RALEIGH, N.C. — Just in time for holiday shopping, ElecTel Cooperative credit union rolled out another of the quirky loan promotions that have been such a success for the $40 million institution in recent years.
Dubbed "It's A Wonderful Loan," the credit union offered members loans on a 12-month term priced as low as 2.99%. The promo netted the CU $75,000 in loans over the course of 11 days, said Nancy Long, president and CEO.
"We just look for ways to have fun," Long told Credit Union Journal. "We've been running one-day loan promotions now for about two years and we just decided to pick up a theme so we can have fun with it, have fun with the marketing. And it works."
(And the advertising material created for "It's A Wonderful Loan," also suspiciously brings to mind a holiday movie classic starring Jimmy Stewart with a similar-sounding name.)
Because ElecTel is closed on Black Friday, last year it offered a "Green Wednesday" loan so members would have money for Black Friday shopping.
The credit union has also released one-day promos tied to Friday the 13th, St. Patrick's Day and other holidays. While it plans to continue the single day campaigns, Long said "we decided to stretch it longer than normal because of Christmas."
The CU engineered this promotion with the help of Your Marketing Co. and South Carolina-based marketer Bo McDonald, who helped spearhead some of ElecTel's other short-term promotions.
ElecTel Cooperative underwrote these loans using its normal underwriting criteria, according to Long, adding that the CU's members as a whole have A and B credit. There was no set loan amount, but Long said the average was $2,000 to $3,000.
Because the credit union's membership is spread throughout rural parts of Virginia and North Carolina, the quirky promos also help to capture the attention of a membership that does frequently visit the branch. As such, all applications and loans for "It's A Wonderful Loan" were processed online and over the phone.
The credit union promoted the loan via direct mail, e-mail blasts, statement stuffers, social media and more, and Long said that while the results were strong, they were "maybe a little less" than what she had expected.
"I think maybe it's because we're running that promotion along with our holiday skip-a-pay, and the folks taking advantage of the skip may not necessarily need a Christmas loan," she said. "It may be that by skipping a couple of loan payments, that may be how they're getting their Christmas money."
The silver lining is that the strong response to these kinds of promotions has created numerous cross-selling opportunities for ElecTel.
"Car loans have really come back for us — we're doing wonderful there," said Long. The CU's auto loan rates are current as low as 1.9%, and ElecTel participates in CUNA Mutual's auto recapture program, which has allowed it not only to generate auto car loans, but to increase the number of contacts it makes each year targeting loan prospects.
She said the CU is currently about 80% loaned out.
"November is usually a very, very slow loan month for us historically, and we are going to do about $1.2 million this month," she said. A normal November usually sees the CU book about $800,000 in loans. Long said she believes the strong response this year is a combination of the "It's A Wonderful Loan" offer and low rates on other products.
With that promotion wrapped up, ElecTel is now planning its next one-day promo, tentatively slated for Groundhog Day.
