bcihq-blog

It’s Earth Day – Let BCI help you celebrate with a free energy use audit

2010-04-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

By Steve Kelley

April 22, 2010

It’s Earth Day 2010, and everybody seems to be doing something to show their concern for the environment. Students are planting trees, politicians are announcing initiatives … even the National Credit Union Administration sent out a press release about how they are conserving energy and reducing waste. It’s all good.

So, how about your credit union – what are you doing? I’m sure many are sponsoring Earth Day activities in their communities, and others no doubt have been taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint in one way or another. But, if you’d like to do even more, BCI would like to help.

Over the last several weeks we’ve been talking about saving money by conserving energy (watch our “Why Conserve Energy?” video series here), and have rolled out a suite of energy conservation services aimed at making credit unions the most energy-efficient financial institutions in the country. And now, to celebrate Earth Day, we have a special offer.

Today and tomorrow (April 22-23, 2010), we’ll give any credit union that contacts us (by clicking here or calling 1-800-222-1509) an initial energy use audit of their utility bills free of charge! In the audit, we’ll compare your utility use to Department of Energy benchmarks and determine how much money you could save by making your buildings more energy-efficient. Then, if you’re interested, we’ll be happy to talk about how we can help you actually make the needed changes.

Talking about helping the environment is good. So is planting trees, reducing waste, and all those other things we like to do on Earth Day. But, saving the Earth while saving money – maybe lots of money? Now, that’s a celebration! Call us today, and join the party!

It’s not just about the cards: are your branches “debits” or “credits”?

2010-04-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

By Steve Kelley

I was buying gas the other day at the convenience store down the block (what’s up with these gas prices, anyway?), swiping my card at the pump, when the question came up on the little screen: debit or credit? Now, I was using a debit card linked to my checking account, but it actually works on both systems. So, I had to decide which way I wanted the transaction handled, and push the appropriate button before I could get the gas. (I chose debit for some reason, even though choosing credit would give my credit union a bigger share of the transaction. Sorry, fellow members!)

If you’re like me and use plastic to buy everything from a loaf of bread at the corner market to hundreds of dollars’ worth of building supplies at the local Big Box store, “debit or credit?” is probably a question you’ve become accustomed to answering. In another vein, though, “debit or credit” is a question people who run credit unions ought to be asking themselves often, about many aspects of their operations: Is this a debit or a credit? Is it taking away from, or adding to, the overall success and well-being of our credit union and its members?

This may seem obvious. “Of course,” you might say, “we ask ourselves that question about everything we do. And we would never do anything that detracted from our credit union or our members!” But is that really the case? Or are there some things that you’ve been doing for so long that you can’t really say when or how you made the decision to start doing them, and once you started you never questioned their value? Like running ads with your current CD rates in the local paper every week, even when your rates are the lowest in town and you don’t really want any new deposits? Or offering three checking accounts even though 98% of your members choose the “free” option, and maintaining the “premium” accounts for the few who choose them is actually costing you money?

I’m convinced that asking the “debit or credit” question is something we have to be intentional about, because it’s just too easy to keep doing things the way we always have without being sure about the value of those actions. And one area where I think that’s especially important is when it comes to our branches – because the credits can be substantial, but the debits could be costing us more than we know. For instance:

· Is our location down the block from our largest SEG a credit because it’s convenient for members who work there, or is it a debit because much of the banking is done by spouses who live and work on the other side of town?
· Is the fact that we have 10 teller stations in our lobby a credit because we can staff up to meet rising demand, or is it a debit because we never have more than 4 tellers working and members wonder why we don’t fill those empty stations to make their wait shorter?
· Is our low-key exterior a credit because it shows we’re not all highfalutin like our big bank competitors, or is it a debit because potential members don’t even know we’re there?
· Is holding off on expansion a credit because caution is important in times like these, or is it a debit because we’re missing out on some of the lowest land and construction prices in years?
· Is spending money on becoming more energy-efficient a debit because we just don’t have the money right now, or is it a credit because we’ll get the investment back quickly through savings and people will respect us for being good corporate citizens?

These are just some of the hundreds of questions we ought to be asking ourselves about our branch networks, and about everything else we do, over and over again. And when we do, we need to take action to eliminate the debits and turn them into credits. It’s a never-ending process, but a required one if we’re going to win in this ever-more-competitive market.

Now, who’s going to do something about these gas prices?

Yes, we can … make credit unions America’s most energy-efficient financial institutions!

2010-03-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

By Steve Kelley

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock (and some of you may wish you had been), you know that our president has recently signed into law one of the most far-reaching pieces of legislation ever enacted – or at least, enacted in most of our lifetimes. And whether you like it, hate it, or fall somewhere in between, you have to admit: there are going to be some dramatic changes around here, though it may take a while before the full impact is known.

Here at BCI, we’ve been working on something that we think could bring about some dramatic changes as well, at least for the credit union movement. Difference is, we don’t think it’s really going to take so long for these changes to make an impact (and we’re quite certain the impact will be a positive one!).

In our now-completed “Why conserve energy?” video series, we’ve shared our view of most energy conservation programs: that they tend to focus too much on large buildings or new construction, ignoring 98% of existing commercial buildings because they are smaller than 100,000 square feet. And we’ve told you how much money could be saved by retro-commissioning those smaller buildings ($34 billion or more?) and specifically, how credit unions could save at least $23 million annually.

Well, the time for talk is past; it’s time we actually did something about making credit union buildings more energy-efficient. That’s why we’re now offering a suite of energy-efficiency services, including initial energy use audits (free in some cases), comprehensive retro-commissioning studies conducted by qualified engineers, and complete implementation of retro-commissioning projects. We’ll even offer to do some projects with no up-front cost, letting the energy savings pay for the work.

