New Venture Seeks To Put Local Spin On Small Biz Saturday

AUSTIN, Texas—A movement with ties to credit unions is seeking to take some of the “shop local” mojo away from American Express-branded Small Business Saturday and place it more firmly in the hands of local businesses and financial institutions.

Set to debut on Saturday, Nov. 30, Shop Local Saturday is the brainchild of Buzz Points and Fisoc. Buzz Points CEO Jay Valanju said that because that rewards program is so focused on shopping local and keeping money in local communities, “credit unions have taken it up with gusto.”

Buzz Points is a debit rewards program endorsed by CUNA that rewards cardholders for spending locally. Valanju stressed that the event is a win-win for both Buzz Points and participating CUs, since CUs can see increased interchange income by further promoting usage of their debit cards, as well as boosting ties with local businesses.

“Your members are local, your friends are local, your business is local,” he said. “If you keep money locally, half of it stays in the community, as opposed to only $20 out of every $100 [spent at national businesses. That message really resonates with the whole credit union movement.”

About a dozen CUs are currently participating in Buzz Points, according to Valanju, including Fort Community CU in Fort Atkinson, Wis., and Park City CU in Merrill, Wis.

While Buzz Points and Shop Local Saturday are national initiatives, participation—both from credit unions and local businesses—is currently centralized in the Southeast and upper Midwest. Valanju stressed that that should not deter credit unions in other parts of the country from signing on.

“We will go sign up merchants for you,” he said. “If you’re a credit union based in Nebraska where we don’t have any so far, what we’ll do after we sign a contract is go in and sign up merchants for you. We’ll collaborate for you as much as you want, otherwise we’ll turnkey it and do it all ourselves.”

While Shop Local Saturday is only a one-day affair, Valanju said that Buzz Points is working on finding new ways to expand the ways it works with CUs and local businesses, including CU cash mobs with local businesses.

“We leverage the things we’re good at,” he said. “AmEx has big national budgets. We have an unfair advantage in that we are really part and parcel of the community and the fabric of the community, and we leverage that as well.”