LATHRUP VILLAGE, Mich.-Taking a page from Burger King's playbook, Michigan First CU is letting members have it their way, allowing members to choose their exact mix of bills when they withdraw money from MFCU ATMs.
The $530-million Michigan First recently made some software changes to its proprietary Wincor ATMs-called MoneyWorks Banking Centers-that allow members to tell the machines how many $50 bills, $20 bills, $10 bills, and $1 bills they want. The move was made to differentiate the CU and provide members with greater convenience, said CEO Michael Poulos. "Too many times we noticed members getting cash out of our Money Works machines and then going to the teller line to break the bills. It made no sense to have double the resources to get members what they want."
Generally, members were breaking the $50s, so the CU knew the machines would probably have to be stocked with fewer 50s. "But that's all we thought we would have to do differently from a stocking standpoint," Poulos said. "And we have been right. Members are asking for a more $20s, $10s, and $1s."
What made the change a "no-brainer" for Michigan First is that its MoneyWorks Banking Centers already had four money cassettes filled with 50s through $1 bills, since the machines cash checks down to the penny. All Michigan First had to do was write a new software program that gives members the option to switch the denomination mix.
When members use the machines they see a screen that tells them the mix of bills they'll receive and asks if they want to change it. A second screen allows them to make adjustments.
Programming was handled internally, and Poulos estimated that the CU invested $10,000 in employee time to write the software. "Considering the cost and payback, this decision was easy," Poulos said about the change that was made to all 13 MFCU ATMs. "We did not do a cost/benefit analysis because we knew we would cut down on teller transactions and boost convenience for very little money."
Poulos said members regularly say they like the service, noting "the most frequent comment we hear is that the place they used to bank never had anything like this." Poulos acknowledged that MFCU was in a good position to make the change because its ATMs already were stocked with the correct bill denominations, and because its ATMs are proprietary. "Our machines connect directly to our host system," Poulos said. "We did not have to work with a network provider to see if they could accommodate the programming change. That would have been more difficult."
