Heritage Valley Federal Credit Union is reporting positiveresponse and big returns from its recently redesignedwebsite, which prominently displays the co-op's credit cardoffering and an online form for credit line increase requests.

Within the first month of launching the new site, the $71million credit union in York, Pa., said, it experienced significantincreases in new accounts, credit lines, penetration andoutstanding balances, including a 350% increase in credit cardrequests.

“The priority for the new website was to strengthen the presenceof credit cards in order to grow the card portfolio,” said TimAmes, Heritage Valley's CEO. “We want to enable members moreconvenient online access to the forms they require, so they cancomplete their objectives with just a few clicks, submit requestselectronically and expedite their banking processes.”

Heritage Valley, which joins a growing number of credit unionsstepping up card promotions, is a member of Tampa-based CSCU(Card Services for Credit Unions).

“Heritage Valley is a success story for other credit unions tomirror,” said Ann Farrell, senior portfolio consultant at CSCU. “Our portfolio consulting services team has long preachedthe importance of making credit cards front and center to show offrates and rewards. We were impressed to learn Heritage Valleyhad already accomplished these recommendations and as a result isgenerating significantly more online credit card applications.”

The credit union's new site features a tab to highlight HeritageValley's credit card offering.

Now – with one click – members are prompted to apply now, use aloan calculator or complete a credit line increase form. Soon thesite will also include an online balance transfer form, the creditunion said.

“Not every member thinks of credit cards as a loan, so itrequires a separate, dedicated tab,” Ames said. “The addedfunctionality makes it easy for members to bank online without theneed to enter a branch for every transaction.”