You see, we truly believe that credit unions can and should become the most energy-efficient and environmentally-responsible financial institutions in the country, all while saving millions of dollars in annual energy costs. In addition to the savings, we think the branding opportunities and potential goodwill benefits are enormous.

But it’s not what we think that matters – it’s what you think. So post a comment to let us know. And if you’re involved in operating credit union buildings, contact us at http://www.bcihq.com/contact/contact.cfm to see how we can help you save money by conserving energy. We’ll all be glad you did.

The cat’s out of the bag: how does $23 million in annual savings grab you?

2010-03-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

By Steve Kelley

If you’re a regular reader of this blog (or follow us on Twitter or YouTube), then you’re probably aware that we’ve launched a video series focusing on energy conservation in credit union buildings. The first three episodes are already out, and three more are on the way. I hope you’re watching, and inviting others to do so as well.

In Episode 3, which went online yesterday, we finally disclosed how much our engineers think credit unions could save annually in energy costs if they underwent retro-commissioning (a comprehensive process of making a building more energy efficient): over $23 million. I don’t know about you, but to my way of thinking, that’s a significant amount, especially at this time of mounting loan losses and disappearing capital.

Of course, these savings wouldn’t come without cost. We estimate that to realize the $23 million in annual savings, credit unions would have to invest approximately $57 million. And yes, that’s a lot. But if you do the math, it means that the initial investment would be recouped in just under two-and-a-half years. And if the savings continued for 10 years (they should do at least that), you’d have net savings of $173 million. That’s an ROI of just over 300%. Slightly better than the current T-bill, wouldn’t you say?

So, wondering why making credit union buildings more efficient hasn’t been talked about much before now? We’ll discuss that in our remaining videos, and we’ll also tell you what we plan to do about it. We hope you’ll watch, and join the conversation. And most importantly, we hope you’ll join us in doing something to make your buildings more efficient, and save your share of that $23 million per year. Don’t you owe your members at least that?

What part of $34 billion could credit unions save?

2010-03-18T07:18:00.000-07:00

OK, so we've established that there's plenty of money to be saved by conserving energy in smaller commercial buildings. Now, it's time to get to the heart of the matter: how much could credit unions save?
In Episode 3 of our "Why conserve energy?" video series, titled "Could conserving energy make a difference for credit unions?" we switch our focus to the 20,000 credit union facilities in the U.S. and their potential for meaningful savings.
Click here to watch this video, and invite others to watch it and join the conversation. We're anxious to hear what you think!

“Going green” to save green is good, but haven’t we missed something?

2010-03-10T10:07:00.000-08:00

I read a good article this week by Leigh Anne Terry of Callahan and Associates on CreditUnions.com (5 Ideas Your Credit Union Can Take to the … Bank) that should probably be required reading for everyone in the credit union movement. Ms. Terry makes the point that “going green” and “saving green” aren’t mutually exclusive. We couldn’t agree more.

Though you ought to read the article for yourself, the gist of it is that there are a number of environmentally-friendly things that credit unions can do that will either save money or expand business opportunities. The five she lists include going paperless where possible, making loans for environmentally-friendly vehicles (including bicycles), using “green” architecture when building new buildings (BCI can help you with that!), making home loans for environmentally responsible dwellings, and offering remote capture to cut down on the trips members have to make to a branch.

These are all great ideas, and I would encourage every credit union to explore putting them into practice. But there’s another idea, one that doesn’t seem to have gotten much play yet, that could have enormous impact on credit unions’ bottom line and their standing in the global community: saving money by conserving energy in existing credit union facilities.

In her article, Ms. Terry encourages credit unions to go green when building new buildings, but the fact is that there are thousands of credit union buildings already in operation that are wasting millions of dollars per year in energy consumption. If we want to make an impact on the environment and become financially sound, it’s time we started talking about how to fix those existing buildings.

At BCI, we’re ready to do just that. This week we’ve launched a video series aimed at starting a conversation about conserving energy in existing credit union buildings. Episode 1 is on our website now; several more will follow in the coming days. I hope you’ll watch, give us your comments, and otherwise join the conversation.

Credit unions should absolutely be doing all they can to help the environment … and their own bottom lines. Great business and branding opportunities are out there. What are we waiting for?

By Steve Kelley
http://www.bcihq.com/

Help Members, Help Your Bottom Line

2010-02-15T07:56:00.000-08:00

Denise Senecal, Research Manager, Callahan & Associates, Inc

Callahan & Associates' latest Internet Strategy Consortium survey reveals members will focus on saving money and reducing debt in 2010. The Consortium surveyed 10,049 online members; questions focused on members' financial goals for 2010, along with their plans for new accounts, loans, and refinancing. Results from the study underscore the opportunity for credit unions to open new accounts this year. Eight in 10 members reported interest in a new loan, a refinanced loan, or a new account in 2010.

The number of members saying they are secure (i.e, they have savings or investments) increased from 16% in 2009 to 21% in 2010; however, approximately 25% of members report being on the edge: Twenty three percent report they are just trying to cover their bills, and 3% say they are over their head.How Can the Credit Union Help Members?The survey asked members with a less-than-stable financial situation to identify ways their credit union could help them improve their financial situation. Member feedback indicates several opportunities for credit unions in terms of financial education and loan refinancing. Budgeting is a problem for these members. Twenty-six percent are interested in online budgeting tools, and 14% desire budget counseling. Offering personal financial management (PFM) tools is one way the credit union can help members budget and track their expenses. Gen Y members are particularly interested in these tools, with 39% expressing interest. One Gen Y-er stated the desire for: "An online tool that shows where and how I spend my money: grocery stores, gas, eating out, bills, etc."Twenty percent of respondents are interested in consolidating credit card debt, indicating some members are struggling in this area. One respondent said:"Help with credit card debt would allow my savings goals to be met."Mortgage loan refinancing is another opportunity for the credit union to help members, as 13% of respondents indicated an interest in refinancing a mortgage from another financial institution. A respondent suggested one way to incentivize refinancing:"Reduce my monthly mortgage payments without requiring upfront money."As recession fallout – such as unemployment and wage reductions – impacts members, the credit union should offer tools to help its members improve their finances. According to survey feedback, many members are uncertain as to how their credit union can help them. So credit unions also need to ensure those programs are effectively marketed.

