COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn.-The $62-million Financial One Credit Union is using a $1,000 grant from NerdWallet to build an initiative to attract younger members.
In its category of institutions of $100 millon or less in assets, the credit union won the funds from financial advice website NerdWallet.com in a "Gen Y Credit Union Contest" with a "What's Your Number" credit score education initiative.
FOCU's proposal was to place "mystery" business cards with a quick response, or QR code [a pattern of black and white squares typically used for storing URLs for reading by the camera on a smartphone] that, when scanned, would take people to a specially designed website.
Mandy Meisner, director of community outreach, told Credit Union Journal she saw the NerdWallet contest as a "great opportunity" to generate Gen Y outreach.
"We knew this was something we had to do, but had not done anything concrete yet," she explained. "The point of the contest was to engage Gen Y, so we looked at what would be attractive."
After several team brainstorming sessions, and Meisner asking friends in the 18-to-35 age group what would attract them, the decision was made to focus on credit scores-including what a credit score means, the impact it will have on their lives, and how they can improve it if they need to.
The next step was the delivery method, Meisner continued. Because the grant did not allow for, say, extensive television advertising, she said the solution had to be "local, grassroots and small.
The business cards imprinted with QR codes will be placed at a number of locations around Financial One's service area, which includes two community colleges.
"We also will put them in coffee shops and retail stores where young people frequent," she said. "Once they have the card, scanning the QR code takes people to a specialized website."
The website still is under construction, but Meisner and her team have a number of ideas in the works. These include a credit score calculator and a "real world interpretation" of what the numbers would mean.
"We want to educate in an approachable manner," she said. "We also are making sure it will not be completely exclusive to Gen Y people. If some 50 year olds grab a business card and scan the code, they will find it useful as well."
A Long-Term Project
Meisner hopes in time the website will include a blog that will feature financial advice from FOCU's staff, among other future plans she has.
"This is going to be a long-term project," she said. "The grant money is great, but I see it as just a start. Eventually we want to engage with young people, make it a two-way conversation, so they can share their financial success stories. I am really jazzed about it."
