Joining the national blitz attacking bank fees, the $155 million Tobyhanna FCU in Scranton, Pa. is introducing a “Divorce Your Bank” campaign next month.
A key part of the effort is directing it toward women while introducing an ”easy switch” tool kit aimed at making bill pay easy to do and easy to switch.
“One thing we are doing is telling our members 'we'll do all the work' in helping convert to our bill pay system,” explained Nina Waskevich, vice president of marketing/sales.
The Tobyhanna “Divorce Your Bank” promotion has already begun with teaser billboard message up this week and focuses on pointing out that the credit union doesn't charge a $5 monthly fee for debit cards, like Bank of America.
Waskevich said the campaign also will use radio ads, Facebook and a special “Divorce Your Bank” website.
“Right away we picked up on the consumer's attitude of being fed up with that ridiculous Bank of America fee,” said James Kanaley, president/CEO of the 21,000-member Tobyhanna FCU.
BofA's move, said Kanaley, to recoup lost income from interchange “is just typical bank reaction of sticking it to consumers.” He noted that he was an executive at banks in Denver and Syracuse, N.Y., before coming to Scranton.
These fees “have become much more onerous” than Congress expected as it tried to protect consumers, Kanaley said.
As for helping members make the transition, “I think there is a misperception by the public that it is difficult to convert to a credit union,” said Waskevich.
She said Tobyhanna's service reps have been trained in recent months to encourage members “to just bring their pile of bills in to the branch and we'll set up bill pay for them.”
A new booklet tied to the “Divorce Your Bank” theme will outline the steps to make the change and will be branded with a female imprimatur in marketing materials, Waskevich said.
“We're going to use the wording 'perfect match' and 'breaking up is not hard to do,'” in the messaging, Waskevich said.
The credit union's November launch coincides with the ad hoc Bank Transfer Day movement attracting national attention after it was proposed by a Los Angeles art dealer.
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