NORTHVILLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Five months after CUcorp, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Michigan Credit Union League, and AAA Michigan announced their long-term, joint marketing agreement to provide members of both organizations with exclusive products and services, the two partners are satisfied their partnership is moving in the desired direction. Effective Feb. 1, CUcorp and Auto Club Group, the holding company for AAA Michigan announced their long-term joint marketing contract that designated AAA Michigan the preferred provider of AAA Michigan membership, travel, insurance and investment services to Michigan credit unions. The collaboration is called Members Together. Also as part of their agreement, AAA Michigan will use various marketing tools to showcase Michigan credit unions for the 1.7 million AAA members in the state as the preferred solution for deposit products, consumer loans, mortgage loans and other depository institution services. The unified product lineup will be promoted through 370 credit unions in the state representing 4.4 million members, as well as through each of AAA Michigan's 156 locations around the state and through call centers. Already the league has set up a credit union advisory group that plans to meet quarterly to take and discuss ideas from credit unions on ways to make the AAA business model more credit union-friendly. Michigan Credit Union League President/CEO Dave Adams, who is also CEO of CUcorp, said he's very excited about the heightened partnership between CUcorp and AAA Michigan. "AAA Michigan has been a significant partner with Michigan credit unions for over 20 years. The agreement is designed to strengthen that partnership and bring more value to the partnership," he said, noting the league and AAA Michigan have had a relationship since the early 1970s that let credit unions, through group referrals, have access to AAA Michigan Group products such as Auto Club membership, auto insurance and homeowner's insurance and allowed members to qualify for "member only" discounts on AAA products. AAA Michigan operates in eight states and is headquartered in Dearborn. According to Adams, there are about 1.7 million AAA members in Michigan, and he estimates about half of those credit union members. "The opportunity through this partnership is for us to tap into those AAA members who aren't currently credit union members," he said. It's also an opportunity for AAA Michigan to increase its reach in the state. The company is already the largest provider of auto insurance in Michigan, holding about a 19% market share. It also has about 11% share of the homeowners insurance market. "The reason why traditional insurance providers aren't as strong as AAA is because the company has done an excellent job in conveying value add to consumers. As a credit union trade association, the league told AAA Michigan we know you have a leading market share but we need to design a model that's as credit union friendly as possible," said Adams. And that's just what the two partners have been working on. Under the terms of the agreement, AAA Michigan is working with CUcorp to create marketing strategies that promote credit union loans and deposits to members of AAA Michigan. Another result of the collaboration is AAA Michigan has terminated its relationships with banks it had partnerships with. "We convinced AAA Michigan there's more to be gained with having a credit union-friendly model than with them having side relationships with banks," said Adams, adding, "We think this relationship will be a huge win for AAA, credit unions and consumers. We're sure there's going to be tremendous benefit to credit unions." In the near future, the Michigan Credit Union League wants to set up a pilot shared service center site in a AAA Michigan field office. Adams is hopeful a successful pilot will mean CUcorp will be able to expand its network around the state, especially said Adams, since "the AAA Michigan field offices are in good locations and are heavily trafficked." "Our intention is to keep working on whatever needs to be done to make sure there's good communication between the Michigan credit union industry and AAA Michigan and to be sure credit union members are plugged into their services and they're able to promote credit unions as the financial institution of choice for consumers," said Adams. -

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