Give SEG Member Loyalty a Boost at Your Credit Union

  by Amy Neale

A natural outcome of any SEG relationship is that at some point membership growth will level off or even decline. Either the newness wears off or your one-on-one relationship with the SEG relationship has hit a roadblock. This is where a member rewards program can be your credit union’s best friend.

Reward programs have become the go-to strategy to build customer loyalty for marketing departments in all industries. For your credit union, you should already have strong SEG member loyalty, so a rewards program is your opportunity to reinforce, and even boost, that loyalty.

Since they were first introduced as S&H Green Stamps in the late 1800s, reward programs have played an important part in customer loyalty. Today, the number of reward programs in the U.S. has reached 1.3 billion, according to Colloquy research. Your average American belongs to about 18 reward programs and 54% of them would consider increasing the amount of business they do with a company that offers a loyalty program.

But not just any rewards program will do for your credit union. You need to choose one whose goals underline your credit union’s brand strategy and mission and your SEG goals. To help make your SEG relationship a sticky one, your rewards program needs to be well-planned and well-executed. 

Invest in America was created solely for the credit union industry to help credit unions align their core products with its exclusive discounts and to help members save. It strives to have something for everyone with the Credit Union Discount from GM, the Sprint Credit Union Member Discount and more. But what if your members aren’t looking to buy a new car or cell phone? That’s where Shop America comes in. It gives members cash back on more than 1,500 retailers in its online mall. From Sears and Macy’s to Target and Best Buy, Shop America is assured to have something to offer all of your SEG members.

However, a great reward program means nothing to your SEGs if they don’t know about it. That’s why the Invest in America team offers free marketing materials for all of their partner discounts. You’ll also want to make sure your staff and SEGs are trained and up-to-date on all of your reward program benefits through emails, newsletters, websites and social media posts.