Pros Offer 8 Secrets for Boosting Membership

The number of credit unions may be shrinking, but thanks to creative strategies and smart tactics in the industry, credit union membership has not only continued to grow, but grow at a faster rate. According to the NCUA, the number of credit union members in the United States increased by 4.21% in 2017, marking the highest growth rate in at least five years. The expansion, which has produced more than 111 million credit union members in the United States as of Dec. 31, is no small feat considering that the average credit union has just $247 million in assets.

One especially rewarding side-effect of all this, of course, is that the credit union industry is now chockful of pros who have become experts at growing membership. Here are a few of their secrets.

1. Refresh that brand.  

Getting rid of outdated design and frumpy names draws attention. Just a few years ago, for example, the Portland, Ore.-based Trailhead Federal Credit Union, which has $120 million in assets and about 9,200 members, turned itself upside down by getting a new CEO, a community charter and a name change.

“We did not think that would be successful with our old name, which was Northwest Resource Federal Credit Union. There were like 10 other ‘Northwest something’ credit unions in our area,” Trailhead Vice President of Marketing Kim Faucher explained. The community charter helped the credit union expand its market, and the credit union ran employees through a comprehensive service-culture training, Faucher said.

It all helped, she said. “When I came on board in 2013, we were opening about 25 memberships a month and closing about 40, 45,” Faucher explained. “Once we changed our name, changed our charter and opened an additional branch, we quickly started opening about 80 to 100 accounts per month. So it drastically changed our membership.”

She added, “Morale is up because we’re not looking at negative numbers every month.”

2. Make online account opening happen – and make it smooth.  

Trailhead, whose target market is under 35, also quit requiring people to print out membership forms and bring them to the branch if they wanted to join. After completing user testing to see how people interacted with its website, the credit union worked with a web developer to create a better online account-opening process, according to Faucher. Trailhead also added a “Join” button to its homepage. As of April, the average member age was just under 44, compared to a little over 50 five years ago. Today 37% of the credit union’s members are under 35, Faucher said.

3. Don’t be too humble about community involvement.  

Troy Stang, who is president/CEO of the Northwest Credit Union Association, which represents more than 180 credit unions, said he’s noticed that rapidly growing credit unions in the Pacific Northwest tend to publicize their social responsibility efforts.

“People want to be a part of something that is a part of the fabric of their society, a place that they make and call home,” he explained. “So having that social connection in the right venues, I think, has been a secret sauce for credit unions.”

Credit unions that grow membership quickly also tend to be the ones that ensure every one of their employees can articulate how a credit union is different from a bank, as well as what the credit union gives back to the community, Stang added.

4. Open a cool branch.

Going from one to three branches in the last few years helped Trailhead grow its membership, Faucher said. But it wasn’t necessarily the geographic locations that helped – it was the attitude.

“We’re targeting the urban Portlander and the nonconformist … we try to be anti-corporate, which really appeals to Portland people,” she said. “We are casual. We wear jeans every day; our employees are allowed to show their tattoos, and that starts conversations. Some of our employees have relationships with members over conversations about tattoos.”

The credit union’s revamped logo and trade dress have also helped. People occasionally wander into the branches thinking they’re in coffee shops or bars, Faucher said.

5. Don’t limit yourself to organic growth.  

Acquisitions can also boost membership. Managerially, of course, organic growth is sometimes easier. But well-timed, well-priced acquisitions can be stellar moves, according to Jim Minge, who is president/CEO of Texas Trust Credit Union.

“You have to take advantage of those opportunities when they come,” he said.

In April, the Arlington, Texas-based credit union, which today has $1.2 billion in assets and about 115,000 members, did just that when it completed a merger with Qualtrust Credit Union, which had about $200 million in assets and more than 24,000 members, according to Minge. It was Texas Trust’s third merger in five years, he said, and it boosted membership by more than 20% in a matter of a few months.

“It was a tremendous amount of work, but so worth it,” he said.

6. Emphasize what’s different.  

Minge quickly set to work capitalizing on the changes brought on by the merger, using it as an opportunity to woo more potential members.

“The credit union that we combined with didn’t offer credit cards to their members, and we have a very good credit card program. So we have just tons of opportunities for that,” he said. Highlighting the new entity’s better overdraft options was another opportunity, he added.

7. Talk to lawmakers.  

The Northwest Credit Union Association recently announced an ambitious goal of increasing its credit unions’ market share from 50% to 75% in the Northwest United States by 2025. Stang, who is managing that charge, knows that field-of-membership policies can have a big influence on growth plans, which is why he watches legislators closely and looks for opportunities to speak up about regulation that could boost membership.

“Just this last year in Washington state, or this last legislative season, we were successful in providing municipal access to credit unions so cities, counties, school districts and hospitals can use credit unions as depositories to an unlimited amount in almost every county in Washington state. We did the same thing in Oregon about five years ago,” he explained.

8. Play offense, not defense.  

Credit unions that grow membership do it responsibly by being ready for each and every new face ahead of time. Texas Trust, for example, made sure its contact center was staffed up and ready for the influx of new members when it acquired Qualtrust; it also made plans with its branch network to handle overflow calls and emails, Minge said.

“Think carefully about the impact that you’re going to have on those members’ lives on day one, and try your darnedest to make sure that the blocking and tackling of providing your electronic services, your mobile, your telephones, all that stuff – that you’re not making everybody have to do something that they don’t already do and they don’t fully understand,” Minge warned.