Growth strategies

Another credit union has used the kissing booth strategy as a tactic to lure consumers from banks to credit unions. Fire Police City County FCU has been running a “Kiss Your Bank Goodbye” campaign in in response to public frustration over fees at the big banks.

The $7.9-billion The Golden 1 CU has been welcoming 6,000 new members each month in 2012, which CEO Donna Bland said is a marked improvement from the 2,000 to 3,000 it used to see each month.

One year later, Bank Transfer Day is alive and kicking in South Carolina, where CUs across the state are using “Every Day is Bank Transfer Day” as a membership rallying cry.

Membership growth at $10.5-billion BECU has been up 10% to 12% year-over-year for each of the first nine months of 2012.

Affinity Plus FCU was already several months into a “Ditch Your Bank” campaign when Bank Transfer Day hit, and the event helped augment what was already robust growth.

After doing “a pretty big blitz” on Bank Transfer Day the first time around, 66 FCU here is hoping for a repeat performance this November.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Redstone FCU this morning introduced a new CUSO that will offer a variety of low-cost lifeline services, including check cashing, money orders, Western Union money transfers, bill pay, and reloadable prepaid cards to members and non-members.

CLEVELAND – Firefighters Community CU said it has merged into it United Food and Commercial Workers Local 880 CU, a troubled $11 million credit union.

MIAMI LAKES, Fla. – Members of $20 million Mercy (Hospital) CU voted to merge their credit union into $135 million JetStream FCU, creating a credit union, with more than $150 million in assets, eight branch locations, and over 19,000 members throughout Miami Dade County and Puerto Rico.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Pentagon FCU said its wholly owned Prudential PenFed Realty CUSO has acquired another full service realtor, Prudential Coastal Properties, a Florida-based agency serving the Panhandle from Pensacola to Panama City.

BOWIE, Md. – NASA FCU has been approved to serve 120,000 members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and 261 affiliates serving 10 million scientists in fields ranging from plant biology to dentistry.

OSHKOSH, Wis. – CitizensFirst CU said Friday it has acquired Chatter Yak!, LLC a CUSO providing outreach and marketing to young people.

LONGVIEW, Wash. – NCUA has approved a request from Fibre FCU, which serves Cowlitz County, to add tiny Wahkiakum County and two Oregon counties, Columbia and Clatsop, to its field of membership.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte Metro CU is launching an advertising campaign to tout its growth one year after Bank Transfer Day.

Bethpage FCU has released findings that indicate consumers are increasingly stressing the importance of free checking with no hidden fees as a top attribute when choosing where to bank.

Bethpage FCU has seen strong checking and membership growth all year as a result of the Bank Transfer Day movement. But most important, the CU says, is that the new members coming in are profitable.

Kristen Christian, the founder of Bank Transfer Day, says that her life is "barely recognizable" compared to a year ago.

Deposits are growing at Department of Commerce FCU this year, but the CEO does not attribute the inflows to Bank Transfer Day and the anti-bank sentiment.

Thanks to a strong and well-timed marketing push, membership is up at Upper Cumberland FCU, as is its loan-to-share ratio.

One year after Bank Transfer Day, assets and loans continue to rise at First Capital FCU, and one person says he believes the consumer migration isn't over yet.