PayThink

It seems that just about every credit union is in one of three stages: considering, going through, or just finishing a rebranding.

With the average consumer carrying four different credit cards and a debit card, how do you get your card to become “top of wallet”? That’s a question every credit union should be asking, especially at a time when the need to boost income has never been greater and the techniques of competitor card issuers never more predatory.

In a slower economy one of the first places companies of all kinds look for cuts is the marketing budget. In service businesses it can be very difficult to tie revenue coming in directly to the “expense” of marketing, so this can feel like a very logical decision.

Many monetary incentive plans for frontline staff are too complicated and don’t work. The following incentive features will lead to incentive structures that will work:

As a prior employee of T&C FCU and a current employee of CCF FCU I find myself unsettled with the merger of T&C and USA (reported on CU Journal’s website, May 2). Since both credit unions are doing extremely well, especially given the state of the economy, I have to wonder that something like this may cause a problem in regard to our fight against the banks to maintain our tax-exempt status. Is this merger really necessary? Although the concept of the credit union doesn’t change-there are a lot of people out there who are only going to look at the dollar signs and see that these credit unions are making large profits, so why should they be able to continue with a tax-exempt status? It has always been an uphill battle in Washington to continue fighting the banks on this issue. I just hope that this type of merger doesn’t hurt credit unions in general lose that fight.

Think of it as a Growth Spurt. In last week’s issue we featured some of the voluminous amounts of information shared during Credit Union Journals’ Grow Show. In this issue you’ll find coverage of the meeting beginning on page 22. And below you’ll find just a fraction of some of what else was shared at Grow Show:

Bull’s eye.

Continued credit union growth is predicated on the ability of credit unions to not only keep the members they have, but also attract new members. It is important for credit unions to focus on employees and business operations, but in order to grow and prosper they should concentrate on their members. Members serve as the conduit between the employees of the organization and any earnings potential that an organization may realize.

Thinking about growing your credit union? Have growth at the heart of your strategic plan? Do you, the board and the management team spend time talking about growth? Big mistake!

Credit unions place a heavy emphasis on building member satisfaction and loyalty. Yet for many, developing deeper levels of trust and loyalty with their members remains an elusive and perplexing process. This may be because these organizations frequently neglect a critical ingredient–the “heart” or “emotional bond” between the credit union and its employees and members.