Growth strategies

ABERDEEN, Md. – Aberdeen Proving Ground FCU paid two members $100 Visa gift cards as part of its “Refer a Friend” contest.

CHATSWORTH, Calif. – Premier America CU has signed with SaveDaily to offer its members the ability to invest in the company’s proprietary mutual fund program.

BEL AIR, Md. – Freedom FCU has signed with the Harford County Education Association to provide financial services and benefits for the local teachers union’s 2,070 members.

TOLLAND, Conn. — More than nine-in-10 members who visit their credit union's website immediately go to online banking or bill pay.

HARRISBURG, Penn. – Pennsylvania State Employees CU, which has been providing its checking account members with free FICO credit scores the past two years, will be offering the popular service over its mobile banking channels within the next two weeks.

CHANTILLY, Va. – Justice FCU, the credit union serving the U.S. Department of Justice, announced plans to open branches in Chicago and Miami in an effort to live up to its motto, “Serving Justice Across the Nation.”

Wendy Lokken, CEO of Lasertec, believes it is more important than ever for credit unions to 'go green' by utilizing all-electronic marketing.

David Foss, President of ProfitStars, is concerned that while more credit unions are choosing to spend money, the investments being made are not all driving the bottom line.

Against the backdrop of improving ratios, Sam Kilmer sees a bottom-line opportunity from investments in loan origination and member relationship management systems.

Credit unions are seeing the economic value of investing in advanced currency, check and coin processing technologies as a way to boost their bottom lines.

There isn't a better way to drive the bottom line today than member business lending, as long as you do it carefully and with the right resources.

Investments in real-time fraud management tools are seeing a strong payback, according to CO-OP Financial Services.

More credit unions are now placing their branding on existing ATMs to extend their reach without investing in new machines.

In at least one scenario, for many credit unions the bottom line is increasingly about letting someone else carry the burden.

Perhaps the biggest news when it comes to making investments to improve the bottom line is that more CUs are actually doing it.

The economy may be improving and several CFOs indicated their credit unions are seeing double-digit loan increases, but that hasn't lessened the importance of managing margin.

After two years of focusing on cost cutting and expense management, credit unions are beginning to invest again in ambitious, long-term projects aimed at both better serving members and enhancing the bottom line.

MIRAMAR, Fla. – Tropical Financial CU will pay $5,000 each to five people to step in front of the camera and tell viewers for a future ad campaign how the credit union has helped them or could help them achieve their financial goals.

New membership at Spokane Teachers CU (STCU) is up by 50% since September, and a long-term branding campaign translated into membership growth of around 8% last year, pushing the credit union above the 100,000-member mark.

BATON ROUGE, La. – In a rare deal, Pelican State FCU said this morning it is transferring its Chalmette branch and 600 member accounts there to nearby Eagle FCU.