WOODBRIDGE, Va.-By improving awareness of eligibility, Belvoir Federal Credit Union here has significantly improved membership growth.
To that end, the $247-milllion CU added CodeGreen's MemberCheck new member eligibility tool to its approval process after it had added an underserved area to its SEG.
"We added an underserved area in 2004 and encountered problems serving that area since it is based on census tracts," said Jacqueline Connor, vice president of marketing and business for the 28,000-member credit union. "Since most people don't even know what a census tract is, we want to simplify the process-both for potential members and for staff."
Connor said there are websites where individuals can check for the census tract of an address-similar to finding the ZIP code, but Belvoir FCU wanted an application that would check, and instead of just providing the census tract number, it would let the potential member know if they qualified for membership.
"This also allowed the member service representative to check for eligibility quickly and easily," she said.
Here's how it works:
"When a member or MSR goes to the application, it first asks for an address - could be home or work," Connor explained. "Once entered, the address is checked to see if it falls within our underserved area."
If it does, the potential member is directed to the CU's online application. If not, they can go to the credit union's FOM tab, which provides an overview, including the CU's military affiliation.
"From there, they can view our Eligible Group tab, which provides an alphabetical list of all the SEGs within our field of membership," Connor said. "The final tab is a 'contact me' tab, where potential members can send us a request, including comments on what their specific situation is."
Making the process simpler was important, Connor said, because the more SEGs a CU has, the more confusing it can be. And the $243-million Belvoir FCU has more than 100 SEGs.
With the help of MemberCheck, confusion of the census tract issue for the CU's members has been eliminated, Connor said, by automatically allowing anyone to conduct an address search and having it check out if their census tract falls within Belvoir FCU's underserved area.
"For those members who cannot qualify based on physical location, they can click on the list and complete an alphabetical search, which makes the process much easier," Connor said.
MemberCheck works by displaying with a CU's website content, and puts all of the credit union's membership eligibility information into a tabbed "easy-to-understand" presentation, Connor said. Its servers provide address lookups, SEG search and lead capture services to make it easier for potential members to find out their eligibility.
"Our original plan was to simplify the member eligibility process because of our new SEG," Connor explained. "MemberCheck has allowed us to meet this goal, allowing us to provide an easy eligibility check - especially in an underserved area."
The result is the eligibility process has been simplified for the credit union.
"The process is easy to use and cost effective," Connor noted. "Plus we can customize the look to our branded colors."
The one con, Connor said, is that most people input their home address, but might not think about their work, church or school address.
"There is also no easy to way to provide a way to search our SEG list other than alphabetical or searching on specific terms," she said. But still, the pros far outweigh those cons, Connor said.
For other credit unions hoping to initiate a similar process, Connor advises: "If you can find a technology person with whom you can create a synergistic relationship-do it. Then you can discuss a business problem and maybe have a vague idea of how you want to fix and brainstorm with the right person who might be able to provide the actual solution."
For info: www.belvoirfcu.org or www.codegreen.org.
BEST PRACTICES
Belvoir ECU, Woodbridge, Va.
Category: Membership Growth
Provider: CodeGreen
