BOULDER, Colo. - For less than the cost of a direct mailing, BME FCU is getting its name out in the community while providing the tech-savvy area of northwest Colorado with free wireless Internet service.
"I think it is an extremely valuable e-marketing tool," said Jeff Recker, VP-information technology. "And it is also a way to give back to the community-something that people will really use."
The CU first established the free WiFi network in its home city back in early April, and expanded coverage to Lafayette later that month. Users are directed to a hotspot homepage with links to entertainment, dining and events in the area featured prominently below a BME advertisement every time they log onto the network. The CU also has a handful of advertisements on the page for local businesses and non-profit organizations.
A number of SEGs have offered to use their locations to expand the WiFi network. Each hotspot covers about three square city blocks; there are six hotspots up and running now, with more planned for the future.
"We have some groups that have hot spot locations for us on their building and they see the benefit of having it there," said CEO Ann Babiak. "We hope to pick up more business relationships as time passes. That's always been part of our goal." Babiak said BME staffers began thinking about creating a WiFi network by placing hot spots at ATMs in densely populated areas more than a year ago to build interest in the community and create a unique identity.
A Captive Audience
"You really have a captive audience and you also have people out there depending on you in a way they didn't depend on you in the past," she pointed out, adding many people who use the service have never once stepped foot in a branch. "We are educating those people about credit unions, what a credit union is all about, who we service-and I think that is pretty important. It creates an instant good feeling about the credit union."
A handful of other credit unions across America offer free WiFi in select areas near their bases of operations, but both Babiak and Recker see the current iteration of their network as being in its "infant stages." The CEO suggested other credit unions at least examine the possibility of creating a wireless Internet network, noting that the more she investigated the prospect, the more she became convinced it was doable even for one of the smallest credit unions in the state, as BME's assets total about $54 million with a 7,400 person membership. "We think it can impact other credit unions and it can impact the community," said Babiak.
The free WiFi also allows current members to take advantage of the credit union's online services while they are in the downtown area. Recker said many members are extremely technologically savvy and "love online banking. This is a way to give back to them and potentially a way to bring new members in, too."
While BME is still working on a way to better track both its ROI and the number of users on the system, the CU does check out how many people are online about twice a day when it logs into the hot spot routers. Recker said that the network is seeing traffic increase by about 10% every month.
"This is still in the early stages, it's hard to measure at this point," Babiak said when asked what the return is on the free WiFi service. "I would imagine in another six to 12 months we'll be able to measure what this is doing for the credit union and the community as a whole."(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/
