KOKOMO, Ind.-Remote check deposit giveth, and it taketh away.
Though its convenience makes it a strong financial tool, remote check deposit can end up hurting a credit union's ability to cross-sell products when members opt to use it instead of visiting a branch. But one credit union is turning that negative into a source of strength and improving its bottom-line.
"I think (remote deposit) is a double-edged sword in some cases," said Diana Tenbrook, marketing vp for Solidarity Community FCU. "(But) this is what we decided to do to attract new members."
Remote deposit has become a staple for many credit unions with member businesses and individuals, as it cuts down on courier costs and allows for greater time flexibility because remote deposits can be made any time of any day.
Solidarity has launched a full court press to spread the technology to as many members as possible and is using it as a way to bring in additional members.
DeposZip's Popularity Is Growing
Eastern Corporate FCU's DeposZip is fast becoming one of the credit union world's most popular remote deposit capture solutions, the corporate said. Since it's launch in November, the service has registered about 17,500 members, and has processed nearly $43.5 million in checks. After signing Metro CU and Air Academy FCU at the end of last month, EasCorp's brainchild serves 23 credit unions and five of the top 100 CUs in assets.
"The response has been really as we expected. We anticipated the popularity of the service because it solves a number of problems for credit unions," said George Dow, assistant vp for EasCorp.
Tenbrook said the $158-million Solidarity created promotional videos, sent out direct-mail pieces and purchased a list of 11,000 non-members in the area to spread the word. The idea is to open up new avenues for membership growth without having to construct new branches; remote deposit combined with online banking allows members to have a full service credit union without stepping foot inside a facility.
"We see it as a really way for credit unions to expand their branch footprints," said Dow. "Part of that goal has to do with retaining and providing access to existing members, but the other part is expansion to those you might not otherwise serve."
An Alternative To Increasing Branch Hours
"We have to compete with all of the branches of the big banks out here. They have a branch on every corner. The corner we are on has two banks and a credit union," added Tenbrook, when asked why Solidarity is pursuing this strategy. "Banks and credit unions have not really extended their hours. If we do that it will really cost us a lot of money with the staffing and security. This way we don't have to expand our hours. We would like to keep our branches minimal and still offer our members something that would make it convenient to be a member here."
In conjunction with the multi-faceted marketing push, Solidarity is giving away five check scanners in October and November; winners will be selected from a pool of members who open a DeposZip account. During its initial "limited basis" offering, more than 150 new users signed on for remote deposit at Solidarity in just a six-week period.
According to Tenbrook, employees at local businesses who use DeposZip are attracted to its convenience and have been enticed to join Solidarity because they see the credit union as being on the cutting edge of technology.
And because DeposZip's consumer model, which operates on the same platform as the business model, works with regular desktop scanners, there is no cost to the member to sign up and use the service.
"It's something that is becoming more and more common for the average everyday consumer," Dow said, pointing out that a large percentage of American households have scanners built in to their printers. "This is not something we see as an expense to the member; it is leveraging technology most folks already have."
Remote deposit also fills in the last gap left by online banking, Dow added.
"The deposit capability is really the one thing that has been missing," he said, noting that many credit union members never step foot in a brick and mortar facility and do all their banking on the Internet. "We have seen deposits literally coming from all over the world. We've seen deposits coming from Korea, Australia, all over Europe. It's just been amazing."
