KENT, Wash.-The best laid plans of mice, men and credit unions often go awry, such as the case of Cascade FCU offering its members an "NSF/Overdraft Fee Holiday" during December.
In looking back now on its promotion, the credit union reported the first indication of a problem came in the form of nefarious media types who assumed Cascade's move would spawn a slew of rubber checks bouncing about the Pacific Northwest. One reporter told CEO Dale Kerslake, "Your members are going to go hog wild."
"Overall it was a good idea, but there was too much misunderstanding," Kerslake told Credit Union Journal. "Three different reporters thought we were encouraging people to write bad checks, but the members didn't even know we were waiving NSFs. The only thing we did operationally was take out the $15 charge and put in $0. Other than that we handled it the way we normally would."
Cascade waived more than $14,000 in overdraft fees during December, which Kerslake said was about an average total for a month.
Despite the fact the credit union later sent notices to members who had written checks drawn on insufficient funds during the month informing them they had not been charged the usual $15, Kerslake said Cascade received almost no feedback from its members.
"Unfortunately, the people who tend to write NSFs don't read the mail, and probably didn't read the notice telling them we had waived the fee," he assessed.
Another aspect of the program was an attempt to encourage members to participate in Cascade's BALANCE financial education program. Kerslake said the number of participating members has yet to be determined as each one who agreed to enter BALANCE through the end of February will generate a $10 donation to the Children's Miracle Network.
"Our intention was to give people that needed it the most a little financial break during the holidays. It was our own economic stimulus," Kerslake recalled. "Unfortunately, it was misinterpreted as a move to encourage bad checks. We put an article in our January newsletter to try to let members know about the program."
