Young noticed that many players are in their late 20s or early 30s — older than she might have expected, perhaps in part because Pokémon recalls fond childhood memories. This is nice because as millennials (people born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s) they are in their prime borrowing years and the credit union's target for new members.

Next, the credit union plans to put up Pokémon posters in its windows to signal to players to come inside to recharge their phone batteries and quench their thirst with free bottled water.

The Pokémon Go craze arrived when Arizona Federal Credit Union ($1.4 billion in assets, 123,637 members) was working to get members to notice its new apps for smartphones. About half of members transact business online, but there remains a digital divide, according to David Kexel, Arizona FCU's senior director of marketing.

"The older generation – while not opposing technology — they're a little slower to adopt it. They need a little extra help," Kexel said. "We discovered one of our branches was a PokéStop. We decided to drop some lures to that PokéStop."

The timing was perfect, Kexel said. The events didn't seem to draw many players into the branches, but they raised the credit union's visibility on Facebook.

"We try to have an eye on what is trending to see if we can get any additional attention through social media," he said. "It's good to test the waters and see what works and what doesn't. And it's so inexpensive."

Read more about how credit unions are leveraging Pokémon Go in the Aug. 17, 2016 print issue of CU Times.