Alien sighting at Texans Credit union launches Kids Club

RICHARDSON, Texas - A green alien has landed at Texans Credit Union to share his message of savings. The friendly $avar, has been adopted by Texans CU as the official mascot of its new kids club. $avar Kids Club is a savings program for its members up to age 12. "We have always maintained a diverse line of products and services because the age range and lifestyles of our members is so varied, but the one thing we were missing was something for the youngest segment of our membership," said Jeff Ensweiler Texans CU marketing specialist. "This club helps us accommodate the needs of our young members and helps teach them valuable savings lessons early in life." A basic share account with no minimum requirement is at the core of the program. Children are issued special cards which are stamped whenever they make a deposit. To encourage child participation, the child receives two stamps on their when they come in to make the deposit. According to Ensweiler, even the prize structure has been designed to reinforce the concept of saving. A completed $avar card can either be exchanged for an immediate prize or several cards can be accumulated for bigger prizes. So far, prizes include a bubble wand pen, fiber optic light stick and a T-shirt. The credit union has plans to offer additional prizes quarterly. To promote the club, Texans CU mailed out 6,000 $avar kits to current members in the appropriate age group. Kits include a welcome letter, a newsletter full of games, puzzles and contests, the child's first stamp card and an official $avar sticker. New members receive their kits when they join Texans CU. Plans are also underway to create a special $avar Kids Club link on its Web site at www.texans.org. Texans CU has $1 billion in assets and serves 138,000 members. -mbourjolly@cutimes.com