WICHITA, Kans.-Thanks to its strategy of not chasing hot money, Meritrust Credit Union expects much of its member-retention efforts this year will focus on those who have joined via indirect lending.
CEO Bob Corwin isn't expecting a great deal of member runoff. "It would have been easy to go out last year and chase rate and attract a considerable amount of deposits. But we opted not to do that. We were very disciplined in how we went about our growth, more about core products, like checking and share drafts, in light of all the stresses on capital and earnings."
Instead, the 62,000-member MCU has continued to emphasize indirect auto lending, and has had success turning what are traditionally viewed as "one-and-done" members who never develop a relationship with their credit union into multi-account households by promoting a .25% loan rate discount for taking checking and direct deposit. "When new members join through a dealer, we contact them within 30 days and tell them we'll reduce their loan if they take a checking account in the first 60 days," Corwin said.
At press time the $650-million Meritrust offered 4.39% APY for borrowers with the higher-end FICO scores, before the 25-basis-point reduction.
Corwin added that Meriwest follows up with credit card and IRA offers, and monitors members' financial conditions.
"We reach out to determine what their situation is," Corwin explained. "We keep in touch with what our members are experiencing, see if they have any new problems, and if there is anything else we can do to help them through this economic cycle. I think that sets us apart from the banks."
