San Diego County Credit Union gained 362 new checking account members on Nov. 5 and more than 850 throughout the first week of November, President/CEO Teresa Halleck announced.
Compared to September's membership growth numbers, membership grew by 62% more in October, bringing its total member count to 221,470 at the end of the month, she said.
"Bank Transfer Day was a huge success for San Diego County Credit Union," Halleck said. "Our highest account openings were attributable to dissatisfied Bank of America customers, with Chase Bank and Wells Fargo following closely behind."
The $5.3 billion CU kicked off a free checking account promotion, "Shred Your Big Bank Debit Card," on Oct. 31, which encourages members to open a free checking account at San Diego County CU and post photos of themselves shredding their old bank debit card on the CU's Facebook page for a chance to win $1,000. The promotion runs through Nov. 30.
"What's exciting is that many members decided to open their account online, which coincides with the promotion on Facebook," Halleck said. "I suspect that we will continue to see account growth through the end of the year as many big bank customers evaluate their banking relationships."
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Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
