Skip to main content

What percentage of your members consider you their primary financial institution (PFI)?

To determine your definition of PFI, think about what product usage matters most to your credit union’s success: products that generate income or technology that reduces expenses and engages ongoing activity.

  • Loans: Generate interest income and offer opportunities for non-interest income with GAP, warranty and other upsell options

  • Checking: Ties members to the CU on a day-to-day basis, as well as produces interchange income (and potentially other fee income)

  • E-services: Indicates high propensity toward PFI because the member has incorporated your CU into their daily life (direct deposit, mobile banking, bill payment). ‍

  • Deposits: Large deposit accounts (other than checking) can be “hot money” that will leave your credit union the moment rates go up. Deposit-only members do not consider you their PFI.

How to Get Started

To get started, determine a baseline of members who solidly consider you their PFI.

Here’s a formula: Find the number of members who meet the following criteria: Checking account + Mobile enrollment + 10 debit/ACH transactions per month + 1 or more loans. Then divide that total number by your membership to get your PFI %.

This number may be very low right now, but it’s a baseline. Track it over the next six-12 months. Is the percentage going up or down? A down trend could be a warning sign and should set off alarm bells. A growing trend upwards means your members are very satisfied with your offerings. No matter what your score is currently, the good news is that the members in this category are likely to stick with you. Value this group and leverage their loyalty and insights.

Get a Handle

In summary, before you make major decisions about rebranding or expanding to new markets, get a handle on your current loyalists. Figure out how to convert additional current members into that group and attract more from your market.

Samantha “Sam” Strickland knows credit unions. After leading marketing for 12 years at First Commerce CU, Sam started The Pod, a creative services firm with expertise in the credit union industry, in 2011. Sam’s Emmy- Award-winning team provides services like branding, website development, video production, and more for credit unions of all sizes.
CUToday

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

NCOFCU Newsletter

The Bucket Coach is a financial advice book designed by Fire Services Credit Union, Tronto, Canada. and written exclusively for Fire Fighters It's a practical guide for household financial management, including investments, credit and mortgages, and retirement. Developed with contributions from Fire Fighters," NCOFCU Newsletter : " Kevin Connolly Chief Executive Officer    Fire Services Credit Union Phone: 416-440-1294 ext 301  Toll Free: 1-866-833-3285 E-mail:  kevin@firecreditunion.ca 1997 Avenue Rd Toronto, ON M5M 4A3 

Government Shutdown? Credit Unions Know The Drill.

  With three complete government shutdowns and repeated trips to the precipice in the past 25 years, credit unions have had plenty of opportunity to refine how they approach helping members during work stoppages. Read the complete article HERE __ ______________________________________________ Check out NCOFCU's additional features: First Responder Credit Union Academy Podcasts YouTube Mini's Blog Job Board
Updated 2012 NAFCU Credit Union Compliance GPS is Now Available! Written by Steve Van Beek Shameless Plug Alert ! We are very pleased to announce the availability of the Updated 2012 NAFCU Credit Union Compliance GPS . Over the course of the last year, there have been many small tweaks and changes that have made life difficult for credit unions and, specifically, compliance officers (and many others as well). These included technical changes to regulations as well as substantive changes to regulations and regulators . ****READ MORE;  

CUNorthwest Todd A. Powell Award is SFCU CEO Gayle Furness.

Spokane Firefighters Credit Union Big Enough to Serve. Small Enough to Care. This year’s recipient of the CUNorthwest Todd A. Powell Award is SFCU CEO Gayle Furness. Like Todd, Gayle has been instrumental in the growth, as well as the safety and soundness, of the credit union. Congrats to Gayle for living up to the standard that Todd created for our organization and the greater credit union community. __ ________________________________ Check out NCOFCU's additional features: First Responder Credit Union Academy Podcasts YouTube Mini's Blog Job Board

The Shrinking Pool of Small Credit Unions: Why It Matters & What We Can Do About It. - Henry Meier, Esq.

  Henry Meier, Esq. Henry Meier is the former General Counsel of the New York Credit Union Association, where he authored the popular New York State of Mind blog. He now provides legal advice to credit unions on a broad range of legal, regulatory and legislative issues. He can be reached at (518) 223-5126 or via email at  henrymeieresq@outlook.com . For as long as I’ve been around the industry, I’ve heard concerns about the demise of the small credit union. But I’ve come to realize it’s a lot like the weather: Everyone talks about it, but no one does anything about it. This is unfortunate. We need credit unions of all shapes and sizes to survive, and if we don’t take action soon, it will be too late.  Fortunately, there are steps the industry can take to potentially decrease the rate at which small credit unions are disappearing by making it viable for credit unions to survive by getting larger credit unions interested in making the necessary investments to keep the sma...