MIDDLETOWN, R.I. — To make a more personal connection with members, The People's Credit Union offers a personalized debit/credit card program that has attracted hundreds of responses.
"We saw an opportunity to offer our members a unique way and personal way to interact with our brand," said The People's CU Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Amy Martel. "In an industry where everyone is competing with similar products and services, offering a customizable debit card at a very reasonable cost made sense. And besides, it's fun."
In May 2014, the $392 million credit union adopted Shoreline Business Solutions' myCard and MakeItMine debit card program. Now members can images from vacation photos to pictures of the family dog to personalize their cards.
"Shoreline and People's Credit Union worked closely together to make sure all the set-ups occurred in a timely, organized manner and were fully tested prior to going live with the new offering to members of the credit union," said Bertrand Knopf, senior vice president of Secure Transactions for North America at Gemalto, a vendor that partners with Shoreline Business Solutions. "Shoreline also assisted People's with marketing initiatives and web strategies to best promote custom cards throughout the community."
Martel explained that the credit union, which serves more than 30,000 members, offered its employees myCard for free debit before rolling out the product to members to help iron out any bugs while also ensuring employees were thoroughly familiar with the new offering. Additionally, free myCards were offered to the credit union's Youth Advisory Board, an often-tapped resource for feedback and perspective, especially valuable for getting a more youthful take.
"This strategy provided an added level of product engagement, beyond training, before the full launch," said Martel. "People's marketing collateral was designed to create an emotional response. Copy was kept light and succinct and imagery was repeated in posters, standalone counter cards, rack cards, e-blasts, website/online banking and social media."
Over the last six months, Martel said that more than 300 members have used the service and he expects that number to increase.
