RICHMOND, Ind. - Text-message banking may be the way to win a teenager's heart, but first you'll need the kid's mobile phone number.
"Teenagers are using strictly text to communicate, not websites, e-mail, or telephones," suggested Cindy Gribben, CEO of Natco Credit Union here. The $46-million CU started offering mobile banking via text messaging (SMS) more than one year ago.
The problem is Natco's teen members don't know about the service, even though overall usage is steadily growing, Gribben continued. In the first month of the offering, there was an average of five transactions per month and 17 users. One year later, the average monthly transactions have just about tripled and there are nearly twice as many users, she said.
But the users - at the "astounding" average age of 34 - are hardly the target audience, said Gribben.
"It's hard to get the word out to texters," Gribben said. "The people who will use text banking don't necessarily come into the branch or visit the website, where we've got posters and banner ads. We need a different way to reach the real texters."
The Best Way To Market To 'Real Texter'
The best way to market to the "real texters" might be to send a text message advertisement to teen members, she said. But Natco can't send members a text message because the CU doesn't have their cell phone numbers, and the CU's core system wasn't built to collect the numbers.
"I wish I had known a long time ago to get those cell numbers," said Gribben.
Natco recently convinced its core provider to add a cell phone field and, for the past few months, the CU has been amassing members' numbers, she said.
America First CU (AFCU) of Ogden, Utah, is working to offer SMS banking, according to Rich Syme, SVP. Members at the $4.5-billion CU currently can download a mobile banking tool or use Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) for mobile banking.
"Fortunately, we don't have this (mobile phone field) restriction on our host system," said Syme. CUs that do have restrictions could implement a database that links the user's account to a mobile number or ask an SMS vendor to fill the gap, he said.
But text banking can fail for other reasons, Syme said. Members can't always enroll easily or automatically, for one.
"Having a combined enrollment process for SMS and our existing mobile application is part of making it easy for users to get into mobile banking," he explained. "If a user doesn't have a phone that supports the mobile application today, they can opt for SMS-only banking instead. Having an integrated solution on the back-end will allow us to notify SMS - only users once their phone is certified for the mobile application and help increase the adoption of the mobile application and SMS products in combination."
Syme also aims to keep SMS secure and smooth, in part by limiting SMS to the exchange of information, not money. AFCU will therefore allow members to text for account balances, histories, rates, locations and alerts-information that doesn't require a secure log-in, he said. Likewise, AFCU can push the same information to the member.
"Transfers, bill pay and other money-moving features will be reserved for those using the mobile application," he said. "I don't think it's far off where we will enable transfers via SMS, but it's a little clunky right now.
Apparently, neither CU would forego text banking. "SMS is the flavor of choice when it comes to getting info through a mobile device," said Syme. "It's fast. In addition, there are fewer barriers to entry. Almost every mobile phone today is capable of SMS, and many users have unlimited SMS."
"We want people to know that we are truly full service, and they don't have to go to Chase," Gribben added.
MORE@CUJOURNAL.COM
Read more about text banking at cujournal.com and search the following bolded terms in the archive:
AYSOS? NVM the F2F, TXT MSG Banking Deployed
Reaching 'Generation Text'
Despite Slow Start, Many CUs Firm Believers Mobile Banking Set To Surge
For info on this story:
www.natcocu.org
www.americafirst.com
