Posted by Lisa Hochgraf
Here's the corridor where 20 or 25 Washington Mutual customers recently crossed over to the credit union side--the MaPS Credit Union side, that is. (Click on the photo to enlarge it and see the details.)
According to Jeremy Deglow, branch manager of the $277 million CU's W. Salem, Ore., location, the influx of refugees started the first week of September.
"Out of that we probably opened 20 new accounts, 15 to 20 new checking accounts (so these people were pretty much switching their primary financial institution is how we looked at it), some money market and CD accounts," Deglow reports.
Did the CU do anything special to draw them in? Not really. But once they were in the branch, Deglow says the CU's staff reassured them about the stability of the CU and often found them superior product offerings.
In a recent article on CUES Tech Port, Quintin Sykes took the idea of being ready for big bank refugees a step further.
"If credit unions want to be a serious contender for big bank refugees, many will have to place a greater focus on their remote delivery channels," writes this senior director of Cornerstone Advisors Inc., CUES' partner in CUES Tech Port. "Using Remote Delivery to Grab Big Bank Refugees" provides a check list for remote delivery readiness and is acccessible with a CUES or CUES Supplier member password--please comment if you'd like me to send you the manuscript via e-mail.
All of this is just another way of saying what Christopher wrote already in "'Flee to Safety' Won't Mean Squat Unless we Squawk."
What are you doing to be ready to receive big bank refugees?