Old men in basketball tournaments, and competing in today’s economy

2010-02-03T09:46:00.000-08:00

By Steve Kelley

I’m typing this while recuperating from a 3-on-3 basketball tournament I was crazy enough to play in last weekend (my fingers still work, though most other parts are questionable). And though I may question my sanity for participating, the events did bring to mind an important truth about credit unions.
It seems that someone had the great idea to put together a tournament and invite people who had no business on a basketball court to form teams, so some friends of mine signed up and asked me to join them. Now, I am 50 years old, have never been much of a player, and have not laced up the old sneakers for years. Plus, two of my four teammates were also 50 (fortunately we were allowed to have five on a team to allow for subs). So, although the other two were young and athletic, our chances did not look good.
What happened, though, surprised me. Facing teams that were made up of younger (and healthier) players (only one other guy in the tournament was over 40!), we actually went undefeated and won the darn thing! And though my brain is still a bit foggy, I think I know why.
You see, although we were old, overweight and either “has-beens” or “never-weres,” the old guys on the team were smart enough to know what we were and weren’t capable of, and (for the most part) stuck to our strengths. My friend Mark, for instance, is quite tall, and if we got him the ball inside he had a pretty good chance of scoring; plus, he was hard to shoot over. John, on the other hand, is of the short and stout variety, but he was more than willing to give up his body to get a loose ball or just get in an opponent’s way. And as for me, well, I have deceptively long arms that let me rebound even though I can’t jump, and all my years of coaching kids have taught me a thing or two about strategy. We were able to depend on the two young guys to score most of our points, and the combination turned out to be, on that day at least, unbeatable.
And that’s what reminded me of credit unions. For the most part, credit unions are smaller, have fewer resources, and would be considered less “flashy” than their bank competitors. If they try to beat the banks at their own game, they’ll have little or no chance. But, the truth is that these “underdogs” do have some advantages, such as their not-for-profit structure (no stockholders looking for profits), member ownership (loyalty, anyone?), consumer orientation and more. And by sticking to their strengths, and not trying to be all things to all people, in head-to-head competition time and time again they have held their own. Meanwhile, in the never-ending search for profits, some banks have let themselves get distracted and ended up with “troubled assets” and a PR nightmare that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
So, while I drink in the intoxicating scent of victory (or is that Ben-Gay?) I want to urge my credit union friends: don’t stay out of the game just because your competitors seem bigger, stronger and better-equipped. The fact is that now may be the best chance you’ve ever had to grow and succeed with consumers who are tired of the superstars’ shtick. Be yourselves, play to your strengths, and grow while others are holding back. Like us old guys, you could turn out to be unbeatable!

Tweet! Tweet!Social media tool has credit unions all a-Twitter.

