Last month, People’s Credit Union introduced MyCU Savings Club and Checking Accounts, designed to get youngsters interested in financial matters. The Savings Club rewards children for making deposits into their People’s saving account, and through the club mascot, Shelly the Clam, participants will learn about financial topics.
The MyCU Checking Account helps teens 13 and 18 get accustomed to balancing a checkbook and managing money.
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The program serves another purpose: Getting youngsters interested in using a credit union, where nationwide membership has been aging out of the prime lending years.
Nancy Quick, People’s vice president of sales and service, answered five questions about MyCU.
PBN: Are the MyCU programs People’s Credit Union’s own idea, or were they based on programs that worked at another credit union somewhere else?
QUICK: The idea for the My CU Savings Club and Checking Accounts did come from People’s Credit Union. About six months ago, the sales and service department, and the marketing department were brainstorming on introducing new accounts designed specifically for today’s youth. We first came up with a mascot, “Shelly the Clam,” because all six People’s branches are located near the coast in southern Rhode Island, and ideas for the programs took off from there. Our goal was to create something for kids and teens that was fun, educational and provided them with relevant tools and resources.
PBN: I notice that the MyCU Savings Club replaces the credit union’s Save for America program. What was Save for America and why was it replaced?
QUICK: The Save for America program was a bank-at-school program that got children into the habit of saving a little each week. Parents volunteered at each school, each of which collected deposits from the children on a weekly basis and brought them to People’s Credit Union.
With Save for America, the parent volunteers took the children’s deposits, but the children never had the opportunity to come into the credit union. We wanted the children to come into People’s and learn about how saving money works. The My CU Savings Club isn’t just a savings account; it’s a club for the children that has a website just for kids, events exclusively for them, special mailings and birthday cards – things we couldn’t do with Save for America.
PBN: As part of the program, People’s is making a checking account available to teens 13 and older. What are the features of the youth account as opposed to an adult account? The children aren’t too young to handle a checking account responsibly, are they?
QUICK: We don’t think teens are too young to handle a checking account responsibly. We feel today’s teens need a product like My CU Checking for depositing a paycheck, making small purchases, etc. In many ways we look at a debit card as safer than carrying cash. The earlier they learn good financial habits, the better the chances are they will be successful with money in the future. Parents and other youth groups in the local area had been asking for a program like this for a while. Assisting teens and young adults with the fundamentals of personal finance as well as providing them with the right tools and education is part of what People’s is all about.
The My CU Checking account is designed to provide teenagers with the opportunity to learn how to balance a checkbook and manage money. When the teen opens his or her account, the member service representative reviews several checking account management tools, including literature on how a debit card works, which normally is not done with our adult members. After a teenager opens the account, they can participate in the Checking Account Management course offered by our partner, the Balance Program.
PBN: I know there’s been hand-wringing in the credit union industry about the aging of its membership. How has the trend fared in recent years with banks being cast in many quarters as the villains of the economic downturn?
QUICK: With the economic downturn, and the general image with the banking industry, we have seen a tremendous opportunity to promote our mission as a credit union. People’s has always believed in the power of financial education, and we are founded on a tradition of service to our members and our community. We have noticed [more young] members coming to us for their first auto loan, information on establishing credit and education on paying for college. If we can assist these youths now, the chances of them being loyal members in the future is greater. We value the opportunity to assist our members with all their financial needs throughout their lives.
Since launching the My CU programs at the end of last month we have seen overwhelming response to the programs. If we compare the number of new accounts this year to the same time period last year we have seen a 31 percent increase in new accounts for those under the age of 21 and a 250 percent increase in new accounts for those under the age of 12.
PBN: Aside from this program, has the People’s CU done anything else – or do you have anything planned – to get a younger set involved with credit union? Brand makeover, etc.?
QUICK: This past year we introduced People’s Credit sites on Facebook and Twitter. Today’s youth are communicating on social networking sites, and we need to be there to be part of that conversation.
We offer free seminars for members on education planning. We have teamed up with the College Advisors Group, a firm that offers one-on-one consultations with students to help them understand the selection and admission process as well as guide them through the entire college preparation process.
People’s also offers an annual eighth grade scholarship to one student in each city/town in which we have an office. The recipients of the scholarship also have a chance to increase the scholarship amount each year of high school, earning additional money for every final grade of an A or B.
In addition, every year we team up with the Newport Gulls for the FANatic About Reading program. The program encourages elementary school children all over Aquidneck Island to read.
We are excited to see where the My CU programs take us and how we can affect the lives of our young members in the communities we serve.
