Credit Union Member Rewards to Set You Apart

A unique way your credit union can grow its members and/or wallet share is through a carefully thought-out rewards program. A successful rewards program is one that goes beyond credit card points. The three things to keep in mind when choosing a program are: to make sure it’s free to your membership; have it offer discounts on things your members want and use; and that it’s simple to implement at your credit union. 

A recent study from Kelton Research showed that: 

• Nearly all (95%) of credit union members say they trust special discount offers from their credit union
• 85% of members would like more discount offers from their credit union 
• 37% of members would increase credit union usage due to the availability of discounts

Credit unions are known to put members first, and offering a valuable rewards program underscores this mission. Member rewards are just another way that your credit union can set itself apart from banks.

CU Solutions Group’s own Invest in America (IIA) member rewards program has been proven to increase member loyalty and grow loans at credit unions. Plus, it offers exclusive discounts from partners such as GM, Sprint, Dell, TurboTax, DIRECTV and more. The IIA team is there for its credit unions every step of the way and even offers free marketing materials for credit unions to use in their branches, on their website and in their statements.

Meaningful Discounts = Increased Credit Union Member Loyalty

by Van Barker

Credit union branches have historically been a “go-to source” for meaningful discounts on items such as movie or theme park tickets. These discounts created the tangible benefit of increased branch traffic and the equally important intangible benefit of increased member loyalty. Over time, the combination of credit unions’ high level of service, competitive rates and delighters such as member discounts helped the credit union movement establish loyalty and trust as clear competitive advantages over larger financial institutions.

The growth of e-commerce and online banking makes it imperative that credit unions expand their discount programs beyond local, in-branch offers. Specifically, developing a cohesive and well designed “member discounts page” on your credit union’s website will effectively increase your member loyalty, website traffic and cross-selling opportunities for core products. In fact, findings from Kelton Research revealed that 85% of members would like more discount offers from their credit union and 37% of members would increase credit union usage due to the availability of discounts.

The Invest in America team has helped hundreds of credit unions provide meaningful member discounts by providing a full range of turnkey programs with free marketing collateral and web design that include discounts from trusted U.S.-based companies like GM, Sprint, Dell and Intuit. To learn more and easily increase member loyalty, please feel free to contact us at investinamerica@cusolutionsgroup.com.

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Help Members Grow Their Wallets: The Credit Union Member Discount Program Checklist

Unlike other financial institutions, your credit union has an immediate opportunity to grow share-of-wallet by building on your members’ high level of trust and loyalty. Specifically, establishing a cohesive, easy-to-use member discount program that includes credit card rewards and savings on “big ticket” items. This can broaden the benefits of credit union membership, while giving you another opportunity to showcase your commitment to exceeding members’ expectations.

The member discount program checklist below is designed to help you quickly plan, implement and optimize a program that will strengthen your position as a member-focused institution while generating cross-selling opportunities and non-interest income.

• Take Inventory: What types of discounts from local and national companies does your credit union currently offer via your website and branches?
   
• Identify Key Stakeholders and Objectives: What department(s) currently offer member discounts? Do these departments coordinate the discount offers? Are the offers tied back to strategic objectives such as cross-selling core loan products and driving increased traffic to online banking?
   
• Find Your Discounts: Is there a central location on your website that provides information about all of your discounts? How do your members learn about the discounts? Are your discounts easy to find?
   
• Ensure a Positive Member Experience: Are the discounts current and simple for members to access and redeem? Are the discounts competitive with other financial institutions and member-based organizations? Is there a clear member support process for resolving redemption or product/service issues?
   
• Update, Optimize, Promote and Measure Your Program: Are there existing discounts that need to be updated or removed? Are there additional, turnkey discounts that should be added? Does your website effectively communicate and promote the discounts? Are you taking advantage of your member communications (e.g., newsletters, emails, statement inserts and Web banners) to build awareness about the discounts? Have you established metrics to measure the results of your program?

The Invest in America team has helped hundreds of credit unions work through the member discounts program checklist and we recognize that your credit union might not have the resources to implement and manage a robust program.

To help get you started or take your current program to the next level, we have developed a full range of turnkey programs with free marketing collateral and Web design that include discounts from trusted U.S.-based companies like GM, Sprint, Dell and Intuit. To learn more and complete your checklist, please feel free to contact us at investinamerica@cusolutionsgroup.com.

Related Services:  Invest in America, Credit Union Member Discount from GM, Sprint Credit Union Member Discount, Dell Discount, Tax Services Discount

Adding Member Rewards to Your Credit Union’s Website

Credit unions are constantly looking for ways to improve their value proposition of membership to their members. Clearly, the high level of personal service that credit unions provide, combined with their low fees, takes center stage on the value of membership front. However, there are other opportunities to enhance the value of membership, including establishing a member rewards program as a dedicated and important element of your credit union with a unique Web page that gives your members easy access to discounts on products and services.

