Personal URL For Every Member Boosts Response

GREENVILLE, S.C. - A new service is offering a personalized URL for every member targeted in lending promotions as a means of boosting response rates. Credit unions that have launched the tool, called PURLS (Personal URL System) are seeing response rates of 1% or higher, said CU Exceed, which has designed the system.

How does it work? Members first receive a direct-mail postcard inviting them to visit a personal website (www.janemember.mycreditunion.com). Once logged on, the visitor is greeted by name and asked to complete an online survey fully customizable by the credit union.

The survey component of PURLS includes trigger questions that give the user the option of having a credit union representative contact them directly. The system automatically generates an instant e-mail or text message to alert a loan officer or other designated employee.

"We knew exactly when our members received the postcards because we received a 1% response rate and 12 loan requests in six hours on a Saturday," said Sarasota Municipal Employees CU President Elaine Karins. The Florida-based credit union was the first of four credit unions to launch PURLS, CU Exceed said.

According to CU Exceed, the $19-million credit union received a 16% response rate for the six-week promotion period that generated more than 100 requests for loan and checking information. SMECU identified 125 auto loans that their members have financed elsewhere, representing approximately $1.75 million in potential refinance business.

"PURLS provides credit unions with a mechanism to identify cross-sell opportunities within their field of membership," CU Exceed said. "The data collected is compiled in a web-based control panel with real-time monitoring, and is easily downloaded into an Excel spreadsheet. Unlike traditional surveys, PURLS allows the credit union to review survey results from every respondent and the credit union owns the data."

For info: www.cuexceed.com.