SAN DIEGO-During the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues' Annual Meeting and Convention, Credit Union Journal asked, "Do you have a formal switch kit or do you simply have procedures in place to greet a walk-in new member?," and "How is your credit union doing for Bank Transfer Day?" Editor's Note: responses were given before Bank of America waved the white flag and cancelled its $5-per-month fee for debit card usage
Anna Tellez, president and CEO
Antioch Community FCU, Antioch, Calif.
We do not have a formal switch kit. For anyone who comes in we do a personal sit-down with them. We explain our services and all the different types of loans we have. There are more businesses opening up in downtown Antioch, so we are seeing more foot traffic this year even before the idea of Bank Transfer Day came up.
We are working toward being open on Nov. 5. We are not normally open on Saturdays but we want to be ready in case people come in.
Eileen Rivera, president and CEO
SkyOne FCU, Hawthorne, Calif.
We have had a switch kit online for some time. It allows us to take a membership application online including background checks. The new members fill out their current bank information, including routing and account numbers, plus their loans. They can print a custom letter to give to their bank to close their accounts.
We usually are not open on Saturdays, but I don't want to be the one who isn't open on Bank Transfer Day. Our member service reps can open new accounts and we will have loan officers ready, as well. We don't get a lot of foot traffic but we will have plenty of people at the call center. We want to make a good impression.
David Silvestri, CEO
Central State CU, Stockton, Calif.
We are working on putting together a switch kit and we are staffing up in case there is any reaction to Bank Transfer Day.
Hank Barrett, president and CEO
Valley First CU, Modesto, Calif.
We have a switch kit in branch. We get electronic access to transfer over the money because that is the hardest thing for new members to do. We are working on a 0% advance loan for 60 days so their money can transition without them being impacted. We push very hard to cross-sell. Our data system does prompting and we have a sales manager now who is helping create a culture of sales.
We are looking at our staffing levels on Bank Transfer Day. We are in a quasi-rural community so we are examining our advertising options, including radio and newspapers. We are expecting a fair amount of people coming in. When opportunity knocks you have to be ready and it is knocking.
Gary Perez, president and CEO
USC CU, Los Angeles
We just signed up with oFlows to do loan origination online. We are working on our switch kit because it is too cumbersome. We have to improve it an awful lot because this is an unprecedented opportunity for credit unions.
We are not open on Saturdays so we are making it Bank Transfer Month. We will have a number of special events all month long. We are expecting a number of new members because young people are engaged and like credit unions. They are concerned about what is going on in financial services.
Harold Roundtree, CEO
UNCLE CU, Livermore, Calif.
We are not open on that Saturday but we have put something on our website highlighting the fact we have free checking. We are inviting people to come by any day of the month. We need to push our differentiator when we get a chance to talk to potential new members.
We wanted to be open for Bank Transfer Day but we have a board planning meeting scheduled for Nov. 5. But we will have newspaper ads inviting people to come join.
