Boost Credit Union Members’ Financial Literacy

The more informed your members are about their finances, the more likely they’ll be to seek out your credit union’s products and services. This fact, tied to the credit union’s “people helping people” mission puts financial literacy at the forefront of most credit union’s concerns.

Did you know that:

• 38% of teens say they’re unsure or unprepared to manage their own banking and personal finances. (2011 survey of high school seniors by Capital One)
• 40% of adults gave themselves a grade of C, D or F on their knowledge of personal finance. (2013 Financial Literacy Study by National Foundation of Credit Counseling)
• 78% said they could benefit from additional advice and answers to everyday financial questions from a professional. (2013 Financial Literacy Study by National Foundation of Credit Counseling)
• 81% of parents feel it’s their responsibility to teach kids about money and savings. (DoughMain’s 2012 study)

Show your members that their financial literacy and well-being are a top priority for your credit union. Financial Resource Center (FRC) is an online tool that comes as an annual subscription, giving your members access to libraries of financially-related articles and financial calculators. CU Solutions Group can even customize your FRC to look like your credit union’s website.

Content is updated monthly and comes to you as a complete turnkey solution. For more information on FRC contact your CU Solutions Group business consultant at (800) 262-6285 or info@cusolutionsgroup.com, or visit www.cusolutionsgroup.com.  

Gaining the Competitive Advantage for Your Credit Union - Part 2: Online Competition

by Amy Neale

Below is Part 2 of a four-part series we've done on Gaining the Competitive Advantage for Your Credit Union.

Online Competition

Technology is another area your credit union can use to build its competitive advantage. Unfortunately, many credit unions think online technology begins and ends with launching a website. There are numerous features and tools you can include on your website to make it more useful to your members, enhance their user experience and position it as a go-to online destination.

But keep in mind that an October 2012 survey by eMarketer shows that even though consumers still spend more time on their desktop than on mobile, consumers’ mobile use is growing 14 times faster than desktop. So your credit union will need to start shifting its attention to include both its website and mobile in its strategy.

When it comes to making improvements and headway online, choose wisely. Features should be chosen because they’re useful, not just because you’ll be seen as “tech-savvy.” Here are just a few additions to consider to stand apart from the fray:

• Mobile – If you add only one channel to your online strategy this year, go mobile. Online users have come to expect mobile sites and mobile apps (including for tablets) from their financial institutions. Make yours more appealing and more useful than the competition’s.
• Secure Live Chat – This lets your member service representatives truly interact with current and potential members online in real time.
• Financial Education – Advocating financial literacy is one thing credit unions do well. Go one step further and offer online resources to your members.
• Financial Tools – Online calculators are a simple-to-add, easy-to-use resource you can include on your site to help members budget, evaluate loans and make solid financial decisions.
• Video – Whether instructional, community-based or promotional, videos are an attention-grabbing way to engage your members.
• Responsive Design – Keep in mind that people will be visiting your website from computers, smartphones and tablets. Make sure your visitors get the best experience possible from whatever device they’re using to view your site by using responsive design.

 Related Services: Mobile, BoldChat, Financial Resource Center, Video Management

Getting it Right: Bellwether Community Credit Union

Name: Bellwether Community Credit Union
State: Michigan
Assets: $352,998,711
Members:  28,165
Website: www.bccu.org
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It was almost a year ago that Bellwether Community Credit Union came to us with a challenge – to make their website more modern, easier to navigate, linked to their social media, feature video and slide shows, and make their products and services more visible. Bellwether’s other request was to rebrand the site with their new messaging. Needless to say, CU Solutions Group took them up on this challenge.

To accomplish all this, we redesigned their website, designed advertising templates, created a mobile site and provided some of our extras, like the Financial Resource Center and financial calculators. “We love our new website and get many compliments on it,” states Madeline Anderson-Balmer, marketing manager for Bellwether. “Our members are able to find things easily, and the flexibility and open attitude of the team allowed us to really fine tune the design. We feel that our website is now the perfect online representative of who we are as a credit union.”

Having launched in December 2011, Bellwether has already seen positive results from all these changes. “Our SEO appears to have improved, visitors to the site are staying on longer and the number of page visits has increased,” says Madeline. She goes on to explain how members aren’t the only ones benefiting from the new site, “In general, the amount of time it takes us to maintain the site has significantly improved. In addition, we are able to add pages easily to support our advertising and it allows better tracking and support of sales.”

Bellwether “got it right” when they recognized that their website needed renovating to improve its members’ experience, better match their branding and save staff time. We’re glad we could help make their goals a reality.

Update: We're so proud – our work on Bellwether Community Credit Union's website garnered CU Solutions Group a bronze Marketing Association of Credit Unions (MAC) Award for Website Redesign.