JACKSON, Miss. — With access to quality financial services providers a particular issue in its area, $169 million-asset Hope Credit Union tapped mobile technology and shared branching to attract new members, to the tune of more than 4,000 new members in 10 months.
Research has found nearly one-third of the U.S. population relies on alternative financial services for check cashing, payday loans, money transfers and similar products. In certain areas of the Mid South, Hope noted, the problem of a lack of access to credit unions and banks is particularly acute. Branch closures have forced consumers out of the traditional banking system, it said, leading to higher fees, limited access to funds and credit, and are a contributing force to persistent poverty levels.
The CU launched a mobile banking app in December 2012. With the help of Bluepoint Solutions' QwikDeposit ToGo, it integrated mobile remote deposit capture directly into the mobile banking app to create a "cohesive mobile experience." Hope said the integration increases members' exposure to the additional functions available within the mobile app, improving overall adoption and usage. By giving its members a way to deposit a check right from their phone, it brings the services of a HOPE branch directly to members in economically distressed areas who otherwise would not have convenient access.
Hope CEO Bill Bynum said this allows the credit union to bring new members into a trusted financial system who currently are using alternative financial services.
"Our mobile app is another way of delivering affordable banking services to families in rural and poor communities across the Mid-South," he said. "As mainstream banks close their doors in these areas, this tool puts the power and resources of a branch directly in people's hands."
Mobile banking with RDC helped the credit union add 4,126 new members in the first 10 months following its implementation. Through October, the mobile banking app has 2,150 users, and more than 1,700 remote deposits have been made.
Hope said the addition of RDC to the app led to a "significant increase" in mobile banking users - only 800 members adopted the credit union's original mobile app in more than three years of its availability.
With the addition of a new branch in Pine Bluff, Ark., Hope now has 16 branches of its own, plus it participates in a shared branching network of 5,000-plus branches nationwide.
Hope CU's efforts to bring financial services to the unbanked and underbanked have earned it recognition from the Ford Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative.
