FENTON, Mo.-CEO Tim Stephens doesn't want people joining Alliance Credit Union-he wants them to open an account.
"We're starting to shy away from that word join; we're saying 'open an account' or 'apply for a loan,' " he said. "People think 'join' and they wonder 'Is this the Royal Order of the Water Buffalo or what?' It's not. It's a financial institution. We want you to open an account. We want you to utilize us for your lending needs and open an account."
Despite being 97% loaned out, Stephens stressed that one of the biggest challenges facing Alliance is member growth, and one of his pet projects is finding more ways to reduce the barriers to entry.
"We never had share drafts; we've always had checking accounts at Alliance Credit Union," he said. "You can call it anything you want. It's a book of checks or a plastic card that I use to remit payment. I don't care what you call it, in the common marketplace and consumer knowledge of this product, it's called checking. You should market it as such if you expect to eventually capture your share of the market."
Still, he added, "Luckily, loans were always called loans."
A Ways To Go
Stephens said that the next major stigma CUs have to get past in the marketplace is the idea of "becoming a member" and "joining," and he was particularly adamant that the phrase "apply for membership" isn't exactly welcoming.
"Can we take the average 20-year-old and put the phrase 'apply for membership' in front of them and expect them to do it?" he asked. "I'm not saying we're great-we're not. We've got a lot way to go like everyone else."
Stephens said he is not one who believes that abandoning traditional CU verbiage takes away from the credit union difference and makes credit unions more like banks. He said that CUs need to be able to compete on the same general product knowledge in the marketplace, but some of the alphabet soup and unusual terms may be keeping away potential members.
"That in and of itself is a tremendous barrier to entry, and we have to improve that."
