CINCINNATI — Members and employees alike utilizing technological efficiencies has helped Cincinnati Ohio Police FCU steadily increase its walletshare.
CEO Tina Wocher pointed out that Cincinnati Ohio Police FCU has "heavily invested" in technology for over a decade and the dividends have been paying off ever since. Indeed, that investment helped propel propelled the $72 million credit union nearly to the top of Callahan's Return of the Member member service usage rankings.
Online banking and automated lending decisioning, features that are just now becoming commonplace in the CU world, have been available to members here since the late 1990s, giving the credit union a huge advantage over its local competitors by making its services much more convenient.
"If you walk in for a loan, you never wait," Wocher added. "There is someone always waiting to serve you. You can come in for a car loan and walk out in 15-20 minutes. It's that efficient."
With shorter windows in which to cross-sell products, COPFCU staffers are rigorously trained to quickly sift through a member's credit report and current accounts when he or she is applying for a loan. Many times employees are able to offer additional products or different loan types and members have no qualms with re-applying if there is a good deal in it for them.
"The members are very interested if we can save them money," said Wocher.
Even in a tough economic environment, the 74-year-old institution is sticking to its guns and actually making lending products more attractive. Home equity and first mortgage loans are always popular cross-sells and credit cards are actually very appealing to many members now.
"The thing that has really promoted our credit cards was the 0% rate for 13 months. Our members love that." Wocher noted. "We're not decreasing people's credit lines. We're not decreasing their home equity lines of credit."
Further aiding in walletshare deepening is the credit union's loyalty program which gives members with more products and services at the institution a better deal on lending and deposit rates. Wocher makes sure her credit union has very competitive savings rates by surveying the competition in trade analysis publications and ensuring that Cincinnati Ohio Police FCU has some of the highest rates in the country. Those attractive rates coupled with a rough economy are driving deposits higher, Wocher explained.
"I have such an influx of money I've never seen it before in the 10 years I've been here," she said. "Mostly people are putting it into money markets, short term CDs, [and] they are keeping more in their checking accounts-nothing long-term."
And even though its more aggressive marketing efforts appear to be paying off in terms of the bottom line as the Cincinnati Ohio Police FCU reported a modest $479,000 in net income in Q4 despite high unemployment in the rust belt, the credit union has no plans to change its policies or even start a business-lending program.
"We don't try to be everything to everybody," said Wocher. "We have found our little niche and that's what we stick to."
