The Crimson Tide keeps rolling in more ways than one.

A month before the Alabama-Notre Dame college footballchampionship game – won handily by Alabama on Monday night – the$537 million Alabama Credit Union in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and the$437 million Notre Dame Federal Credit Union in South Bend,Ind., launched their own competition to see which credit unioncould produce the most credit card applications and win $10,000prize for charity.

“It's with a heavy heart that I tell you that Alabama CU has wonthe credit card application contest,” Deidre J. Davis, senior vicepresident for marketing and member experience at NDFCU, reported onTuesday. “We received 331 (credit card) applications. They received355.”

Each credit union contributed $5,000, which means Alabama CUwill donate the $10,000 to Secret Meals For Hungry Children, thecredit union's charitable program that discreetly providesimpoverished schoolchildren with packets of food.

And while there are a lot people in high spirits in Alabama andsome folks in the doldrums in Indiana today, the two credit unionsended up benefitting from the collaborative marketing project, andso did a charity.

“The average number of credit card applications we receive inany given month is 185,” Davis said. “For this promotion, which ranless than a month, we received 331 applications. That's more than78% higher than normal.”

ACU has about 65 average monthly credit card applications andpulled in 355 applications, more than a 500% percent increase incredit card applications in less than 30 days.

The contest launched Dec. 12 with both credit union promoting iton their Facebook and Twitter pages. ACU displayed posters in itsbranches and NDFCU sent out a mailer to its members.

What also made the credit card contest appealing to members,said Davis, was that the monetary prize supported a charity.

“That opened up a lot of people to be more receptive to the(credit card contest) concept, in general,” said Davis.

She also said this type of product promotion could providemarketing opportunities for credit unions in other states that havenatural rivalries – Ohio State-Michigan as an example – but itdoesn't necessarily need to be strictly a sports rivalry.

“I think there could be a lot of potential for credit unions toteam up, and it goes to the center of what credit unions are allabout – how can we collaborate so all of us can do better,” Davissaid.

Both credit unions, however, learned that the credit cardcontest could open the way for future marketing collaborationpossibilities.