SAN FRANCISCO - A high-yielding certificate from Patelco Credit Union has resulted in a significant inflow of new members and new funds.
Alison Jones, SVP-marketing with the $4.1-billion Patelco, explained the credit union has been offering a certificate to new members that carries an introductory rate of 7% APY for 12 months, with a maximum investment of $1,000.
“We initiated this CD in June 2007, but we did not actively push it,” she recalled. “It was a word-of-mouth tool to get new members. It was attractive, but not overwhelming. Historically, we have been a high rate payer on certificates, so we often have had high-rate certificates for short periods.”
Patelco began promoting the 7% CD via newspaper ads in February and saw a huge jump in new business, Jones reported.
She said 20% of new members opened a New Member CD before the promotion, compared to 40% after the print advertising campaign began.
In addition to print, Patelco developed a radio ad for branch openings in February, and Jones said it promoted the New Member CD as a traffic-driver for the openings.
Those marketing efforts, combined with the attractive rate, have paid off, Jones assessed. From the second week of February through the end of the first week of March, new members opened 1,149 accounts, compared to 580 in the previous four weeks. Because of this success, there is no scheduled ending date for the New Member CD.
“A 200% increase in members opening CDs by day, and a doubling of new members opening CDs, shows this is a success,” she said. “We will continue the advertising campaign indefinitely as a tool to drive new members to branches to promote other new products and services. We use direct mail to let our existing members know about new products and services.”
