PHILADELPHIA—After conducting a summer-long promotion that challenged members to improve their credit scores—and potentially earn prizes along the way—Ardent Credit Union is sharing the lessons it learned and offering advice to other credit unions that might want to do something similar to help their members.
The Ardent Credit Union Summer Credit Challenge, launched at the beginning of summer, was aimed at helping members improve their credit scores by earning entries into a grand prize drawing and monthly prizes. To enter, members had to set a credit score goal in CrediSavvy via Ardent’s eBanking and then improve their score by at least five points by Labor Day to earn a $1,000 grand prize entry, with the potential to earn more entries for every five -point jump. There were also $100 monthly prizes for the biggest score increase during June, July, and August.
Below, Alletta Emeno, senior vice president and chief marketing officer with the $871.6-million Ardent Credit Union, shares insights into its program and what other credit unions can take away from its experience.
The CU Daily: How did this Credit Challenge idea come about and how long was it in the works?
Emeno: The idea really came from the launch of our new CreditSavvy product, which is powered by SavvyMoney and integrated directly into our eBanking platform. We wanted to introduce it in a way that got members excited about using it, because it offers so much more than just showing your credit score. CreditSavvy helps members understand why their score is what it is and provides personalized steps they can take to improve it.
We thought, what better way to highlight that than with a friendly competition? From concept to launch, it took about six weeks of planning and approvals. Our marketing and lending teams collaborated closely to structure the challenge and ensure it truly supported members’ financial wellness.
The CU Daily: Could you provide some insights and details into what was involved?
Emeno: We designed the challenge to be simple, engaging and educational. Members were invited to set a realistic credit score goal at least five points higher than their current score and track their progress over the summer, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Inside CreditSavvy they could view their current score, see a breakdown of the factors influencing it and access personalized recommendations for improvement.
The CU Daily: How did members come to be involved?
Emeno: We promoted the challenge through multiple channels, including email, social media and digital ads within our eBanking platform. We specifically reached out to members who had some “room for improvement” in their scores, but the challenge was open to everyone. Whether a member had a score of 550 or 750, there was something to gain from learning more about how credit works and setting a personal goal.
The CU Daily: How much time and what kind of efforts were required of participating members?
Emeno: Participation was designed to be low-effort but high-impact. Members simply had to log in to eBanking, open CreditSavvy and set a goal that was at least five points higher than their current score by Memorial Day. From there, CreditSavvy provided personalized guidance, like keeping revolving balances below a certain threshold or reducing overall utilization below 10%.
The time it took to see improvement varied by individual, but the goal was to make it easy for members to take small, meaningful steps toward better credit health.
The CU Daily: You mentioned the improved credit—were the participants primarily those with lower credit scores?
Emeno: Yes, the majority of participants had lower credit scores, which meant they had the most to gain. Roughly 80% of participants had scores under 700, and about 40% were under 600. It was rewarding to see how motivated they were to take control of their credit journey.
The CU Daily: Were there some common themes around what led to those low scores?
Emeno: We don’t have visibility into the exact circumstances that led to each member’s credit score, but generally, the most common factors that hurt scores are high utilization rates, missed payments and too many new accounts opened in a short time. The Credit Challenge helped shine a light on those patterns and gave members practical ways to address them.
The CU Daily: Did this require members to make behavior changes?
Emeno: For many, yes. The degree of change depended on why their scores were low. Some needed to pay down balances, others had to avoid taking on new credit. What we found is that once members understood how their actions impacted their scores, many were eager to make those changes.
The CU Daily: There’s often misunderstanding around how credit and credit scores work. What did Ardent discover in working with members?
Emeno: That’s absolutely true. Credit scores can seem mysterious or intimidating to many people. We used this challenge as a teaching opportunity. We shared educational posts on social media and sent monthly emails with reminders to check their personalized recommendations within CreditSavvy.
What we discovered was that motivated members can make remarkable progress when given the right tools. Several participants improved their scores by more than 50 points in just three months. That’s the kind of transformation that can truly change someone’s financial outlook.
The CU Daily: What kinds of cash prizes were involved?
Emeno: We offered monthly prizes of $100 to the participant who raised their score the most in each calendar month during the challenge. There was also a grand prize of $1,000. For every five points members increased their score between Memorial Day and Labor Day, they earned one entry into that grand prize drawing.
The CU Daily: What did Ardent learn from this Credit Challenge, and what advice would you give to other credit unions considering a similar initiative?
Emeno: We learned that helping members improve their credit is one of the most impactful ways we can support their overall financial health. Nearly half of our participants said their motivation was “to improve my financial health” and that tells us how meaningful this kind of engagement can be.
Our advice to other credit unions is: Don’t just show members their credit score. Help them understand it and give them tools to take action. When the process is simple, seamless and self-empowering, members respond.
We also found that this type of program resonates strongly with younger members, as almost half of our participants were under 35. That’s an important audience for credit unions to connect with as they build their financial foundations.
Ultimately, this challenge showed that with the right guidance, members who might not have qualified for a loan before can improve their credit enough to meet lending criteria. That’s the real win, for them and for us.
