Press
Carolina Collegiate Federal Credit Union Launches New Facebook Loan App
COLUMBIA, SC (September 11, 2013) — Carolina Collegiate Federal Credit Union is the first credit union in South Carolina to adopt Calcubot, a powerful Facebook application to fully engage with potential loan applicants via Facebook. Calcubot’s consultative approach walks members and prospective loan customers through an interactive buying process tailored to the credit union’s loan products. The application is provided by Berkeley California-based fintech company Shastic.
“This new app will allow our members to input different scenarios into the Facebook-based loan calculator app to preview payment options and different loan options that best fit their needs” said Anne Shivers, CEO of Carolina Collegiate FCU. “If members like what they see, they can apply for a loan directly from this new Facebook app, cutting out the need to even click back to our website” Shivers said.
Calcubot allows members to save loan estimates on Carolina Collegiate FCU’s Facebook page and solicit feedback from friends, family and advisors. To create long term engagement with members, Calcubot provides an ‘Alert Me’ feature that monitors interest rate changes and notifies the member of savings opportunities. The social aspect of Calcubot Cloud lies in its ability to be shared with the end-user’s Facebook friends with the click of a ‘Like’ button, creating viral brand awareness for the credit union. According to Shastic, 83.6% of users of this new app complete an estimate and that 17.6% of those then go on to click the “Apply” button.
“Being a financial institution that serves the students of the University of South Carolina, we are always looking for cutting-edge ways to make our services easier to use and meet our members where they are” Shivers said. “This is an opportunity to take our Facebook page from a place for us to connect with our members on a personal level, and assist them with their loan options as well.” Shivers said.
Carolina Collegiate is one of just over fifty credit unions that have signed up for this application.
Carolina Collegiate Federal Credit Union is a member-owned financial cooperative open to staff, students, and faculty of the University of South Carolina and several other groups and universities. Founded in 1967 by employees of the University of South Carolina, today the credit union has over 15,000 members and assets of over $88 million.