2010-02-01T08:50:00.000-08:00

By Diane Franklin
Jan. 29, 2010

Can your credit union build business relationships 140 characters at a time? That's the potential and promise of Twitter, the micro-blogging site that is taking the world by storm. As mentioned, Twitter has a limit of just 140 characters per message—the messages are popularly known as "tweets"—and those "tweets" taken collectively can spread information faster (and some would argue more effectively) than practically any other media outlet you are currently using.
Since its founding in 2006, Twitter has grown at a mind-boggling rate. In 2008, there were 6 million adults using Twitter on an ongoing basis, according to emarketer. That figure grew to 18 million by the end of 2009 and will reach 26 million by the end of 2010. While some have dismissed Twitter as purely a social enterprise-a way for users to tell friends what they had for lunch or what movie they are going to see-there is now a growing sentiment among marketers that Twitter can be a valuable tool for making and maintaining business connections. Credit unions are among those discovering just how powerful a tool it can be.
"People are now seeing it more as a business tool," says Mike Lawson, principal of the San Diego-based PR/marketing firm DML Communications and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/dmlcomm. "Businesses are using it for education and for information gathering. It's the ultimate form of two-way communication. With Twitter, you can get feedback right away. You can create a conversation and build on it to create a relationship."
Guidelines for Effective 'Tweeting'
Have good, quality content. "Content is king," says Stu Fisher, SVP/e-commerce at $2.2 billion/150,000-member Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union (addisonavenue.com), Palo Alto, Calif. "People follow you if you have valuable content, and they don't follow you if you don't."
Be conversational. "It's not a bad thing to throw personal observations in there from time to time," advises Mike Lawson, principal of San Diego-based DML Communications and on Twitter at html://twitter.com/dmlcomm. "It puts a face on the organization." Fisher concurs that it's important to show your personality. "We avoid a stiff corporate persona. We strive to have a voice that is genuine, relatable, intelligent, witty but humble-people tend to respond to that," he says.
Limit the number of people who tweet for your organization. "Having one person handle your main Twitter account is more cohesive than having multiple people doing it," states Tabbi VanHoutte, electronic marketing specialist for Oklahoma City, Okla.-based $200 million/25,000-member Allegiance Credit Union. Concurring with this point, Lawson observes the importance of clearly stated objectives that the individual can follow. "Have guidelines regarding what you should tweet about and what you should not tweet about."
Use URL links. "Nine out of 10 times, our tweets provide a link to something else," Fisher remarks. "But be clear about what you're linking. People are busy and don't want to waste their time. For instance, we recently posted a link on 'Five Ways to Kill Your FICO Score' from MSN Money."
Make use of handy Twitter applications. Such tools as TweetDeck and Hoot Suite will allow you to organize your followers, friends (i.e., the people you are following), mentions, direct messages, etc. They automatically shorten your URLs so they fit more easily into your 140-character limit. There are also various Web sites that will shorten URLs, such as TinyURL.com and bit.ly.
Listen before tweeting. VanHoutte recommends taking some time to understand Twitter before jumping on board. "Sit back, watch and learn all about it before you get on. Determine what you are trying to do with it and whom you are trying to reach."
Don't be overly promotional. "It will come off as negative if you use it as another promotional vehicle," Fisher states. "People see right through that." Kelsey Balcaitis, community education specialist at $750 million/85,400-member A-Plus Federal Credit Union, Austin, Texas, concurs with this sentiment. "People can smell a sales pitch a mile away. If you're too promotional, they won't follow you." Occasionally, Balcaitis will tweet about a credit union product. "We recently tweeted about our business loans, but we talked about the steps of going from an idea to a business. The message is that we are here to help. If we do market a specific product, we provide our members with information."
Lawson acknowledges that there is still a large percentage of consumers who are not quite sure what Twitter is or what purpose it serves. However, the numbers who are using Twitter make it significant enough for credit unions to pursue it. "It's an incredible tool that allows credit unions to communicate immediately with their members," Lawson says. "It's the ultimate form of viral marketing. If a consumer has an issue, you can learn about it and resolve it right away. It's a great customer service tool, and it fits in well with the credit union's mantra of people helping other people."
However, Lawson is quick to point out that Twitter shouldn't take the place of other forms of marketing, advertising and promotion. "This is something you can be doing in addition to all of that. It's all about giving members a choice and getting information to them that they can use. If you do it well, your tweets will become like the morning paper to your followers. Set yourself up as a trustworthy, credible source, and you will become a part of their day."
The Time to TweetOne fear that credit unions may have is that Twitter is too time-consuming. However, that is not necessarily the case. "On average, I spend around an hour a day on it," reports Kelsey Balcaitis, community education specialist for $750 million/85,400-member A-Plus Federal Credit Union, Austin, Texas.
Balcaitis was given the responsibility for social media by Marketing Director Muna Whitlock. The time that Balcaitis spends on Twitter is broken up throughout the day. She spends a few minutes in the morning, a few minutes at mid-day, and then checks it again right before she goes home."It's a nice way to break up the day," she says. "I finish something I'm working on, and before I go on to something else, I'll go and check Twitter."
The credit union's Twitter account can be found at http://twitter.com/APlusFCU. As of mid-December, the credit union had about 450 followers. "We have a good group of followers that mostly consists of members and credit union-related organizations," Balcaitis reports. "It's more about quality than quantity."
Through Twitter, the credit union is able to effectively engage in two-way communication with these followers. "It's all about sharing," Balcaitis says. "We feel very strongly about that. I've done a lot of research about social media, and there are a lot of statistics showing that consumers want to be engaged."As part of her Twitter responsibilities, Balcaitis reads various blogs, such as Mashable and Kiplinger and also visits various news sites so that she has relevant information to tweet. "I use (the free Twitter client) Hoot Suite which allows me to schedule my tweets. It also tracks mentions and retweets and allows me to see how many people are clicking on my links."Balcaitis' tweets include links to a variety of articles on financial topics. She also uses Twitter to link to blog entries on the credit union's Facebook page and to a site that is dedicated to the San Marcos High School Savings Challenge, sponsored by the credit union. "I try to tweet a minimum of once a day, but mostly I tweet multiple times," Balcaitis says. "If someone has a question, we reply to them or we send them a direct message."
