Marketing

Credit unions wrapped up last year with a slew of mainstream media financial experts talking them up as an alternative to banks.

A group of Mid-Atlantic credit union leagues are ramping up the industry search for the ideal "service culture" next year by using the Ritz-Carlton Hotel chain as the model at a special CEO Summit in Florida.

The Web-based FoolProof literacy package being promoted by the Credit Union Associations of Colorado/Wyoming is gaining more state leagues as partners and adding sizable numbers of high school students.

The recent surge in favorable coverage of credit unions by the national media triggered a new ad buy by a Denver CU that mentions New York Internet publisher and blogger Arianna Huffington.

"CBS News MoneyWatch" has solidly endorsed credit unions for consumers.

With all that national attention on card rates and fees, New Jersey's largest credit union, the $1.9 billion Affinity, is finding a variable low rate, 8.6%, and a stepped up promotion the right elixir toward building card volume in the New Year.