Tag: credit union

Posted on by — Leave a comment

The Story of CU Lunch Local: An annual celebration of credit unions commitment to community.

CU Lunch Local aims to raise awareness about the importance of supporting local small businesses across Michigan. Studies show that money spent at local businesses tend to stay in the community and a greater percentage of every dollar spent is recirculated at the local level when compared with non-local businesses. CU Lunch Local was founded in 2011 in collaboration with Michigan Business Connection, a commercial lending CUSO.

Bill Beardsley, CEO of Michigan Business Connection and Board Member of NACUSO sat down with us to talk about CU Lunch Local. A unique way to celebrate International Credit Union Week.

Tell me a little bit about how this movement came to be? 

CU Lunch Local was born in 2012, when MBC reached out to its credit unions’ marketing departments to come up with ideas on how to capitalize on the impact the credit union industry has on local economies. On one of those calls, the idea of a “cash mob” type of event was thrown out to the group. Everyone loved it, and from there it was just a matter of sorting out the details. Since that time CU Lunch Local has become an annual event. One that we want to continue to see grow.

What is a cash mob? 

Cash mob events are similar to flash mob events, but with one key difference. Instead of dancing in the street, people who participate in cash mob events spend money.

Their goal is to support local businesses and encourage others to buy local. On October 17th, we hope to have hundreds of credit unions from all around the country that  will commit to dine, shop, or buy local.

Do you know how many credit unions participated last year?

That’s a tough question to answer. We ask participants to sign up, but we know there are dozens of participants that just go for it, and participate without signing up. I can estimate that we’re in the hundreds though.

What is your goal for this year? 

We’d like to see more states and more credit unions, and CUSOs join the movement. We’d also love to see credit unions, leagues, and other partner organizations “tag” another organization and challenge them to join CU Lunch Local this year.

What are some of your best memories of CU Lunch Local? 

There are just so many, it’s impossible to name just one. Every year one of the best parts about this event is, that we’ve always said, CU Lunch Local can be as simple as buying a cup of coffee locally and then sharing that purchase via social media with the hashtag #culunchlocal. But, the reality is credit unions and the industry go all out, and the ideas and the impact and the fun everyone has with CU Lunch Local is amazing.  

How can credit unions and CUSOs get involved?

Getting involved is easy. First, like the official CU Lunch Local FB page, www.facebook.com/culunchlocal, then sign up, https://signup.com/go/AXePFmr, questions and requests for the logo, etc. can be emailed to: jessica@in-fusiongroup.com.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

The “E” in DREAM Big Contest: Educate and Excite!

When I was the VP Marketing for First Tech Credit Union I was in charge of the website. This is back in 1997 when websites were in their infancy. We paid an inordinate amount of money for the first one to be built (read, as much as my first home). My job was to keep the content fresh. We had pages and pages of marketing copy. But I wondered, was anyone reading it? When they land on the home page, where do they go next? Is our navigation working?

Microsoft (who was one of our SEGs) had just come out with some fancy software that could tell us just that. The guy in IT described it to me in this way “Imagine a field of freshly fallen snow, this software is going to show you the footprints in that snow so you can see the “path” people take when they go to your website. Yay! I couldn’t wait to see the results. I never could have imagined it at the time. There was a muddy trough directly to the home banking login. The majority of the pages were not visited even ONCE!

What an eye opener. Fast forward 20 years and here we have Kirk’s book telling us that members are probably still doing the same thing. That’s why most of us don’t dare bury the login to home banking for fear of losing them entirely. So how do we get our members to read our stuff? It’s so simple, make it relevant and compelling and local! Yes local.

Last week we talked about how the Google machine rules the world. If you want to be found you need to know how Google sees the world. Google loves local. Create local content that is hyper-targeted at an age group, a population, an experience or a region – whatever it is, target it in a way that Bank of America or other big banks can’t. I just looked at several credit union websites and few even have “content.” Most have copy, which isn’t the same thing. Here’s the difference.

Continue reading The “E” in DREAM Big Contest: Educate and Excite!

Posted on by — Leave a comment

CO-OP Shared Branch Network Surpasses Chase – Takes Number 2 Spot Among Consumer Financial Institutions

More Than 1,800 Different Credit Unions Unite to Form Seamless and Secure Cooperative for In-branch Personal Banking 

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – The CO-OP Shared Branch network has passed Chase in number of branch offices, making the credit union cooperative the second largest network of financial institution branches in the country.

 CO-OP Shared Branch now totals 5,671 physical locations. No. 3 Chase has 5,567 branches as of July 18, according to FDIC figures. The credit union network added more than 400 branches during the past two years, when CO-OP Shared Branch surpassed Bank of America. The network is less than 500 locations away from No. 1 Wells Fargo, which has 6,150 branches.

“Shared branching is to credit union members what Uber is to passengers looking for a nearby ride,” said Todd Clark, President/CEO, CO-OP Financial Services. “It’s the best example there is of why credit unions are different than banks – they share! Around 1,800 of the 6,100 U.S. credit unions share their branches. In addition, more than 3,000 are part of our CO-OP ATM network. When you couple-in digital services, credit unions offer a financial ecosystem that is convenient, accessible and a positive force in communities.” 

The shared branch network enables members to enter the branch of any participating credit union and conduct their business as if they were in their own home branch. In addition to member convenience when traveling, shared branching offers credit unions revenue streams and operational efficiencies, and a key means of retaining members who move. The resulting profitability translates to ongoing investments in member benefits by virtue of the not-for-profit structure of credit unions.

CO-OP Shared Branch is one of three networks that CO-OP offers credit unions to comprehensively provide account access to members. CO-OP ATM offers nearly 30,000 surcharge-free machines nationwide to members, a network larger than any bank. In addition, CO-OP is a credit union industry partner for Zelle, a financial institution-led digital payments network allowing members to send money to anyone with a U.S. bank or credit union account.

To find a CO-OP Shared Branch or a CO-OP ATM visit https://co-opcreditunions.org/locator; or, download the brand new CO-OP ATM and CO-OP Shared Branch mobile Locator app at Google Play and iTunes stores.

More information on CO-OP Shared Branch is available here.

About CO-OP Financial Services
CO-OP Financial Services is a payments and financial technology company whose mission is ensuring the success of the credit union movement by serving 3,500 credit unions and 60 million members. CO-OP payments solutions, engagement services and strategic counsel help credit unions optimize member experiences to consistently provide seamless, personalized multi-channel offerings, while delivering secure, sophisticated fraud mitigation service. For more information, visit www.co-opfs.org.