Balcaitis had been using Twitter on her own. However, to educate herself about the latest developments with Twitter and other social media tools, she regularly attends social media workshops, seminars and Webinars. "If I learn at least one new thing, it was worth attending," she reports. "The biggest thing is to listen. Using Twitter, you can learn a lot about what people are saying about banks and credit unions and topics such as debt. If people say something negative, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It gives you the opportunity to show why they could be wrong. You can take steps to rectify problems or misconceptions."As time goes on, Twitter is becoming a recognized outlet for communication. "Everyone in our (marketing) department is starting to see just how valuable it's becoming," Balcaitis says.
Personality on DisplayTwitter allows credit unions to be informal, even personable, in their communication with members and other followers. For instance, Allegiance Credit Union www.allegiancecu.org uses its Earnie the Eagle (the credit union's mascot) as its Twitter background image.
"Twitter doesn't have to be all business-related," affirms Tabbi VanHoutte, electronic marketing specialist for this Oklahoma City-based $200 million/25,000-member credit union. "You can also show a bit of personality with it."
Allegiance CU started using Twitter in June 2008, and VanHoutte took on the responsibility for maintaining it when she joined the credit union in August of that year. She admits to being a bit underwhelmed by the potential of Twitter when she first took it on. However, she took some social media courses and began following various organizations that showed her just how useful Twitter could be.
"I retweet from lovemycu.org (a credit union advocacy site sponsored by the Michigan Credit Union League), and I also search credit unions to see what others are talking about," she reports.
The credit union's Twitter account is http://twitter.com/AllegianceCU and currently has 550-plus followers. VanHoutte has established a regular daily routine thatallows her to manage Twitter and other social media efficiently. "The first thing I do in the morning is catch up on social media-checking and responding to messages on both Facebook and Twitter," she states. "This takes about 30 minutes. Overall, I probably spend a total of an hour and a half on social media each day."
She uses free Twitter client TweetDeck to help her keep tabs on messages coming in from the people she follows. "TweetDeck is great," she says. "Messages pop up automatically, so I can see them throughout the course of my day.I subscribe to blogs via Google Reader, which gives me some interesting information to put out to my followers."
Among the blogs she monitors is www.walletpop.com, which has useful financial and money-saving advice for consumers, such as how to save money on Thanksgiving dinner or where to get a free cup of coffee.
Personal observations help followers see the credit union on a more personal level. "I want them to feel like they're connecting to a real person," VanHoutte explains.
Twitter also allows followers to gain an understanding of the credit union's connection to the community. For instance, VanHoutte recently tweeted about a fundraiser that involved credit union employees participating in a Wii Fit Challenge. "I took videos of employees doing the hula hoop and linked to the video from Twitter," she reports. "This allowed our followers to see that we are not just about promoting our credit union. We're also about having funand raising money to benefit our community."
While VanHoutte has primary responsibility for Allegiance CU's main Twitter identity, recently the credit union decided to broaden the power of tweets by allowing all employees to participate. "We originally didn't allow employees to use social media during business hours, but then we started having TweetWeek, which allowed employees to get on Twitter every month for a week," VanHoutte explains. "They could mention that we were having popcorn in the lobby or that we were offering $200 for refinancing your auto loan."
VanHoutte explains that while she remains the sole "tweeter" for the Allegiance CU brand, employees can tweet about the CU to their own followers from their personal Twitter accounts.
Based on the success of the TweetWeeks, Allegiance CU now is allowing its employees to use Twitter during work hours. "We saw this as a valuable thing," VanHoutte states. "Twitter is allowing our members to know who our employees are. We have about 80 employees, and it's another source of advertising that is essentially free. It takes up very little of their time, so it's more of a benefit than a detriment."
The power of Twitter is moving beyond online interaction and facilitating actual face-to-face contacts. For instance, A-Plus FCU invited its members to a local Starbucks for a drink of "holiday cheer" on a recent Saturday in December. The credit union publicized this event on its Facebook and Twitter pages and then followed up by tweeting from it (complete with photo links). "We had really great results from the event," Balcaitis reports. "Our fan and follower numbers increased, and we had people tweeting about the event (with a total of almost 5,000 followers seeing their tweets). Plus the comments from the people at the event made it completely worth it."
$2.2 billion/150,000-member Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union, Palo Alto, Calif., recently hosted a "Tweetup" at a local coffee shop called Philz. "Tweetup," as you can probably surmise, is a mash-up of the words "Twitter" and "meet-up."
"The purpose of the Tweetup was to show appreciation to our followers by giving them a free cup of coffee and also to see just how effective something like this could be," says Stu Fisher, the credit union's SVP/e-commerce. "We were inspired by Lance Armstrong, who sent out a tweet to his followers to meet at Griffith Park (in Los Angeles) for a bike ride and literally hundreds of people showed up. Now, we're not saying we're Lance Armstrong, but we did manage to generate some interest and excitement."
The Tweetup cost Addison Avenue FCU very little—just $150 for the coffee—and in the process, the credit union signed up two new members. "That's less expensive than our usual cost of acquisition," Fisher observes. "This is not something that every bank or credit union would do. We're seeking a higher level of engagement with our members. Our goal is for our members to take the initiative in organizing another Tweetup. We want to see if future Tweetups can be member-generated."
Addison Avenue FCU has taken to social media in a big way over the last year. In April 2009, the credit union created an e-commerce unit that has responsibility for all virtual touchpoints-i.e., the Internet, the call center, mobile phone applications and even ATM screens. Jonathan Gowins was given the newly created post of social media and e-communications manager to take on responsibilities for all social media venues ranging from Twitter to Facebook to LinkedIn to YouTube, as well as the credit union's own blog (theaddisoncafe.com) and discussion groups.
Serving these virtual needs is becoming increasingly important, according Fisher, especially considering that only 30 percent of Addison Avenue FCU's 160,000 members have ever visited a branch. "We tweet, blog, reach out through our online community groups-whatever it takes to keep in touch with them," he says. "It's been a win-win experience for us to share valuable financialinsights, hear concerns and help members get the most from their money."
Addison Avenue launched its Twitter account, http://twitter.com/AddisonAvenue, in June. By mid-December, the credit union had about 325 followers. "We view it as a resource for members to get good relevant financial information on financial topics," Fisher reports. "We scan the Internet for good content that we can link to."The ultimate advantage of Twitter for credit unions is the immediacy of the message at very little cost. "Twitter is a great resource for us to reach a lot of people with very minimal dollars," Allegiance CU's VanHoutte states. "We can put a billboard out on a highway, but we don't know how many are seeing it. We know 550-plus see us on Twitter. This is especially important, with the economy being what it is. In an economical way, Twitter allows us to let people know who we are and what we're about."
Diane Franklin is a free-lance writer based in Florissant, Mo.

