A $5 monthly returned mail fee launched in 2012 at the $1.2 billion Kern Schools Federal Credit Union in Bakersfield, Calif., helps urge members who recently moved to change their addresses in the credit union's system, Kern Schools FCU said.
Michael George, senior vice president of operations and marketing for Kern Schools FCU, said the purpose of the fee is not to generate income, but rather to obtain updated information from members. He said returned mail fees are refunded to members once they update their addresses with the credit union.
Although one member said the fee is unfair in a comment to Credit Union Times in response to a story about Kern Schools FCU's recent overdraft fraud lawsuit, the 163,200-member credit union said it has not received any complaints in regards to the fee.
George did not say how much income the fee has brought in for Kern Schools FCU, but he said the credit union's volume of returned mail has diminished since the fee kicked in.
"We were getting thousands of pieces of returned mail every year," he said. "When people move, they sometimes forget to tell their financial institution. The fee is intended to get their attention and help us obtain the correct information."
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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.
