EL SEGUNDO, Calif.-It's been eight months since Xerox FCU became Xceed Financial CU, and what does it have to show for it? Measurable increases in both employee and member satisfaction, lending and new membership, XFCU is reporting.
"Any time an organization changes its name it is good to be prepared for negative reactions, but our SEGs, our employees, our members... everyone has been very positive," said Kathryn Davis, SVP-marketing. "We have seen a 2% increase in our associate satisfaction survey, and a 3.4% increase in member satisfaction...We are very pleased with that."
Xceed Financial CU has seen an increase in business over Xerox FCU, Davis reported. Loans have had year-over-year growth of $55 million. The first branch to be remodeled and relocated following the rebrand had a 25% increase in membership, a 2% increase in loans and a 230% increase in savings.
CEO Teresa Freeborn said everyone in management is proud of the fact Xceed FCU is "leading the pack" among its peers on the loan side.
"Even though we are in Southern California, we are not being hit by the problems other credit unions have," she said. "We have one mortgage delinquent and no foreclosures. We are diversified geographically, with 40% of our business in Rochester, N.Y., where there was no real estate bubble. Also, we are fairly conservative in our underwriting standards and don't give people loans they can't afford.
"There are all sorts of statistics showing things have improved year-over-year, but we can't attribute all of it to the name change," Freeborn continued. "We reinvented the credit union along with the name change. We introduced business services, remodeled branches and launched new communications vehicles to talk with our members. But, the name change was a key piece of the rebranding-it helped launch a new culture."
Of course, every name change has its naysayers, but some of those who wrote a negative e-mail in response to Xerox FCU's March 31 move to Xceed Financial CU received a surprise-a personal reply from the CEO, who has gone through many CU name changes.
"This was the easiest of any I've gone through. There were some naysayers, and some wrote some very nasty e-mails, but we responded with an e-mail to every one of them-and we've won some of them over."
Davis said people "were floored that there were responses back from Teresa that addressed their specific issues. We didn't just use a boilerplate reply."
The name change was prompted by the extraordinary name recognition that comes with the Xerox brand. The name is so well known, management reasoned, a credit union that also serves numerous other employee groups must take steps to let those SEGs know they have access to the credit union, also. Xceed Financial CU currently serves 201 SEGs, including 12 that have been brought in this year.
Xceed Financial recently opened two new branches: one in San Jose, Calif., and another in Rochester, N.Y. Freeborn said the $760 million credit union is making a "huge commitment" to Rochester, San Jose and its headquarters, El Segundo.
"Those are our priority markets," she declared. "We are in seven states, but we are focusing on those three markets. That doesn't mean we say goodbye to our other markets, but we are not putting our expansion dollars there.
"I am a marketer, so at the end of the day I look to stick to our vision," Freeborn continued. "We are not a community credit union; we have wonderful relationships with Xerox and our other SEGs. We focus on being a workplace credit union. Our main office is smack dab in the middle of an industrial park in El Segundo. It is working well for us."
Added Davis: "As we've developed our strategic plan, everything new is checked to make sure it is aligned to that vision. We are always looking at how we can make the workplace vision come to life so we can serve our members at their workplace. We are very happy with the success we've had on that front this year."
Even before the economic downturn, Xceed was developing a marketing campaign featuring a costumed character who would "save the day" for cash-strapped members. "Numbers Guy" is a superhero who not only appears in videos, print ads and direct mail, and participates in business development calls.
"Numbers Guy addresses consumers' concerns about the economy and lets people know we are their trusted financial advisor," she explained. "We have fun with this super hero character who comes in and saves the day. We have a campaign named 'Fear Not' that features him."
Originally Reported In CU Journal: Feb. 5, 2008
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