Press
Firstmark CU Works With PSCU’s Advisors Plus® Team
Merry Pateuk, PSCU
(800) 932-7728
mpateuk@pscu.com
Robette Brooks, CCS PR
(303) 699-8861
rbrooks@ccspr.com
Employee Engagement is Key to Three-Month Campaign
St. Petersburg, FL, May 15, 2012 – Firstmark Credit Union of San Antonio, Texas, partnered with PSCU to conduct a targeted balance consolidation campaign that boosted outstandings by 5% in the ten weeks of a three-month campaign. The campaign, which involved targeted mail and in-branch offers, showcases the CUSO’s new MōPRO strategy designed to help credit unions dramatically improve performance and enhance revenue. Firstmark currently has $57.6 million in credit card outstandings with 92,000 members and $749 million in assets.
Firstmark’s promotion involved a 2.90% APR on balance transfers for the first six months, followed by a 7.9% rate for the life of the transferred balance. Direct mail, running a 5.2% response rate, added a total of $1.4 million to the credit union’s outstanding balances. Advertising the promotional interest rate through online and in-branch marketing materials created an impressive $1.4 million in new balances.
“We work regularly with Advisors Plus® consultants on credit card campaigns and they have always helped us achieve our goals,” said Gregg Thorne, Firstmark’s Chief Lending Officer. “What’s different about this campaign is that we are actively engaging our employees with weekly meetings and updates to encourage them to talk to members when they are in the branch.”
He notes this culture of teamwork is generating amazing results. “Almost half of our transferred balances are coming from in-branch transactions. That demonstrates the power of engaging employees with a common goal and the value of personal communication.”
Firstmark is using PSCU’s Data Choice to pull reports for weekly employee meetings. “It’s a fast, easy process that allows us to have access to updated information whenever we need it,” Thorne notes.
“The desire to build the success of our credit unions drives our consultants to create programs and promotions that deliver long-term benefits and build greater member loyalty,” said Michael Kelly, President and CEO, PSCU. “We congratulate Firstmark’s managers and staff on their focus and commitment, which has delivered strong results. We are proud they elected to leverage the energy and expertise of Advisors Plus to help design and deploy these targeted promotions. Our consultants are part of our bold MōPRO strategy that equips Firstmark and other credit unions to achieve their goals.”
The new MōPRO culture of engagement, agility and energy is designed to enhance both revenue and market share for member-owner credit unions. As part of this initiative, PSCU delivers affordable aggregate pricing, best-of-class technology and partnerships, and account managers and consultants that design proactive programs and promotions based on best practices insight and experience.
About Firstmark Credit Union
Firstmark Credit Union provides financial services to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Bexar County, as well as education-related employees in Bexar County and the 12 surrounding counties; and their relatives. Established in 1932, the Credit Union serves over 92,000 members and manages more than $749 million in assets.
About PSCU
Established in 1977, PSCU (St. Petersburg, Fla.) is the nation’s leading credit union service organization (CUSO) and serves more than 1,500 financial institutions nationwide. As a non-profit cooperative, the company is owned by more than 680 member credit unions representing 16 million credit, debit, prepaid, online bill payment, mobile and electronic banking accounts. Comprehensive 24/7/365 member support is delivered through four Contact Centers located throughout the United States that handle more than 18 million inquiries a year.
PSCU’s MōPRO initiative marries emerging technologies with proven strategies and empowers the CUSO to lead the industry in developing innovative payments solutions. This new culture of engagement, agility and energy can enhance both revenue and market share for member-owner credit unions. For more information, visit the PSCU website at www.pscu.com.