CUNA and state leagues are pushing out marketing and advertising efforts for Bank Transfer Day, employing an array of tools including model press releases, Q&As and management/employee “talking points” with an eye toward spiking account volume.
In a five-page “Ready Sheet” distributed to leagues and individual credit unions, CUNA reminded CUs about the importance of the Nov. 5 event relaying a strong industry message against big banks’ fee hikes while making “the most of the opportunity” amidst the anti-bank fervor.
Both social networks and traditional means need to be considered, CUNA advised.
The trade group again urged credit unions that are open on Saturdays to extend their Nov. 5 hours, invest in new advertising, add links to Facebook pages and send out Twitter feeds, as well as issue press releases touting the virtues of credit unions.
“Credit unions would do well to be prepared so they can accommodate any surge in interest from people within their community and make the most of this opportunity to build membership, especially among young people who in the past have often been so hard to reach,” CUNA said in its “Ready Sheet.”
CUNA also said “front line staff should have adequate supplies to accommodate increased traffic” and be prepared to cross-sell services to potential members switching from a bank.
"Consider holding a community meeting at your credit union or community center to explain what credit unions are all about,” the trade group added. “If you’re seeing a high level of press and social media interest about Bank Transfer Day, such a community meeting is a way to get in front of it.”
One New Jersey CU, the $280 million United Teletech Financial FCU of Tinton Falls, said it has already extended hours for Nov. 5 and announced Friday it is now the “Bank Transfer Headquarters” for three New Jersey counties: Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex.
NAFCU also said it has on the shelf a panoply of new and existing marketing materials to help credit unions get the word out, including posters and inserts.
In its Q&A section of its “Ready Sheet,” CUNA also addressed what it said was a misconception that Bank Transfer Day could create a run on banks and that credit unions could not handle the inflow of detailed some of what it said are common misconceptions or myths about BTD creating a “bank run” or CUs being unable to handle the deposit inflow.
“No one in the credit union system, or any of the organizers of Bank Transfer Day, is encouraging or wants to see a run, or a destabilized banking system,” the trade group said.
The CU message “has simply been that if people are upset with how they are being treated by their bank, they have options,” CUNA said.
