By John Blom and Margie Church
The information you have about members using Bill Pay
services, is potentially a marketing goldmine. You've had access to the data
for years, but likely it's been costly and cumbersome to access. You may have
been reluctant to make the time and financial investments until your credit
union could gauge how successful Bill Pay would be among your members.
Nationwide, Bill Pay's adoption is strong. Is it time to have
a conversation with your service provider about whether you can
cost-efficiently use that data to increase your loan portfolios and membership
roll? We think so, especially since portions of the economy seem to be
stabilizing, and some loan products are seeing good uptick.
Short-term, you might compare the cost of quality leads
against your budget. Perhaps you'd choose a few seasonal promotions versus a
full-blown commitment. Long-term, we contend that if the data gives you a high
level of confidence you'd reach a ripe-for-the-picking audience, and the cost
to get the leads is reasonable, pursing this is something you should seriously consider.
It could be a very lucrative component of your credit union's retention and
prospecting strategies.
Once you have insight to a member's financial habits and
obligations via Bill Pay, you can show them time and money-saving products and
services they might want. The not-for-profit charter of credit unions puts you
in a position to do this without appearing as the money-grabbing, for-profit
bank that has had their hands in the members' pockets far too deep, far too
long.
A secondary benefit, is that you'll ride the leading edge of
creating a new membership profile: your most active eBankers. As the financial
industry continues evolving into virtual banking, you'll be in a position of
strength to have products and tools your members want at the time and place
they want them. That's just smart marketing.
Pinpoint Direct Marketing exclusively serves the U.S. credit
union market. We provide excellent, turnkey or a' la carte creative services at
a great value. Click to learn more.
