In the spirit of paying it forward, Philadelphia Federal Credit Union launched a new promotion that banks on the kindness of strangers.

As a way to open new accounts while also enhancing community stewardship, the $910 million cooperative said it strategically placed 100 wallets on the ground in a neighborhood it serves.

Lucky locals that picked up the wallets discovered a PFCU-branded coupon thanking them for picking up the lost wallet and instructing them to keep it as a gift.

They are then invited to bring the coupon into the credit union's branch to enter a raffle for a chance to win $250. For those who turn in the coupon by Dec. 31 and open a new account, PFCU said it will make the first $5 deposit.

“Since this particular branch is still relatively new, we thought the wallet drop promotion would be a great way to get PFCU's name out there and a good incentive for the people living in the community to get to know us better,” PFCU Branch Manager Katie Kitchenman, said, who worked with Assistant Manager Christina Lerro and Teller Supervisor Kerry Buchalski to create the campaign.

“The goal of the Lost Wallet Promotion was to develop a fun, unique guerilla marketing campaign to attract local residents to open up new accounts, and ultimately, take advantage of the many other services PFCU offers to help members become financially secure,” Kitchenman said.

The campaign was easy to execute, inexpensive and effective, she noted.

“We've had a great response to this initiative so far,” Kitchenman said. “In the short amount of time since the wallets were dropped, eight people have already come to the branch to turn in the coupons and six of those have opened new accounts.”

“So far, the accounts that we have opened have increased our deposits by $5,000,” Kitchenman added. “It was easy to execute and the ROI alone speaks volumes.”

The credit union spent less than $125 to purchase the wallets and created the coupon in-house, according to Kitchenman.

“While we were dropping the wallets in the neighborhood the reaction to the people picking them up was amazing,” Kitchenman recalled. “People were running down the street yelling, 'Ma'am you dropped your wallet!' As we giggled, we told them, 'it's not ours, someone else must have dropped it,' and we continued on our way.”

PFCU documented locations of wallets to track pickup over the next few weeks, Kitchenman said.

“While we weren't expecting a surge of people rushing into the branch to turn in the wallets, we are hopeful that more and more people will begin to trickle in as more wallets are discovered,” she said. “We anticipated that it might be something people get around to when they have some downtime, which is why we said the coupons [in the wallets] could be redeemed through the end of December.”

Kitchenman recommended that other cooperatives try the approach.

“I would absolutely recommend other [credit unions] try a similar promotion, but they should consider doing so in the spring or summer,” she suggested.

“We started planning in June and between ordering the wallets and coupons and planning the drop-off locations, the campaign didn't end up being rolled out until late fall,” Kitchenman said.

Instant Insights /

Lost Wallets Reveals Kindness of Strangers

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