MADISON, Wis. - Members actually read the homebanking blog at UWCU-100 people subscribe to it, and the main page gets 50 to 100 visits per day, according to Eric Bangerter, director, Internet services at the $1-billion credit union here.
The blog, dubbed "Source Code," gets as many page hits as the CU's main products, including auto loans and credit cards, he said. "So many members are using the Web branch and are passionate about it."
The blog is consistently in the Top 10 content page-views, said Bangerter. "I get a ton of feedback from members. I get the most feedback of any channel or area in the credit union by quite a bit."
Not every credit union blogger is able to connect with readers at all, much less with members. Indeed, Kirk Letourneau, IT director at $825-million SELCO Community CU in Eugene, Ore, said he wonders sometimes if he's just talking to himself at his online journal, Read My Mind, which focuses on credit union technology. "I'm glad to know someone out there sees my blog," he said, after Credit Union Journal contacted him for an interview.
Source Code, meanwhile, describes enhancements, significant or trivial, to UWCU's Internet banking service, said Bangerter, who is also the blog's author. The blog attempts to speak directly to online members and employees, he said,
"The focus is pretty narrow; it's just what we're doing with online services for our members," Bangerter said. "If you use the Web branch, then the blog is something direct for you to read. I don't know of another credit union blog that's dedicated to this narrow of a topic."
Twice a month, Bangerter said he posts a quick four or five sentences on a homebanking feature and illustrates it with a visual, usually a screenshot. "There's not a ton of minutia." A recent post announced that members could add a link on their Apple iPhone or iPod Touch home screens to the credit union's mobile banking service.
The narrow focus may be why Source Code has attracted a loyal readership. "The norm is that a blog is very broad and authored by different people," said Bangerter. "And not every article in that blog is pertinent to every reader. Sometimes the entries are more about the author."
But it's more than the topic that makes Source Code a page-turner, continued Bangerter. "Source Code is the voice of one person-me-not the entire credit union. The best blogs are coming from the voice of one person, like Matt Kotz at Google. In a way, he represents the user experience as he comments on what Google is doing. That clicks with me."
To maintain a strong sense of voice, UWCU doesn't filter Source Code through the marketing department or any committees. "I'm not told what to post, though marketing helps me sometimes," said Bangerter.
Source Code addresses all those daily goings-on at the Web branch that might otherwise fall through the cracks, Bangerter said. "Not every development is worthy of a marketing blast. One of my goals with Source Code is to document these smaller changes and get the word out to members."
Nearly 60% of the membership logs-in to the Web branch every month, he said.
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