SEATTLE – Aggregation may not have had the allure the financial services world thought it would when that technology hit the scene a few years ago, but maybe protecting your assets will. That's the idea behind a new marketing campaign for MoneyHQ, the aggregated online banking, bill pay and account management solution from Online Resources Corp., a campaign that Verity Credit Union is participating in with mailers, posters, Web banners and other outreach to members. "The idea is that MoneyHQ helps you keep track of all your account balances with a single glance, and you can get alerts from us or from your other accounts at Bank of America or Sprint or wherever," says Laurel McJannet, e-commerce manager at the $303 million, 25,900-member Seattle CU. "We think this can make it easier for our members to spot if there's a problem in terms of identity theft, or any other problems they might have with those accounts. And I think it also helps them see us as their primary financial institution," McJannet says. "Aggregation has always been kind of a fuzzy idea for a lot of people, I think. That's why I like MoneyHQ," she says. "It's a good name for all your financial relationships in one spot. And you can keep an eye on things." Ron Bergamesca, Online Resources' senior vice president of marketing, said the company started the new, security-focused campaign about a month ago. "We're honing in on the fear of identity theft and fraud and what a powerful tool MoneyHQ is in protecting yourself," he says. The effort began with in-session messaging to online banking users and was expanded this month to include a print campaign with collateral supplied to 20 or 30 of the Virginia-based company's 96 client credit unions now using MoneyHQ, Bergamesca says. "The term `aggregation' itself often doesn't work, so what we're stressing is how MoneyHQ gives you the ability to look at all your accounts from everywhere at a glance and to set balance alerts so that you can pro-actively monitor your own security," Bergamesca says. "We also stress the ability to transfer funds between institutions, and how much safer bill pay itself is than offline transfers of funds." Back at Verity CU, McJannet says she'll continue working to get that message out, one member at a time if necessary. She and some call center staffers have done one-on-one sessions taking new users through the learning process, and she also has held classes for small groups, including one that attracted about 25 people at the CU's annual meeting. "We have about 390 people now using MoneyHQ, or about 18% of our 2,100 to 2,300 bill pay users," she says. "That's not bad." That reaction to those kinds of adoption numbers resonates with Bergamesca. "It's kind of a sophisticated management tool, and we're happy with the results we're getting with it," he says. "About 8 to 10% of our bill payers are using the service now. We're not thrilled. But happy." -

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