MISSOULA, Mont. -
So good at this is the $10.3-million CU that it took first place in Callahan & Associates's Return of the Member rankings in the member service usage category for CUs between $10 and $20 million in the third quarter of 2006. MECU serves 1,515 members who work in four counties within the Montana school system, plus their family members.
Sure, some might suggest it's a whole lot easier to please 1,515 members compared to 15,515 members, but MECU President Leslie Womack said there's another side of the coin to being a "boutique" credit union, at least in MECU's case: some of her members are literally 150 miles away teaching in the spread-out Montana school system. That means members can be a good three hours' drive from the nearest branch. Womack tends to her scattered and often remote membership with lots of attention and also with technology.
"We literally know our members. We know their kids' names," Womack said. "They're known and people like to be known."
Another plus of having a teacher-based membership, is that educators are very receptive of and up to date on technology and its uses. They use it at work and often teach it to students. While MECU hasn't started online bill pay, Womack said her members wanted Internet banking and 25% of her members use it "religiously." Montana Educators' CU offers direct deposit, payroll deduction, automatic transfers, and the member favorite: VISA cash and check cards. Teachers in a small town with virtually no financial services are quick to go online at MECU's website for updates and new products and services.
"They access most of their product and services online," she said. "Our membership loves the debit card. Small areas have few options."
MECU has five full-time employees and two part-time employees who have the time to see member problems developing and can interact one-on-one. With virtually no employee turnover for more than a decade, Womack said MECU offers a safe and stable financial environment that members respond to.
"It's a very friendly atmosphere," she said.
While a town called Missoula might sound small to the rest of the nation, it has more than 50,000 residents and twice that number in the surrounding metropolitan area that has brought in banks and credit unions looking for business. A quick web search showed more than two-dozen banks and two other CUs within Missoula's city limits.
"There's a lot of competition out there. But our edge is that we know the members," Womack said.
MECU members can also get investment products with IRAs and a 5.3% certificate that ran for five months and had a $1,000 minimum deposit. The CD program brought in $2 million during 2006 and required virtually no marketing beyond the monthly member newsletter, she reported.
"We just ran an ad in the newspaper. That's all we did," she said.
MECU has $8.5 million in outstanding loans, mostly auto and second mortgage loans. Womack said MECU examines its rates each month and uses the online service RATEwatch.com to track other financial institutions in the area and matches rates with proper documentation and sometimes can offer a lower rate, depending on her liquidity. "We don't put out artificially low rates," she said.
Womack said to stay on top of the mountain for members service usage, she'll rely on technology to serve her members, calling it a "vital component" of her product and service line. The costs of online banking were coming down in cost since first appearing, she observed and that it's important for a small credit union to stay on top, but not necessary to be on the cutting edge of expensive new technology.
Still, Womack said Montana Educators' Credit Union success is based on member loyalty, not on ad campaigns or that latest online gadget.
"It's nice to know that mathematically and philosophically, it's the same thing," she said.
