credit unions should not be intimidated by those programs, according to two analysts, who believe CUs actually have a leg up in one area: local rewards.
“Rewards are expected now, and not just on credit cards,” said Andrew Gates, director of strategic partnerships with RewardsNOW. “Deals and offers are here to stay, and they need to get more personal. I really thought Groupon was going away. They’re not.”
Speaking to the CO-OP THINK Conference here, Gates, along with Heidi Young, director of sales with RewardsNOW, noted 63% of Americans have stated they are at least somewhat likely to switch FIs if another FI provided valuable, no-strings-attached offers and theirs did not.
“Coming home and being local is a good feeling for people. It feels green’ to go local; that trend is on its way up,” said Gates.
RewardsNOW, which works with several hundred credit unions, has had good success establishing merchant-funded rewards programs with local merchants. It uses transactional and member data to narrow down the merchants that should be targeted and participate.
“The fun part is taking this from the national retailers and bringing it local,” said Gates. “CO-OP has launched Shop Main Street. It takes a merchant funded program and brings it to your community.
