Tag Archives: credit union

BC credit unions launch mobile banking commercials.

A few weeks ago, I blogged about Mobile Banking launching at Vancity. At the time we had just introduced it, as did many other BC credit unions. In fact, 80% of credit union members in BC now have access to this new feature. I also mentioned that all BC credit unions came together to advertise mobile banking province wide.

Credit unions in BC have been working co-operatively for quite a while now (Gene, do you know how long the Province-Wide Advertising Committee has been around?) to advertise our shared differentiators. You can see a bunch of recent BC credit union ads on YouTube.

Each addresses a different perception in the marketplace that we’re collectively trying to address in the minds of consumers. We know we have the emotional, or heart, attributes like giving back to the community, being local, etc… What we need to move the needle on is the intellectual, or head, attributes. These commercials deal with issues like accessibility (Ding Free ATMs), full service options (That Guy, one of the less successful ads in my opinion). And now with the mobile banking ads, we’re dealing with innovation.

I’ve embedded the two mobile banking ads below, so take a look, and let me know what you think. I don’t sit on this committee so be honest. Personally, I like these commercials, and I also like many of the recent commercials credit unions in BC have run (That Guy excepted).

Enjoy!

PS: For those of you who wonder, that is NOT Gene Blishen as the dad in the second ad!

An invitation and special discount for Finance 2.0

The Finance 2.0 SummitI am pleased to invite you to the upcoming Finance 2.0 Summit: January 26th & 27th in New York City.

When we started planning the Finance 2.0 Summit in New York a few months ago, who could have guessed where our industry would go. I believe that the market turmoil of the last few weeks means that the Summit is perfectly scheduled for January 26-27 at the Harvard Club. The faculty features the financial industry’s superstars in social media and is focused on providing real, actionable tools and strategies that you can use to reach out to your customers in a more effective, meaningful way.

In addition to this personal invitation to hear me speak, I am also able to offer a speaker discount of 15%. Please use priority code FMP168 when registering to ensure your discount. To register, you can visit Finance 2.0 Summit or contact Sarah Dunnam at 704-889-1290 or sdunnam (at) frallc (dot) com

I look forward to seeing you in New York City!

Mobile Banking with VNCTY.

First of all, my favourite quote about Mobile Banking this year has got to be by Avi Pollock Head of Applied Innovation at RBC who simply said at Net.Finance East “I know Mobile Banking is important, I’m just not sure why.”

I feel the same way. So I’m excited to say that Vancity has launched Mobile Banking to our Online Banking members. It’s pretty simple SMS banking where you register your cell number within Online Banking and then when you text to the shortcode VNCTY you get your balance or last five transactions.

Mobile Banking

So it could come in handy if you need to know your balance in a hurry and you’re not near a computer.

But the powerful thing here is getting members’ cell numbers into Online Banking, because that paves the way for text alerts which are of a much greater value. It also starts down the path of a more full-functioning Mobile Banking offer where our members can use an ATM/Branch locator, pay bills and transfer funds via their smart phone. That’s starting to get more interesting.

So I’m excited and proud of this baby step and need to acknowledge the unsung hero of this initiative, one of my favourite strategic partners, Kelly West, the Director of Product Management at Central1. He wrote an awesome Mobile Banking strategy for all credit unions in BC and Ontario. Thanks to him, we’re headed down the right path. Thanks Kelly!

Of the seven principles of a co-operative, the sixth is Co-operation among Co-operatives

Co-operatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the co-operative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures.

One of the things I love about my work is that I get to collaborate with other credit unions in the province. At the end of 2008 80% of BC credit union members will have access to Mobile Banking. We worked on it together, we’re launching the same product to our members and next up, we’ll advertise Mobile Banking as a credit union innovative difference to BC residents. I’ll post more about that ad campaign when it launches in the New Year.