MADISON, Wis. — Members of Filene Research Institute's i3 group recently shared their industry innovations with credit union executives in Canada.
Seven teams of "next generation" credit union leaders presented solutions to respond to market needs in the credit union industry to more than 100 credit union executives from across the United States and Canada on Sept. 21-22 in Vancouver.
"The i3 group demonstrates that innovation comes from responding to market needs and solving member problems," said Mark Meyer, Filene executive director. "The i3 innovation model leverages the credit union's unique cooperative structure and enables credit unions to enhance their innovation efforts."
Meyer said the innovations "are natural evolutions of products and services that may find their way into credit union operations in the near future."
o Always a Member: A National Member Referral Service. Keeping members in the credit union system is the focus of this online referral program, which matches members moving geographically from one location to another with a credit union near their new home. A similar program already used in British Columbia, Canada, has kept 3,052 members and $105.8 million within the credit union system, Filene said.
o Decision Point. When elderly credit union members need help managing their finances, specially trained staff members can advise family members on how to best help their relatives protect and manage their assets. This can include bill-paying, financial planning, and reverse mortgage services for the customer.
o My Community Connection. Credit unions serve people from all walks of life, some more mobile than others. My Community Connection is a Web-based portal and information resource about community activities and events through which credit union members sign up for volunteer activities.
o Stock Market Madness with CUPick64. Online gaming has already proven successful in other industries, and CUPick64, a "fast-moving" stock market simulation game, proposes blending this favorite pastime of young adults with learning more about financial markets.
o Prize-based Savings Products. With the U.S. savings rate now below 0%, prize-based savings programs, based on Harvard research and used successfully in many other nations, offer a "unique and risk-free" way to promote savings among credit union members. For each dollar or incremental dollar deposited in a specially designated account, the member earns an additional entry into the sweepstakes drawing; the more deposited, the greater the chances of winning.
o iNFORM Young Adult Members. Credit unions are not capturing a "fair share" of the young adult market between the ages of 20 and 30. With iNFORM, a long-term relationship and retention service designed to deliver short and engaging financial management messages through podcasting, credit unions can better address the needs of this young market and build up their membership.
o No Excuses Saving Club. Americans not only have difficult time saving money, but also have mounting debts. The No Excuses Savings Club promotes saving money by rounding debit card transactions to the nearest dollar and automatically depositing those funds to a specially designated savings account.
Filene will publish an in-depth report on these innovations early in 2007.
Other highlights of the i3 meeting in Canada included Filene welcoming its 27 new i3 members and saying good-bye to the 25 inaugural members. Perspectives from Canadian CEOs regarding their credit union differentiation strategies in a competitive environment were also discussed. –msamaad@cutimes.com
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