Technology companies starting to measure returns on environmental investments

2010-01-22T10:10:00.000-08:00

Despite the down economy, A new study by Frost & Sullivan indicates that reveals that companies in the ICT sector have actually paying more attention to environmental initiatives -- to save cost and improve competitive differentiation as well as enforce brand loyalty. However, given the tighter budgets and higher stakeholder expectations, such initiatives need to demonstrate a positive ROI.
In its third annual edition, Frost & Sullivan's study "Sustainability in Telecoms: Return on Environmental Investments," focuses on a selection of companies that have adopted a longer term, measurable and sustainable way of doing business. This study identified further best practices and discussed measures for returns on eco-investments.
While the first section of this study profiles certain service providers (British Telecom, France Telecom, Telefonica and Swisscom) and vendors (Alcatel-Lucent, IBM, NSN, Ericsson and Huawei) based on their notable efforts in the sustainability space, the second section discusses positive versus negative environmental investments and reflects on the fraught notion of conflicting commercial versus environmental priorities.
Frost & Sullivan says it is encouraging that most of the companies that participated in the research have started to develop their own frameworks and even gone ahead to seek accreditation from various industry bodies. Unfortunately, none of the companies interviewed were willing to share the measurement models used.
"IBM seems to be the most advanced in its measurements of environmental investments while British Telecom should finalize its ROI models for a range of solutions in the run up to the 2012 Olympics," said Frost & Sullivan Principal Analyst Sharifah Amirah. "In the longer term, social and environmental investments will start to feature in a company's financial statements/audited reports, similar to the triple bottom line accounting approach."
However, even companies with very advanced environmental strategies are only just beginning to develop measurement frameworks for their green investment. The reasons behind this include the lack of standard measures, the difficulty in measuring non-tangible benefits, and the fact that eco investments tend to be perceived either as a marketing or corporate social responsibility (CSR) exercise.
Further, greater scrutiny over environmental investments does not necessarily suggest that companies will only invest in initiatives that demonstrate positive returns. Nonetheless, at the company level, greater commitment and concrete initiatives need to take place. Given the growing need to justify these investments, formal measurements too have to be designed, standardised and adopted.
"The amount of environmental investments in the ICT sector should at least double in the next 2-3 years," says Amirah. "Despite the lack of concrete frameworks at the 2009 Copenhagen summit, individual governments, stakeholder and consumer pressure will continue to drive businesses to adopt more sustainable operations."
In fact, a cross vertical enterprise survey conducted by Frost & Sullivan at the end of 2008 revealed that close to 600 business leaders expected to increase their environmental investments by 67 percent over 2009-2010. A majority of them saw it not only as an ethical obligation but also as being critical to growth.

by Mark Cox

Credit union loan offers in the mail – gotta be a good sign

2010-01-21T09:14:00.000-08:00

By Steve Kelley, BCI vice president for Branding Services

I checked my mail the other day and found something that got me a little excited: a postcard from my credit union advertising a great low rate on auto loans, inviting me to call in or click in to apply!
Now, the truth is that I’m not in the market for a new vehicle, nor do I have the appetite right now to add to my debt load. But the postcard was still a welcome sight because it seemed like a sign that things might be heading back toward normal.
I live in Arizona, and this credit union is like most here – they’ve seen substantial losses in the last couple of years as their members have struggled (some harder than others) to repay loans. As a result, they’ve really had to change the way they make (and market) loans. So, instead of the pre-approved offers I used to see in my mailbox a couple of times a year, things got really quiet on the loan marketing front. They were still making loans, but mostly just to the people who sought them out (and had high credit scores and big down payments).
The trouble with that approach (which they had no choice but to take) was that it made it a bit harder for them to bring in the revenue they needed to offset the losses and get their capital back to a more comfortable level. Credit unions are in the business of making loans, and when they can’t do that, it’s a little tough to make money.
So, does this postcard in my mailbox mean that everything is fine at my credit union now, and that things will go back to exactly the way they used to be? Probably not, nor do I think that would be for the best. There were clearly some things that needed to change, and the world just isn’t the same today as it was before the economy melted down. Underwriting standards probably need to be tighter than they used to be, and maybe the idea to get a loan to buy a new car should come from me and not from my credit union. And looking around, the economy is still nowhere near where we want it to be.
But all that said, I’m still glad I got the postcard, because it tells me that things might be loosening up a little, and I believe that has to happen for us to get this economic engine running again. And then, maybe I will be in the market for a new car!

Are Credit Unions Missing the Boat?

2010-01-19T07:49:00.000-08:00

This is a very good article asking CUs to take action in this time of opportunity.

Are Credit Unions Missing the Boat?
By John Belty
I have recently read articles about the inability of CUs to move beyond 6 percent of industry assets, how CUs should be more like banks to compete with banks, etc. I believe these authors and anyone who agrees with them have already missed or are missing the boat. The current economic crisis is the biggest marketing/expansion opportunity presented to credit unions in the last 50 years and we are sitting back and watching it sail by.
"Huh? What did he just say?" you might be asking. "My credit union grew this year; we had a great year!" These could be very typical responses to my statement, but let's look at the evidence.
Currently banks are the favorite punching bag of politicians; public opinion of banks is lower than it has ever been; and financial gurus are recommending credit unions on TV, radio and print. Who is not talking to the public about the benefits of credit unions? The credit unions!
Being the inquiring mind, I asked why, and was told, "we can't really do that; the banks have more lobbyists and the ear of the politicians." Really? The banking industry has handed CUs a big stick, stuck their chin out, and credit unions are not going to whack them in the head?
Last year, your credit union may have had a great year. How much better could it have been if our industry started whacking the banking piñata on the airwaves, print and any other media format on a regular basis? Instead, our publications put out articles about competing with banks by giving up our favored tax status, or changing charters? This is crazy talk! Why would any credit union want to become just another financial choice when its uniqueness allows it to make a real difference for the membership?
The public is desperately seeking, and needs, an advocate to help them wade through the complicated financial environment. Now is the time to stand up, proclaim we are a better choice than the banks, and tell the public why. Credit unions would have lines out the doors if it weren't for the lack of public knowledge about credit union advantages.
Why were credit unions created in the first place? Answer: to serve the underserved.
It's not that different today. In the 1930s, the banking system was a mess and not meeting the needs of the people. Credit unions were created. Flash forward to 2009: The banking system is definitely a mess and banks are definitely not operating for the benefit of the people. They cannot by their design.
The difference between now and then is an overserved population. Most American households have a "grab bag" full of car loans, credit cards and various accounts from multiple financial institutions. One of those institutions may even be a credit union. Is this the best we can do to improve these members' financial success?
Credit unions must look outside the traditional financial services framework created by the banks, think outside the box, and develop products and programs to benefit today's member. Remember, the one with the "grab bag" full of stuff? They should be our focus. Not, how can the credit union be "more like the banks." Once credit unions begin to truly help consumers in this manner, the banks won't have a chance.
John Belty is a branch manager for $760 million TTCU, Tulsa, Okla.

