CU Tomorrow Projects

Young Americans are inundated with credit card offers and many of them are barely treading the water of the resulting debt. College students in their final year carry an average of $2,864 on their cards, according to data from student loan giant Nellie Mae (See Cold Hard Facts). Graduate students, on average, carry more than three times as much. At least one major credit card issuer has made new student accounts 25% of its annual new card goal, according to author Anya Kamenetz. And students aren’t the only ones building mountains of high-interest debt at an early age.

Connecting people online has become big business. Companies, including some credit unions, have captured the popular imagination by allowing users to write their own opinions, film their own antics, or leave very public comments on the Internet. This new trend, called “social media,” has become a powerful marketing tool. Used correctly, it can help attract young adults to credit unions and endear existing members to your institution. Used incorrectly, it can distract from more effective channels and give the illusion that your credit union is progressive.

By the time it discharges near Shanghai, the Yangtze River pushes more than one million cubic feet of water every second into the East China Sea, a flow that could provide every person in China with 551 gallons of water per day. That immense movement of water belies the river’s humble origins, fi rst as a drip, then a trickle, then a tiny flow,4,000 miles away under a glacier in the Tibetan Plateau.

That’s kind of like Filene’s 30 Under 30 group. Read on …

Financial services advertising represents nearly a quarter of online ad impressions. If you’re not reaching potential young members as search for financial answers, somebody else surely is. This step-by-step guide for launching and maintaining online advertising campaigns shows you how even a little budget can go a long way toward member and product growth.

Credit unions need to serve Generation Y. It’s not enough, however, to send good financial products and cutting edge delivery into the marketplace without a team that can follow up with even better products five, ten, or fifteen years from now. Recruiting talented young professionals is necessary for credit unions to further serve their memberships and continue to grow.

This Filene business brief highlights opportunities and simple, proven tactics for attracting recent college graduates and young professionals.

Credit unions need young adults, and young adults need credit unions. Nowhere is this more clear than from the financial headlines that have documented many lenders’ speedy withdrawal from the student loan business. Many student lenders, including some of the largest, have begun to pull back from lending to community college students. More than 40%—6.2 million out of 14.8 million—of American undergraduates attend community colleges. Even though secondary market funding has dried up during the credit crunch, the consumer need remains. This brief outlines the opportunity and how credit unions can position themselves to target young adults.

Young adults, responsible or not, are very likely to get at least one credit card during the transition period after high school. Credit unions that decline to offer or to market their own cards to young adults may miss the chance to build a relationship and a responsible credit user during that key transition phase. In First Credit Card, author Ben Rogers discusses the challenges and rewards involved in young adult credit card programs at credit unions.

Demographics is destiny. Credit unions face myriad marketplace uncertainties, but one thing is certain: Existing members will always grow older. Demographic shift is one of the few sure things in the world of business. Generation Y, commonly understood as those born between 1980 and 1995, comprise the largest demographic surge since the late 1940’s and already they are reshaping both the workplace and the marketplace. Understanding their needs on a local and specific level will help credit unions attract and retain Generation Y members.

Services like Capital One’s Card Lab, which allows customers to individualize features like APR, rewards, and the card image, confirm an opinion expressed regularly in Filene’s 30 Under 30 group: Young adults enjoy custom products. This brief surveys more than 20 credit unions across the country that have transaction accounts geared toward young adults.