By Frank J. Diekmann

As part of a spring cleaning before Summer officially arrives, here are some odds and ends from the Reporter’s Notebook:

Why CU Isn’t Part of the Brand

Wescom Credit Union in Pasadena, Calif. is among the credit unions that have dropped the “Credit Union” from their branding and, in this case, now operates as Wescom Financial. 

In its written announcement is said it made the move to “better represent its robust range of products and services — including banking, investments, and insurance — to help more Californians build better financial lives.”

It has also rolled out a new tagline, “Bank Better.”

Wescom Financial’s Ashley White shares the strategy behind the move as part of The Daily Cast with Walter Laskos, a new video series featuring extended interviews with CU leaders. The series also features Community Financial CU CEO Tansley Stearns and Rize CU CEO Jennifer Oliver (with more to come) and can be found here.

A Credit Union Bank Parallel

The declining number of credit unions is well-documented in the CU community, but what’s interesting is that the number of banks is not only also declining, the number of institutions in each category is relatively the same.

The FDIC reported that as of March 31, there were 4,487 federally insured banks in the country. As of that same date, there were approximately 4,993 credit unions in the U.S.

And the two cross paths statistically. The FDIC said during the first quarter, four banks opened, one bank failed, one bank failed after quarter end and did not file a Call Report, three banks did not file a Call Report after selling a majority of their assets to credit unions, one bank otherwise closed, and 28 institutions merged with other banks. 

What You’ll Find Disclosed in the Disclosures

Speaking of the number of CUs, as you are likely aware, the CU Daily has ongoing, industry-leading coverage or what is taking place in mergers in credit unions, most recently here.

A couple of odds and ends notes from the disclosures credit unions are required to file with NCUA when seeking to merge:

• In what may be the nicest merger-related disclosure provided to members of a credit union, Valley-Wide of PA FCU created a 21-page booklet outlining all aspects of the proposal. 
• All too frequently you will find members being told by CEOs, “With our aging board and my approaching retirement, it is the right time to merge our credit union.” Perhaps the right thing to do would have been for the board to exercise its fiduciary duty to members by planning for that retirement and, if not up to the task—as they clearly were not—should have retired themselves. 
• Pine Bluff Postal FCU told members it had to merge because it has seen a decline in membership as well as the closing of large accounts, which “led to low liquidity.” At the time it shared that message, it had a whopping 48% capital. Just spitballin’, but maybe investing some of that capital in building a more robust, responsive, growing CU would have headed off the need to close up shop. And it didn’t return any of that capital to members, by the way.
• Among the CUs  that have merged out, is Credit Union Advantage CU in Michigan. That’s right, it found “credit union” to be so nice it used it twice. It merged into Zeal CU, although it really should have merged into Zeal Credit Union CU.

A Throwback

Reading through those disclosure statements provided members can occasionally turn up a nugget, such as practices that were common in the past but would seem absolutely archaic to just about everyone in credit unions today, where Amazon-like instant gratification and decision turnarounds are a basic expectation. In its disclosure, C S P Employees FCU, which serves the Connecticut state prison system, after noting it was “increasingly difficult for our small credit union to meet the financial demands of state-of-the-art, shared that a merger would mean “no more waiting a week for loan committee decisions.”

Generation Ick

The battle for credit card share and the related interchange is fierce. (Just ask all the CU execs who tout their credit union’s own cards but use another issuer’s for their personal expenses.) But one new report revealed what it calls “significant shifts” in payment preferences among younger consumers, including that 63% of Gen Z are moving away from credit cards, and that 51% say credit cards give them the “ick.”

That’s right, the “ick.” 

The findings of the survey, which is titled “Why Credit Cards Give Gen Z The Ick Report,” by Cash App Afterpay, also include that:

• 82% of Americans believe credit cards can be financially dangerous
• 68% of Gen Z report stress and anxiety from credit card bills
• 40% of credit card users are frequently surprised by interest fees, rising to 53% for Gen Z.

Perhaps the next opportunity for CUs is in “non-ick” plastic. You can find the full story here.

You Really Do Deserve Better

I’ve winced my way through way-too-many bad TV commercials from credit unions to count, so when you find one that’s terrific it’s worth highlighting.

So let me point you in the direction of Navigant Credit Union, which has introduced several new humorous TV commercials that use the theme, “You Deserve Better.”

And you do.

The spots, created for the $3.92-billion Navigant CU by Nail Communications, use the humor to challenge people who stick with their banks despite being unhappy with them.

The TV commercials can be viewed below.

and here 

An on The Money Job 

Sometimes, a job just finds the right person. The director of the Swoboda Research Centre in Ireland, named for former CUNA President Ralph Swoboda who did considerable work in that country at the end of his career, is the aptly named Nick Money.

I Don’t Know, But It Rings a Bell

Not saying I’ve heard this kind of brand positioning before, but something about this strikes me as kinda familiar. 

From the CU Daily’s reporting: “Chime, which refers to its customers as ‘members,’ said its users can build credit on purchases from the day they open an account, rather than needing to direct deposit via Chime, and that its app now allows members to see FICO tracking and view the factors affecting their credit scores.

“The company further said it is also debuting Chime Workplace, a suite of financial wellness services, which gives employees access to Chime products that help with income management, savings, credit, and loyalty and rewards.”

Does this Chime ring a bell with anyone?

It’s Like a Surprise Party Announcement

I’ve attended several meetings this year where I’ve heard the conference host announce that among the attendees were “invited crashers.” That’s an oxymoron. If you were invited, you’re not crashing anything.

Frank J. Diekmann is Cooperator in Chief with the CU Daily and can be reached at [email protected].