It's "Time" to CU Grow - Credit Unions Getting Good Press

What awesome press credit unions are getting as of late. Now, an article has been published in Time.  It highlights how credit unions are the place to be right now.  I have included a few excerpts from the article below showing how credit unions are using this time to grow market share and connect with their communities.

"Credit unions aren't shy about having money to lend. Speed's outfit, the 126,000-member Texas Dow Employees Credit Union (TDECU), has been running TV spots since August and is doubling its ad budget for the fourth quarter. (At times, TDECU has been accused of being too aggressive: community banks, which have also been faring relatively well, and the FDIC loudly objected when one ad painted the entire banking industry as "under a dark cloud.")"

"At the 66,000-member Unitus Community Credit Union in Portland, Ore., loan volume is up this year in nearly every category — 32% in mortgages, 37% in student loans, 12% in credit cards..."

"Three weeks ago, she [Patricia Smith] hired the credit union's first work-out specialist to start pouring through loan data and making pre-emptive calls to people who might need help — the sort of down-home, we-care solution credit unions sell themselves on."

"And they do continue to sell themselves. In early October, Smith was one of nine CEOs who signed onto a newspaper ad touting the benefits of credit unions. "We are financial institutions without shareholders or Wall Street investors," the ad read."

Now is the time to step it up.  They say in times of economic trouble, marketing is the first thing to get cut.  I believe that credit unions can step up there marketing efforts and really grow.  It is so nice to see TDECU doubling there ad budget to ramp up marketing efforts and going against the traditional mentality in times like this.

However, these marketing efforts don't have to be high dollar.  Grass roots, gorilla marketing efforts can go along way at build relationships within your community.

Are you using the current economic situation to grow your credit union or are you still doing the same old thing? Shout back and let us know.  We want to hear from you.