Members generally go to a credit union’s home page and tend to go straight to online banking; this can limit the ability for a credit union to cross-sell other products and services. By establishing a member rewards page, your credit union will not only reinforce the value of membership but will also drive members to your website where they can explore more of your site and take advantage of other core products and services. CU Solutions Group data shows that visitors to the LoveMyCreditUnion.org site average 3.2 page views per visit.

CU Solutions Group, through its Membership Enhancement Solutions division, has the perfect solution for your credit union’s membership rewards program development. For most of our readers it should be a familiar name: Invest in America (IIA). Invest in America provides discounts on goods and services from many U.S.-based partners and thousands of merchants in the auto, wireless service, membership rewards and tax services categories. These discounts are a click away for members of participating credit unions to access from your website to the Invest in America site. In fact, credit unions are encouraged to set up their member rewards page to capture all the tremendous IIA offers and Web functionality, but brand it as their own member rewards program. 

Data shows that IIA discounts enhance value of membership. Through the Credit Union Member Discount from GM, over 80 percent of members surveyed feel the discount strengthened the value of their credit union.¹ In addition, members liken the value of the Credit Union Member Discount from GM to a $1,000 fuel card. ² Given the significant impact that member rewards has on the value of credit union membership, now is the time for credit unions to develop their own member rewards section of their website.

¹ The Credit Union Member Discount from GM Satisfaction Survey Program to Date Trend Report, August 2011. 

²GM Retail Planning Credit Union Member Profile Study, January 2011.

Related products: IIA, the Credit Union Member Discount from GM, Website Design and Development

Member Rewards Programs Are a Credit Union Difference

A main priority of credit unions, one in which they excel, is helping their members save. Whether it’s saving through their competitive loan rates, fee-free debit cards or rewards programs, members know they can count on their credit unions to put them first. It’s credit union differences like these that foster member loyalty and increase member satisfaction.

CU Solutions Group, through its member rewards program Invest in America, strives to help credit unions drive member satisfaction and credit union value. First quarter 2011 research relating to the Credit Union Member Discount from GM indicates that 80 percent felt the discount was very important in their purchase decision. The same study indicated 77 percent of members felt that the GM discount strengthened the value of their credit union. In addition, offering the TurboTax discount resulted in 66 percent of surveyed members stating that they are likely to recommend their credit union, and 95 percent feel favorable towards their credit union for offering the discount. It’s no wonder that Invest in America has over 3,000 participating credit unions representing nearly 66 million members.

Overall member savings further drive member satisfaction and the value of being a credit union member. Program-to-date, the GM and Sprint discounts alone have saved members $300 million and $151 million, respectively. That’s over $450 million in savings from these two partners alone. Add to this the over $1 million saved with TurboTax for the 2010 tax season; the thousands saved in cash back from Shop America; or discounts from DIRECTV, FTD and other partners, and it’s easy to see how this type of membership rewards program can have value to your members.

As Invest in America continues to grow, with the addition of new partners such as Dell, so will the overall savings for your members. And as the savings grow for your members, so will their level of satisfaction and appreciation for the credit union difference.

Related Services:  Invest in America    

Working with a Credit Union Strategy Partner

As you may know, Membership Enhancement Solutions provides a value driven membership enhancement program called Invest in America (IIA). Participating credit unions are able to develop their membership enhancement strategies and align them to IIA’s strategy, which can present a real opportunity for auto loan, non-interest income and debit/credit card transaction growth. To assist in these efforts, Invest in America posts its marketing calendar online so you can plan your marketing activities accordingly.

IIA is in the early stages of a four-month long Web banner ad and online search media campaign that integrates seven key themes that focus on the program’s key partners. Monthly IIA marketing calendars, available in the LoveMyCreditUnion.org Partner Center, provide significant dates and recommended actions so your credit union can take full advantage of IIA’s major year-end campaign. For example, this month's calendar has the dates and suggested locations to post DIRECTV, GM and home improvement banners on your website which tie into the campaign. These banners can also be found in the Partner Center and can easily be placed in the appropriate areas of your website.

Ongoing Invest in America marketing efforts include weekly emails, blogs and social media posts whose subject matter is listed in the calendar. As part of this initiative, IIA sends weekly emails to those members who have opted in for additional program information. IIA also sends credit unions weekly emails that they can send to their members. Participating credit unions have come to rely on the marketing calendar to plan their marketing strategy, ensuring it aligns with the weekly IIA emails.

Membership Enhancement Solutions strives to provide you with valuable turnkey tools that enable you to align your marketing strategy with Invest in America’s. This alignment in turn optimizes your member enhancement efforts and ties them to your core services.

Related Services:  Invest in America, Credit Union Member Discount from GM, DIRECTV