Tried & true deposit growth strategies

by: Amanda Lowery

You’ve spent months (maybe years) aggressively courting members in their prime borrowing years to offset your credit union’s aging Baby Boomer population. You’ve run promotions, offered incentives, competed on rate. And you’ve been rewarded with successful lending growth. But now, you might have a different challenge ahead: being loaned out. That means you need more deposits, pronto.

Thanks to the effectiveness of loan promotion strategies and regional economic conditions, we’re seeing some credit unions on the East Coast reach this point. If you’re in the fortunate position of needing deposits again, here are a few tried and true growth strategies you should consider.

1. Have a deliberate conversation. 
Many credit unions are returning to the days of calling members to check on their satisfaction and inform them of products that may be beneficial to them, like a personal banker. Focus these efforts by identifying your high-potential members first. Create a profile of your desired depositor (product, delivery channel usage, age, other products, zip code, etc.), then review your member data to see who fits this profile but doesn’t current have deposits with you. It’s time to give them a call.

2. Make it easy. 
A lot of financial institutions say they excel at customer service, but only a few actually do. Invest some time and effort in making the deposit process easier and more satisfying. Consumers (especially Millenials) expect to be able to do just about everything online, so make the process simple and offer assistance moving online banking data.

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