DUBUQUE, Iowa-At first glance it would seem the 3.9% introductory rate on its money market account would be all that was needed to help Dupaco Community Credit Union attract $200 million in deposits over the last year.
But front-line staff knowledge of Dupaco's products has driven as much of that growth as has the rate, according to CEO Bob Hoefer, who strongly believes staff not only have to know the credit union's services inside and out, but competing financials', as well.
"Employees need to have the competitive knowledge to understand how much better your products are in features, functionality, or price, he said. "That's something that we don't think a lot of other financials stress with their staff. But we know it makes a big difference."
That difference is needed not only to bring in new deposits, but to cross-sell additional services to existing members, Hoefer stressed. Dupaco provides weekly competitive updates, often courtesy of secret shopper research. The $753-million CU measures itself against the local banks and credit unions.
Dupaco's success led to receiving a Raddon Crystal Performance Award, and Hoefer believes improving employee competency is more critical today. "We know that there is a great opportunity to take business from banks," Hoefer said. "Over the last year we have attracted a new clientele, members of a higher newt worth. We went from having about 6% of these types of members to now over 10%."
Dupaco is doing a good job of mining those members and its entire membership base. Raddon shows Dupaco's services per member at 2.49, helping to place it in Raddon's 88th percentile, Hoefer said, for credit unions within its asset category. Dupaco has increased deposits by 33% in the last year, often growing by $30 million a month.
"We trim costs on the operation side to invest in front-line staff," Hoefer added. "We educate and train our employees to help our members understand their finances. This takes more staff time on the service side, but we see the payback."
At press time Dupaco's $2,500-minium tiered MMA paid 2.38% APY for balances above $100,000, 1.97% between $25,000 and $99,999, 1.61% from $10,000 to $24,999, and 1.21% for the smallest deposits. The 3.9% rate for the highest tier was paid in September of 2008, when Dupaco introduced the offer.
