Thing 6 of 30: make membership mean something

By Tim McAlpine

September is 30 things I would implement or consider implementing at my credit union if I was a credit union leader.

Thing 6: make membership mean something

You have to be a member to shop at Costco. Costco members happily fork over their annual membership fee because they are rewarded with great prices, huge selection and discounts on gas, eyeglasses and 50-gallon jugs of mayonnaise. In essence, Costco has made membership meaningful.

You have to be a member to deal with a credit union but credit union membership is nebulous—instead of creating a club feeling, it acts as a barrier to entry. What if you could make membership more meaningful by offering exclusive discounts at local merchants? How about striking deals with a local gas station, a local grocery store, a local theater or the local university to offer discounts on game tickets? You may even have business members that would love to work with your credit union.

Texas-based credit union, TDECU, has done just that. TDECU has struck a deal with Buc-ee's, a local gas station and convenience store chain to offer a 30-cent-per-gallon discount on gas! Not only will that drive new membership growth, it will also strengthen existing member relationships.

Now that's what I call member privileges!

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Comments

1) Jeffry Pilcher @ Sep 07, 2009
http://www.thefinancialbrand.com

Nothing is more powerful than an annual dividend.

2) Tim McAlpine @ Sep 07, 2009

@jeffry - Excellent point. This is definitely a differentiator as well. In my neck of the woods, Vancity does a great job of promoting its member dividends program.

3) William Azaroff @ Sep 11, 2009
http://www.azaroff.com/blog

Such a good topic, Tim! In Bologna I had a thought I keep meaning to write about, but haven't yet, so let me test it here: Make membership optional.

It's counter intuitive, I know. Allow non-members to hold accounts, mortgages and other products at your CU, but to be able to share in profits and vote (and allow members to vote for more than just the BoD) they have to buy a share. It's an opt-in.

Then you know who's invested with you. Focus on them, they are your core. It's something to use as a tool to deepen relationships with others.

Iit's something to discuss at BCBBC. In the meantime, woud love to know what you think.

4) Tim McAlpine @ Sep 13, 2009

I love the membership optional concept. Other co-ops do it. Give members better rates, additional online features, etc. I also like the concept of annual dues to keep your membership up. It would encourage usage and engagement.

5) John Wagner @ Dec 09, 2009
http://www.wingsfinancial.com

Instead of merchant discounts, how about offering your members solid value every single day through higher savings rates, lower loan rates and lower fees. I recently attended a credit union function where a big topic of discussion was how to "creatively fee your members". I couldn't believe this was actually being discussed. How about finding ways to creatively lower your credit union's expenses so you have more to give back to the member.

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