MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — One CU is making it easy to transfer credit card balances to the cooperative — members simply snap a picture of their competing card's statement with a mobile phone.
That's just about all that's needed with Members 1st FCU's new mobile balance transfer app that's included in the CU's mobile banking download.
"Members do have to enter the amount they want to transfer, but then they tap a button, send it off and they're done," said EVP/CIO Jay Parrish.
Parrish explained that the $2.7 billion credit union is focused on making it simpler for members to access and use its mobile channel. Members 1st last year added mobile photo bill pay. Both applications are from Mitek.
"With both the bill pay and balance transfer apps members don't have to key in data on their smartphone, which can be difficult if you are working with several data fields," said Parrish. "I know it is for me, hitting all of those tiny keys."
Once a picture of the credit card bill is taken, the app extracts all of the information needed for the balance transfer, enters it into the CU's data processing system and then delivers the information to back-office staff.
"Our back-office process is still the same," said Parrish.
Parrish said since adding the photo bill pay and balance transfer programs, log-ins to the CU's online banking system from mobile devices has taken off. "Last December about 20% of our online banking log-ins came from a mobile device. Now it's 50%."
The credit union is boosting mobile banking participation by making all of its online banking features available via mobile and then removing "barriers — things that frustrate members or make them drop out of a process mid-stream," according to Parrish.
In fact, with the mobile balance transfer, Parrish expects the digital offers, which just began, will produce much better results than direct mail.
"No form to send in, no call center to reach, just a lot of steps are gone. Members see the offer when they go online, click on it and snap a picture. It's simple and quick and really no reason to drop out during the process."
Scott Carter, chief marketing officer at Mitek, San Diego, said the photo bill pay and balance transfer applications cater to a growing segment of members — those who only use mobile for their online banking needs.
Carter said the balance transfer application, based on Mitek's research, is expected to increase member retention and appeal to more profitable members.
"We will see how the application fares, as it is new, and how well the transferred balances stick — time will tell," he said.
