The recent surge in favorable coverage of credit unions by the national media, already bringing a flock of phone and e-mail inquiries to CUs across the country, triggered a new ad buy by a Denver CU that mentions New York Internet publisher and blogger Arianna Huffington.
The $1.1 billion Westerra CU said it took out ads in the Denver Post that reference the Huffington "Move your Money" anti-big bank campaign touted in a series of ABC and CBS network news reports and on the Internet over the holidays.
The Huffington campaign, which encourages consumers to steer funds into a small community bank or CU, represents "a perfect fit to the bank local" theme with a CU promotion on savings products. The Westerra ad includes a headline reading, "Americans Are Saving More Money and Choosing Credit Unions More Often."
Meanwhile, other CUs already getting favorable citation on a separate CBS Newswatch report out Tuesday said they were gratified to get the exposure. Pentagon FCU of Alexandria, Va. was lauded for its low rate new-car loans at 3.99%, which CBS said is "about half the national 7.87% rate charged by banks." And the $4 billion Digital FCU in Marlborough, Mass. said it also appreciated the mention of its variable 8.5% Visa rate.
The only negative from the positive blitz, said a Digital executive, is "that we get a lot of applications that we can't approve and so we can't serve those people."
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