INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — After incorporating financial education programs into sales and service programs, several credit union executives recently shared how the transition has helped their financial institutions achieve strong "bottom-line benefits."
Hosted by Precision Information, a publisher of interactive educational materials, more than 20 executives attended the Sept. 23-26 Educated Investor Collaborative-Discover the Bottom Line Benefits of Financial Education conference here that featured presentations by industry experts on increased employee financial education and industry case studies in which credit unions have integrated financial education into sales and service programs.
A presentation by Matt Osborn, training director of Desert Schools Federal Credit Union, showed more than 325% growth in revenue from 2004 to 2006 after incorporating employee financial education into a sales and service program. Mountain American Credit Union's "Build Your Retirement Campaign" led to respective 92% and 125% increases of individual retirement accounts and term deposits in a four-month period from January through April 2007, said Ellen Smith, account manager for Precision Information.
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Precision Information President/CEO Joe Saari said a financial knowledge gap exists among credit union employees at all levels. A survey, conducted by the company, of more than 2,000 credit union employees who were tested on basic financial education scored an average of 55.7%. Saari told conference attendees that a follow-up study in which a sample of the same group of credit union employees increased their average test scores by nearly 30% after a small amount of financial training.
"Financial literacy is a strategic direction for our industry, and Joe's [Saari] passion and research proves he's charting the way," said Keith Kauffeld, vice president of operations at Air Academy Federal Credit Union.
Carolyn Jordan, senior vice president of Neighborhood Credit Union, said "The mix of networking and best practices sharing of credit unions using the Educated Investor program was invaluable."
The conference took place at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort and Spa in Indian Wells, Calif., which was also the location of the CUNA Operations, Sales & Service Council's recent conference.
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