Payments is a form of branding

Credit Union marketers are diligent in ensuring that the brand is consistent throughout all aspects of member contact. So, signage, logos, websites, mobile and online banking platforms are all inspected for consistency with the brand. Payments should also be included in this thought process.

Payments are more activity based, while other branding elements are more visual. So, from a branding perspective, payments can be far more memorable, both positively and negatively, because people are more likely to remember the experience in doing an activity.

Every step along the member’s payments journey, as well as every touch point, must be considered part of the credit union’s branding. When loading the credit union’s card into Apple Pay, the text message to authenticate, the email to confirm enrollment, and every aspect of friction, or lack thereof, is part of a credit union’s branding.

Credit Union marketers do take great efforts to ensure that their card art reflects the credit union’s brand. But once the card is entered into the Uber or Lyft app, for example, that card art has been exchanged for 12 X’s followed by 4 digits. This is when a focus on experience becomes even more important because the ultimate goal is to have members make their credit union-branded card the default card in these apps. Therefore, any rewards or incentives that will encourage continued use of the credit union-branded card should also be incorporated into the member experience.

 

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