Growth strategies

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.

SAN FRANCISCO -- SaveUp, a consumer savings rewards program, announced today that it has partnered with 20 credit unions across the U.S. to distribute a customized version of its program incentivizing savings and debt reduction.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Genisys CU has launched a comprehensive business services offering for both small and mid-sized business.

SLEEPY EYE, Minn. – SouthPoint FCU said NCUA has approved its request to add four small counties – Nicollet, Sibley, Blue Earth and Le Sueur – to its field of membership.

BISMARCK, N.D. – The CU Association of the Dakotas is rolling out a new awareness campaign that will incorporate targeted mass media and social media.

Express Credit Union is driving new memberships by deploying four "community member service representatives" to sixteen local non-profit organizations.

SAN ANTONIO – Security Service FCU on Friday said it has expanded it field of membership to serve employees, students and alumni of The University of Texas at San Antonio.

DALLAS – Dallas Telco FCU is shedding its telephone company roots and adopting a new moniker, GO FCU, to better reflect its broader geographic field of membership.

RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees’ CU is partnering again with the State Employees Association of North Carolina to offer discounted tickets to the state’s major amusements, including Busch Gardens, Carowinds, Jungle Rapids Family Fun Park, Kings Dominion, Myrtle Waves, NASCAR Speedpark, Pavilion Nostalgia Park and Wet’nWild Emerald Pointe.

EL PASO, Texas – El Paso Employees FCU is celebrating its rebranding as Evolve FCU with a film festival featuring local filmmakers.

DENVER – Bellco CU has extended its contract with local marketing company GroundFloor Media to provide the $2-billion credit union with comprehensive media support.