CUNA eCommerce targeting 11 states with new e-commerce products

MADISON, Wis. - CUNA has identified 11 target states to market its recently unveiled e-commerce products. CUNA announced earlier this month that its eCommerce division had entered into an agreement with Aquis IP Communications, Tampa, Fla., to provide CUs with Internet Service Provider solutions; Web hosting services; and a virtual private network. CUNA eCommerce is stressing tight security as one of the main benefits of each of the products. The new products, known as "CUNA's Online Access Services," will be initially marketed in the following states: California, Florida, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Texas. CUNA officials said after its initial e-commerce announcement the leagues in these 11 states expressed immediate interest and wanted some tools to get the word out to its credit unions. "Credit unions understand that they must commit themselves to online services or run the risk of being at a serious competitive disadvantage," said Marvin Garland, COO of the Florida CU League and CEO of its service corporation. In response, CUNA has sent out its first promotion. "We mailed out a direct mail post card to credit unions above $20 million in assets in those states. The remainder of the states will be targeted at some other time. We try to stagger it so leagues have the option to participate," said Julie Esser, eCommerce product manager for CUNA. Some have questioned CUNA's entrance into the e-commerce market, but Esser said initial response for the ISP and Web hosting services especially, gives CUNA the feeling that credit unions are looking to it for e-commerce solutions. Although CUNA has partnered with Aquis for these products and product support, the Aquis name will be invisible when credit unions call the toll-free number on the direct mail piece. Credit unions will be greeted by an "e-commerce service center" representative. Esser said ISP and Web hosting have been the two most inquired about products so far, but she expects the VPN to gain popularity because of the media's attention on security. "It's for security, so the more people hear about security issues, the more they will begin to focus on utilizing secure private networks," said Esser. Esser said the CUNA eCommerce VPN can be used for a number of credit union business relations. For example, credit unions can exchange payroll files with their SEGs or account information with third-party vendors. -pgentile@cutimes.com