SAN DIEGO-USE Credit Union is getting back to its roots — and seeing positive results.
The $725-million CU was chartered to serve employees of the San Diego branch of the California Division of Highways in 1936, and later became known as University and State Employees Credit Union. Like many in this competitive credit union market, it expanded to a five-county community charter; now, however, it's concentrating again on SEGs.
Lloyd Trilling, VP and director of SEG development, told Credit Union Journal that in 2012 it is deepening the relationships with SEGs that it really began emphasizing in 2011.
"Like everybody else in California, the last two or three years have been difficult," he said. "We were in no-growth mode, and in fact shrunk a little while we rebuilt our capital. Now we want to grow."
The first step, Trilling continued, was to renew its ties with its sponsor groups, including one its original groups: university employees.
"Those people are the ones who understand the value of membership," he said. "Many of these members have six or seven services, but because of turnover there are a lot of people on campuses that have not heard about our credit union."
Back To School
In 2012, Trilling wants to go back to the universities and state employee groups USE serves, as well as community colleges and trade colleges it has added to its field of membership over the years.
"We have expertise in that field and we are one of the premier credit unions in terms of serving these employees," he declared. "We have been on campus at UCSD [University of California, San Diego] for 39 years, San Diego State for 43 years, and [University of California] Berkeley for 34 years."
USE CU's primary method of outreach is educational seminars, with topics ranging from real estate lending to investments to retirement. Trilling said educating the credit union's members is "very important to us, and more importantly they see value in this."
"A lot of credit unions are guilty of not telling the credit union story enough," he asserted. "I was a bank manager for many years, so I can tell people I've worked both sides and there is a difference. I joke I am a recovering banker. We tell them there is a difference in being a member, not a customer."
Among the messages USE CU passes along during its seminars: the credit union educates its members before they take out a mortgage, it does not charge the same fees banks do, its credit cards do not have the same abusive practices those of banks have, and, thanks to shared branching, it is as convenient as a bank.
"Many people are not aware of shared branching," he said. "When I go to do a lunch-and-learn seminar I take along a list of all the shared branching locations in their neighborhood. The overall message is we are the trusted financial advisor for our members."
Corporate Partnerships
Another selling point Trilling pitches during seminars is USE's partnerships with several companies to provide discounts to its members, including Costco, Aflac, Walgreens and others. Prudential California Realty provides discounted real estate services to USE CU members who are buying or selling property.
"We do a good job of working with many recognizable companies to offer some pretty substantial savings to our members," he said. "We were the first credit union to work with Costco's auto buying service. Costco shares our commitment to member service, which is why that partnership works well. These partnerships differentiate us. They show why it pays to be in a credit union. A lot of times long-time members are surprised to find out all the benefits that are available to them. A lot of times people open an account and then do transactions online and never find out about all the services we offer."
Relationship Building
Trilling said he has been calling all the schools USE serves to set up meetings with decision-makers, to be followed by on-campus meetings with department heads. The goal is to get in front of faculty and staff with a seminar on a topic of the group's choosing.
"There are many new faces on the campus every year. The students obviously, but also there is turnover on faculty and staff," he said. "Meeting with them is the best way to tell people about our credit union and its services. We want to do relationship building on campuses. When we do a lunch-and-learn we always do a short commercial about USE. We have a brochure listing all the seminars we do, and then department heads invite us in to talk to a group."
The goal for 2012 is to do even better tracking of who is joining the credit union due to business development efforts, Trilling said. An additional goal is to increase the number of services each member has.
"We want to have a higher percentage of members who use us as their primary financial institution. Those members become our best source of referrals."
In addition to reaching out to campuses, Trilling plans to reconnect with the state employee groups USE serves, with Cal Trans and the Department of Motor Vehicles being the two with the longest standing ties.
"We want to go back to these groups and renew the relationships because there are many new people there and we have added a lot of technology in the last five years. I tell a story about why it pays to be part of the credit union. I have a history and a track record to talk about."
