ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- An employee of a CU which manages to increase its members Visa credit card usage will win a trip to this summer's Olympic Games in Beijing.
The prize has been offered in a sweepstakes, jointly offered by Visa USA and Card Services for Credit Unions, the association of credit unions that process their credit card transactions with Fidelity National Information Services.
The sweepstakes will run from February through March of this year. The winner will be an employee from the participating credit union that shows both the greatest increase in average credit card usage over the same two months last year and the greatest overall increase in usage over the same period, CSCU explained.
"We wanted to make it as fair as possible and to let the CUs which had 1,500 accounts have as much a chance as the CUs with 50,000 accounts," explained Cassie Ricks, communications manager for CSCU.
Ricks estimated the value of the prize to be more than $40,000 since it includes airfare and accommodations for two along with ground transportation, an appearance with athletes Visa sponsors, meals, tickets to Olympic events, a multi-lingual tour guide, and local touring in the Beijing area.
"This promotion is a great way for credit unions to increase Visa card usage, volume, and Visa cardholder loyalty. The Olympic Games only come around every two years," commented CSCU President Robert Hackney. "We wanted to make sure our credit unions had the opportunity to give their members a compelling reason to use their credit union Visa card."
To encourage participation, Visa is offering a limited supply of free in-branch promotional marketing kits to CSCU member credit unions. The kits include: posters of Visa sponsored Olympic athletes, counter mats, take-ones and a National Promotion fact sheet.
--dmorrison@cutimes.com
