SAN JOSE, Calif.-San Jose Credit Union plans to open its branches on Saturday, Nov. 5 to take advantage of "Bank Transfer Day."
Sara Holtz, marketing manager for the $125-million San Jose CU, said the attention Bank Transfer Day is "the perfect storm" for credit unions. SJCU will use the occasion to launch its "Be Free" promotion of its fee-free debit card.
"We were planning on promoting our debit cards in November and December anyway during the peak holiday shopping times," she told Credit Union Journal. "We heard about Bank Transfer Day, so we combined the two with a kickoff event for the debit-card promotion. We are not normally open on Saturday hours but we decided to be open on the same day when there is this grassroots effort going on to bring people from banks to credit unions."
The Be Free promotion will give members entries into a sweepstakes based on debit card usage during November and December. For every 10 debit card transactions, a member will receive an entry to win an iPad 2 or $500 cash.
SJCU has seen increased interest in its checking account and debit card since larger banks announced they will start charging fees for customers to use debit cards, according to Andrea Brewer, its president and CEO.
"Banks have had to look for other ways to make money under new federal regulations," said Brewer. "But a credit union can better focus on what is best for members and provide similar account access with much fewer fees."
On Nov. 5 the CU's branches will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for all financial services. It will have free food, a spin wheel for prizes and a kids' area. SJCU began serving employees of the city of San Jose in 1932. Today, in addition to active and retired city employees as well as elected and appointed city officials, it is open to anyone who lives, works, attends school or worships within the city.
Holtz said the credit union has an online switch kit on the checking accounts page of its Web site. She said the kit makes transferring accounts "a lot easier" for customers of other financial institutions.
"The biggest reason why people won't change to a credit union from a bank is because of the hassle of changing direct deposit and automatic payments, so we do whatever we can to make it easier so there is no reason not to switch."
Holtz said the job is much easier in a market that suddenly is filled with anti-bank sentiment.
"People react when they are suddenly told they have to pay to access their own money," she observed. "The debit fees from the banks made a lot of people decide they don't want to pay for their own money. We are using the timing of all this to highlight what has always been there-our checking accounts have always been free and using our debit cards has always been free."