Small Business Owner to Hagan: Banks "Shutting Doors" on Construction Businesses (1/14/2010)

2010-01-14T11:51:00.000-08:00

Builder & Developer John Marks noted in remarks to Senator Kay Hagan that many financial institutions are closing the door on construction and other related businesses in need of credit. The Greensboro-based Marks also praised the role that Truliant Federal Credit Union has played in the growth and development of his business.

Marks made his comments at this week's Small Business Roundtable meeting with Hagan at Truliant Federal Credit Union. He joined other small business owners and credit union officials in voicing support for raising the credit union member business lending cap, currently set at 12.25% of assets.

Hagan voiced strong support for lifting the cap in the meeting, one of many remedies she is advocating in an effort to spark job creation in NC and across the country.

http://www.ncleague.org/www/News.asp?id=2638&lid=5

One benefit of this economic crisis – credit histories we can trust?

2010-01-14T09:19:00.000-08:00

I was having lunch with a credit union CEO friend recently, and we got to talking about some of the challenges his credit union has been facing during these very tough times. He runs a large, diverse institution that has taken huge loan losses and is still seeing delinquency rates higher than they’d ever imagined possible.
As he talked about the things they are doing to deal with these issues, and even shared some hard-to-believe stories about how members have tried to justify their failure to fulfill obligations on the grounds that doing so wasn’t in “their best interest financially,” it occurred to me that with all of its difficulties, this amazingly tough time might bring at least one positive for lenders: credit histories that tell the whole story about borrowers.
The way I see it, for the vast majority of today’s borrowers (especially in the high-flying West where my friend operates) this is the first serious economic downturn they’ve ever experienced – or at least, the only one recent enough to still be reflected in their credit scores. So, when a potential lender looks at their history, what shows up is a record of how the borrower has performed when times were good; when he or she had a job that could be counted on, was optimistic about the future, and was generally on solid footing financially. And for most, the record reflected that yes, when times are good and money is plentiful, this person pays his or her bills.
What recent credit histories haven’t reflected (until now) is how that person performs when times are tough, when money isn’t so plentiful, when tough choices (which should I skip: the credit card payment or my morning latte?) have to be made. Well, now we know, and in way too many cases, what we’ve learned is not good. Unlike in past generations, when an obligation was still viewed as an obligation even when fulfilling it meant sacrificing some comfort (or even some basic necessity), now too many people are deciding that just because they said they’d pay the money back doesn’t mean they’ll still try to do that when their circumstances change (or in some cases, when their circumstances stay the same but what the heck, everybody else is doing it!).
They say that tough times build character. Maybe, but for sure, tough times expose character, and that exposure should help credit unions as they decide who to entrust members’ money to in the future.

Steve Kelley is BCI’s vice president for branding services and consults with credit unions on branding, marketing and strategic planning. His email address is skelley@bcihq.com.

Determine Your Trade Show Value

2010-01-13T09:49:00.001-08:00

As in any industry, tradeshow exhibit professionals are constantly faced with justifying the value of participating in shows. The cost of exhibiting, the travel, diminishing show attendance and the economy has turned up the heat.
One basic test that helps answer these challenges is to pose a simple question to any bottom line accountable executive. The question: if you were given 2 minutes to explain the advantages of dealing with your company to a person who regularly buys the same products and services from a competitor, do you think that you could convince them to give your company a try?
If the answer to this question is no, perhaps they should consider working for the competitor or at least reexamining your product or service offering.
Most confident executives would gladly accept this challenge. The best place to set the stage for this scenario is at a tradeshow or convention. Couple this amazing opportunity with the fact that the buyer has paid their own way to the show and that they are receptive to this pitch in the show environment and you can easily see the value proposition that tradeshows create.
Over the years the most successful are those that have put together an integrated tradeshow marketing plan that will result in producing the maximum number of these opportunities

Strategic planning is a universe of facts, figures, opinion and interpretations

2010-01-11T08:14:00.001-08:00

By: Tim Allen, VP of Strategic Planning

Part I. Get the right facts - right.
There are two important data sets that any strategic plan should include - your member data and the “market” data.
That member data set will help to identify the success of past decisions and existing conditions of your branching network. Knowing how your members use your branches and other service outlets is imperative to understanding the likely results of expanding your services, given that the successful steps you’ve taken in the past are repeated.
That market data is a horse of a different color. Years ago, it was nearly enough to learn where the largest population densities were and what their expectations for growth were. And, yes, other facts such as income and traffic counts were looked at too. Safe it to say that these samplings of data were funnel views of a market and decidedly different than the broad extent of factors that a good strategic plan considers today. Another reason for this expansion of market perspectives is due to the diverse fields of membership that exist today and the reliable target marketing products that can enhance a typical marketing program.

