LAS VEGAS — Randy Smith, co-founder of CUinsight.com, urged credit unionsto expand and personalize their use of social media to improve andbetter market their mortgage lending and move past merely listinginterest rates on different loans on their websites.

“People don't particularly care or relate to interest rates,”Smith said. “They don't really understand different loan types.They care about stories, both yours and theirs.”

Smith spoke to executives attending the American Credit UnionMortgage Association's annual meeting this week in Las Vegas.

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Smith urged credit unions to make sure as many of their staff aspossible use social media and that they share content about thecredit union and, when appropriate, its members.

He recounted the story of a credit union executive who had cometo know a member through social media. The member who, it turnedout, was one of the executive's neighbors.

The member had finally purchased a second-hand truck he hadneeded for his business for some time. He hadn't financed itthrough the credit union and didn't know much about the loan,focusing instead on the fact that the monthly payment had come inunder his monthly budget.

But because he had come to know the credit union executive, hehad shared his loan documents with her and she was able to tell himhe was paying a very high rate for the loan and that the creditunion could do better and lower his payments even further.

The member wasn't focused on rates or types of loan, Smithpointed out. He was focused on the truck and what he needed it todo. It was the trust built through social media that gave thecredit union the opportunity to finance the vehicle.

What social media allows credit unions to do is buildcommunities and relationships that, in turn, provide the platformsand networks for the delivery of products and services its membersneed, he said.