YORK, Penn.-New business was slow but steady here early on Bank Transfer Day, as First Capital FCU saw three new members join within the first hour.
"We're a $100-million credit union; to have three people in here so far is a good turnout for us," said Bill Pacacha, VP of member relations, who spoke to Credit Union Journal on the morning of Nov. 5. "We're hoping for more, but at this point we've had some fairly good response."
The 19,000-member credit union ran a "Kiss Your Bank Goodbye" ad campaign in the days leading up to the event, including handing out free old-fashioned coin purses at a local mall. Inside each coin purse was a small note about the difference between banks and CUs. Pacacha said that new members had been coming in lately as a result of increased awareness of CUs, as well as Bank Transfer Day.
"Some of them aren't saying 'I'm coming over specifically for Bank Transfer Day because I'm angry at the banks,'" noted Pacacha. "They don't announce themselves that way."
Because the event fell on a Saturday and the Fed was closed, funds weren't able to be transferred until Monday, but Pacacha said "it doesn't effect us. If they want to write us a check from the other institution, we'll accept it and deposit it." New members come in on Saturdays all the time, he said, and Nov. 5 was no different.
Pacacha said that one of the most enlightening parts of the event was educating new members about the credit union message, which he said doesn't always get conveyed as well as it should. "It's been an eye-opening experience for the people on the differences they see and to see how competitive we are," he said. "People just don't understand credit unions and how we're here for the people, and how our products and services and pricing differ. It's amazing-people will pay through the gazoo all day long at the bank and never reach out sometimes to find out what the difference is at the credit union."
The VP expressed optimism that the combined effects of enhanced CU presence in the media, the "Kiss Your Bank Goodbye" campaign and Bank Transfer Day would make a difference in the long run.
"It's just an overall long-term effect of educating people," he said. "A year from now you say 'Jeez, are we up in membership?' and you would hope that the answer is yes-emphatically."
