Help Your Credit Union Stand Out from the Crowd – Part 3: Special Dividends

by Amy Neale

In response to CUNA’s Member and Nonmember Survey Results, we thought we’d address three distinct ways you can help your credit union stand out from the competition. To do each section justice, we’re delivering it to you over a three-part blog series. Welcome to part 3.

Special Dividends

While much of the CUNA Member and Nonmember Survey is positive, results do show that since 2009, vehicle loan, first mortgages and home equity loan volume have been declining. Back in 2099, credit unions had 74% of their members’ vehicle loans, but that number has now dropped to 57%.

Credit unions are known to offer many perks that help them stand out from the crowd such as lower rates and better fees. Unfortunately, things like dealer 0% financing can detract from these perks. So, your credit union may have to take it up a notch and offer other perks like special dividends. We realize that it’s not plausible for all credit unions to offer their members special dividends. But if yours is in a good financial position to do so and isn’t, you might want to revisit this option.

Special dividends are a great motivator to encourage members to build their relationships with their credit union – especially loans. Many credit unions nationwide are offering their members special dividends based on how much a member has deposited and the loans they have with them. Here are a few examples: 

• CEFCU (Peoria, IL) recently paid its members a $9 million dividend and has returned $63 million to its membership since 2000. 
• DFCU Financial (Dearborn, MI) offers its members .50% back on their deposits and loans and has given back $131 million since 2006.
• Guardian Credit Union (Montgomery, AL) is relatively new to the special dividends game, having returned $1.5 million to its members in the past two years.
• WESTconsin Credit Union (Menomonie, WI) has made payments of more than $979,000 to its member shareholders in 2012 alone.

Whether your credit union is new to the special dividends game or are seasoned pros, make sure you let your members know why they’re receiving it. Remind them of the credit union not-for-profit philosophy and how your profits go back to them. Sometimes this might even be worth creating a special marketing campaign to let them know how your credit union truly stands apart from the competition.

Let CU Solutions Group help you build the perfect marketing campaign to let everyone know what makes you stand out from the crowd.