The 220,000 member, $5.4 million San Diego County Credit Union reported that a debit card promotion tied to Bank Transfer Day wound up doubling the number of accounts the CU usually opens.

“We saw an astonishing number of new customers open checking accounts throughout November and anticipate that additional big bank customers will open new checking accounts through the remainder of the year,” said SDCCU CEO Teresa Halleck. “We are happy to welcome these new customers to SDCCU and to provide them with excellent customer service and low fees. They are now member-owners of SDCCU which is so different from the big bank mentality they are used to.”

In alignment with Bank Transfer Day, SDCCU launched “Shred Your Big Bank Debit Card,” a social media focused promotion. The campaign offered customers who opened a new SDCCU checking account and posted a photo of themselves shredding their big bank debit card a chance to win $1,000. Over 125 photo entries were received and SDCCU increased their Facebook likes by nearly 25% during the campaign. Monica Padilla Marquez was selected as the grand prize winner of $1,000, the credit union reported.

Halleck reported that the CU opened 4,049 new SDCCU checking accounts during the month-long campaign. The number of new checking accounts opened in November was 65% higher than SDCCU's average for the first six months of 2011. The largest surge of new member opened accounts during the first week of November; almost three times the per-day average of new accounts for the entire year of 2010. The number of new checking accounts opened continued to remain well above average throughout November.

In addition, Halleck said the increase in total membership growth in October and November 2011 was 235% higher than the same time period the previous year.

Instant Insights /

Debit Card Promotion Leads to Record Numbers of Accounts

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