Confidence in the market data is extremely important. Many market data providers offer a regurgitation of U.S. Census Bureau data. Since a full census is only performed each decade, as you’d think, there’s a lot of estimating between them. These data providers’ systems take that universe of numbers and appropriate it in different geographies such as zip codes and census tracts. Until a few years ago, BCI purchased its market data from several of these type data providers but, we changed. That happened when we learned of another data provider who had a different approach. Instead of relying on U.S. Census Bureau estimates they analyze zip plus 4 postal records. And, we obtain quarterly updates…it’s as good as the data can get. This allows us to see the dynamics of growth over short periods of time. No more waiting for the next annual release.

Part II coming soon…

2010 Will Hold Surprises

2010-01-08T14:14:00.000-08:00

It is fair to assume that 2010 will hold its fair share of surprises, opportunities and crises that will require tough decisions and quick, deliberate action on the part of credit unions. One question credit unions are asking themselves right now is, Are we as prepared as we can be? Below is a brief list of questions to consider to help assess your preparedness for what promises to be an interesting year:
Have we thoroughly explored the impact of a further economic downturn on our business model and business plan? A material recovery?
What is our short list (no more than five) of strategic initiatives that must be pursued regardless of the economy to better position the credit union for the long term?
Have we created and communicated detailed game plans and do we have a defined project control process to ensure that progress on these strategic initiatives will be accomplished in 2010?
Are our board and senior management aligned on the definition of success for 2010?
Given the level of uncertainty and the likelihood of “surprises,” have we blocked, in advance, regular time for key decision makers to discuss new issues and make decisions?

BCI says "Don't Save the Planet..."

2009-09-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

BCI asks: “What is our Nation’s Energy Policy”?

We came up with the following answer: “DON’T”.

- “DON’T” drill for more oil in the country
- “DON’T” look for more oil off our country’s shores
- “DON’T” build nuclear power plants we need
- “DON’T” worry about importing foreign oil.

So, if our “Nation’s Energy Policy” is “DON’T” and we are concerned about our supplies of energy, then we thought:
- “DON’T” use so much energy.

How can the Nation’s 7,800 Credit Unions with over 21,000 locations “participate” in this “Energy Policy”?

We are told that nearly 40% of today’s energy consumption occurs in the 114 million households and more than 7.4 billion square feet of commercial building floor space. And, that these buildings account for 71% of the Nation’s electrical consumption.

Our Nation’s Credit Union buildings are in these numbers.

So, we ran some numbers using very conservative assumptions to see what would happen if our Credit Unions participated in an “Energy Conservation Plan”. Here is what we found:
Credit Unions could get $23 Million in annual energy cost savings and would generate $57 Million in local construction projects.

To put this in perspective, these volumes of energy savings are equivalent to:
· The electricity used to power 32,500 of our Nation’s homes
· The gas to heat 9,200 homes
· And this Energy Conservation Plan would also reduce CO2 emissions equivalent to removing 58,400 cars off our roads.

The Nation’s Credit Unions could have a significant impact on our Nation’s energy use and, at the same time, improve their bottom lines by saving money.
Maybe we should consider this another risk-management strategy. After all, do we know what our energy costs will be in the future?

BCI Explores Potential Energy Savings in Credit Union Buildings

We decided to take a look at a client of ours to see if we could save some energy. They have 7 total service locations of which, 5 are qualifying buildings.
After getting the approval from our client, we sent our engineers down to assess those 5 qualifying buildings. Our engineers reported back with 23 suggested corrections and estimates of energy use reduction. BCI’s construction department developed an estimate of cost for each suggested correction and then calculated simple payback periods for each of them.
We then developed a Basic Recommended Plan which included 13 of the 23 corrections from our engineers’ report.

Very Interesting Reaction From Our Client

The President of the Credit Union was very nice to allow us to come down and show him our Basic Recommended Plan. We had just completed a new 35,000 sq. ft. Administration Center for him and he was very happy with us and the building. However, given today’s economic environment, he was in no mood to hear about “Saving the Planet” nor was he interested in spending the Credit Union’s money on some “Green Initiative”.

He was, however, very interested in improving the Credit Union’s bottom line and saving money.

We showed him the following:
Estimated cost of the 13 recommended corrections:......$142,156
Available rebates and grants.........................................$60,097
Net Cost.......................................................................$82,747
Estimated annual energy savings..................................$72,375
Simple payback period.................................................1.1 years

Life cycle savings........................................................$950,350

All of a sudden, the president was interested in “Saving the Planet”.

More to come…

BCI will exhibit at the Washington Credit Union League Convention on 9/15 to 9/18

2009-09-02T08:58:00.000-07:00

BCI will be in Bellevue, WA from 9/15 to 9/18 exhibiting at the Washington Credit Union League's annual Convention. The 2009 Convention's theme is "Navigating Our Course" for more info on the show http://www.waleague.org/

BCI reaches over 400 hits on our YouTube videos

2009-08-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who helped BCI reach over 400 hits on our YouTube videos since early August!! http://bit.ly/NgAkQ

BCI will exhibit at the Texas Credit Union League Leadership Conference on 09/09/09

2009-08-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

BCI will be in San Antonio, TX from 9/9 to 9/10 exhibiting at the Texas Credit Union Leadership Conference. The 2009 Conference theme is "The Hunt for Leadership Success" for more info on the show http://www.tcul.coop/leadershipconference/

BCI will exhibit at the Magic Valley Chapter of Credit Unions

2009-08-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

BCI will exhibit at the Magic Valley Chapter of Credit Unions on 08/19/09
BCI will be in South Padre Island on 8/21 exhibiting at the Magic Valley Chapter of CU. The 2009 Tri-Chapter Conference theme is "Hollywood" for more info on the show http://www.tcul.coop/Tri-Chapter_Conference.html/

First Blog posted

2009-07-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

BCI is now blogging at bcihq-blog@blogspot.com