Shell Federal Credit Union Targets Gen Y With iSave Account

To go along with its Gen Y-centered iLife program, Shell Federal Credit Union in Deer Park, Texas, has added an iSave account.The iSave account is an incentive-based account with restrictions on withdrawals to encourage savings. It targets members ages 14-24 and entices them to save by contributing $25 to the account if the member makes deposits totaling $25 every 30 days for 12 consecutive months. If the member makes a withdrawal from the account, a $5 fee is charged.Since the account launched this month, the credit union has opened approximately a dozen iSave accounts. In hopes of increasing that number, Shell ran a one-day promotion at one of its high school branches that gave away Houston Astros baseball tickets to anyone that opened an iSave account.“They like the overall idea of the account, but some members are hesitant about the account because of the fee, but we try and educate them that the fee is there as a deterrent because they have trouble saving,” said Traci Archer, marketing manager at Shell.Shell got the idea behind the account from several focus groups they assembled before starting the iLife program last August. The credit union solicited Gen Yers ages 16 through 26 in the Deer Park community to join the focus group and provide feedback on financial institutions, branding and marketing. The credit union hired a third-party vendor to conduct the groups, so the participants would not know it was for a credit union until after the focus group was over.The credit union’s iLife program, www.sfcuilife.org, combines financial education with community involvement to reach out to Gen Y members and nonmembers. The site highlights food drives, charity walks and Habitat for Humanity events going on in the community as well as basic credit union facts, videos teaching financial education and blogs and podcasts.“It’s really aimed to teach social responsibility to that age group,” Archer said.The iLife program also uses Facebook and Twitter to connect with the young audience.Aside from the iSave account, the program has an iDrive account for first-time car buyers. The iDrive account is for members over 18 that have more than six months at their current job. The credit union will finance up to 100% of the member’s first auto loan has long as they haven’t had any derogatory credit reported in the past six months.According to Archer, the credit union will be added an iCard credit card account in August.–[email protected]