If you're expecting an article on how to rid yourself ofwrinkles, gray hair and an expanding middle, I'm sorry todisappoint you. The best self-help advice a credit union can followtoday is to become younger by attracting more members from amongthe Gen Y group-tomorrow's borrowers and savers. These 7 steps willget you started in 2009.
Create a Gen Y advisory group. To find out what teens and youngadults want and need in a financial institution, form a group ofthem to call on for ideas and feedback-making sure to avoid nameslike “advisory bored” (misspelling intended). Drawing members fromyour staff is a good start, but invite nonemployees and nonmembersas well for a broader perspective.
It will take persistence and creativity to reach them, so don'tgive up too soon. Even scheduling a time to meet may take a fewattempts. (Hint: Friday nights and early mornings don't tend towork.) Make gatherings fun by incorporating an event or prizes, andkeep the focus informational. No sales pitches
Provide financial education. Gen Y needs and seeks financialeducation, yet many schools don't offer such courses. The good newsis you can educate Gen Y members without reinventing the wheel, byleveraging the efforts of companies that have stepped in to fillthe void. For example, brass|Media (www.brassmedia.com) allows youto brand its Gen Y financial magazine with your name and logo andoffers copies you can distribute. The iThryv (www.iThryv.com) siteenables you to integrate your online banking service, making itaccessible to young adults within a community dedicated tofinancial literacy.
Rethink your marketing strategy. Forget newspaper ads and radiospots. The key to reaching Gen Y is to leverage the places wherethey already gather; this is one area where your advisory group canoffer direction. One credit union set up a branch inside acommunity youth club where teens socialize. Others have run sportspromotions, YouTube video contests, and Starbucks coffee giveaways.Whatever your approach, if you plan to drive Gen Y to your Website, make it easy to find the services relevant to them. In fact,make it easy to find you online, period.
Do a Google search for the words “bank” and your city, and see ifyour credit union shows up. Most teens and young adults don't knowwhat a credit union is, so they'll search for “bank” to find afinancial institution. To show up on their list, add the “B” wordto your Web site text and meta-tags.
Personalize your approach. I know of a college that improved itsfootball recruitment success by playing into Gen Y's need forpersonalization. Instead of using generic mailers, the schoolcreated personalized posters with the recruit's photo and a comicbook series starring the recruit as the hero. Extreme? Perhaps. ButGen Y is growing up at a time when you can put your name onM&Ms and your picture on a bottle of Jones soda. It's now verycommon to offer credit cards with a personalized photo. Offeringthis service is a great start. But to stand out from the crowd, gobeyond that approach by extending the personalization to theproduct itself-for instance, offering a variety of cards that eachcarry different interest rates and fees, allowing Gen Y to choosethe best fit.
Add lifestyle products. This connected generation wants easy accessto financial products and services that suit their lifestyles, somake it a goal to add one of these convenience services in 2009.Mobile banking is becoming a must-have for Gen Y, especially asmiddle school students now have their own cell phones. Onlinebanking is a given. To make it more compelling, offer accessthrough vehicles where they spend time, including social networkingsites like Facebook and MySpace. Debit and credit cards that offerrewards are highly valued by this group, as long as the rewards arerelevant and easy to manage and redeem. Account-to-account transferis another service that might attract their attention and is agreat way for parents to move funds to a child's account while awayat college.
Make an emotional connection. Alongside the three-legged stool ofprice, quality and service, the customer experience is now vital tocompeting. Many successful companies have taken boring products andbrought them to life through a brand that creates an experience,like Starbucks or IKEA. If the experience with your credit unionisn't memorable and visual, Gen Y will likely go elsewhere. Sincesome young adults will only visit you online, make sure your Website is inviting and modern. Community outreach events are anotheropportunity to connect emotionally-and a great way to demonstratethe industry's community-focused philosophy, which dovetails with akey Gen Y value.
Create a school credit union. Take a page from the credit unionsthat have been doing this successfully for years. While the conceptbegan at the high school level, we now know it's even better toreach children in grade school, before they begin part-time jobsthat generate savings and discretionary income. A simple laptop andtable can serve as your branch, stickers and calendars can remindstudents of branch hours, and contests with prizes can encouragedeposits.
The average age of a credit union member is 47. To thrive in thesechallenging times and beyond, it's essential to turn back the clockand attract the young members who will form the foundation oftomorrow's credit union movement. Becoming a younger credit unionin 2009 is one New Year's resolution you can't afford toignore.

Quinton Hamel is an offerings development director for Fiserv.He can be reached at 248-640-9692 or [email protected]