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Looking ahead on the calendar, back-to-school shopping, end-of-summer travel, college visits, and even the holiday season are all on the horizon. This is the perfect time to ensure that your credit union members are making your card top-of-wallet now so you reap the interchange income rewards later.
Being top-of-wallet no longer is limited to a physical wallet – this includes mobile wallets such as Apple Pay or Android Pay, as well as any apps that your member preloads their card information into. Over time, it becomes easier and easier to use a single card because it is saved in-app.
Selling the Experience
Easy, simple to setup, and secure. These are the top features that members are seeking, and when this occurs, the selected card is likely to be used more than any other. While we hope members love credit unions and the benefits that membership provides as much as we do, the truth is they are seeking a streamlined experience from the moment they load their cards into a mobile wallet or an app such as Amazon or PayPal. Educating them about how to setup their mobile wallets and the benefits of using your credit union card is essential.
Demographic Disparity
All generations cannot be approached the same way, though you will find some adopters across demographics. Spending preferences and habits vary wildly between generations. According to the J.D. Power 2016 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study, the “emerging affluent are early adopters.” This is a good place to begin, focusing on members under 40 with annual incomes of $80,000 or more. Within this demographic, 43% of cardholders use a mobile payment app, compared to just 13% of consumers overall.
Millennials (a group who roughly falls between the ages of 18 and 36), are most likely to have made a digital payment in the past 30 days compared to their 37-years-old and older counterparts. What we can draw from this is that Millennials are a great group to start with for a top-of-wallet, digital wallet campaign.
Promoting Your Credit Union Card to Top-of-Wallet
Having a strong partner to help target your members with communications and payments expertise is essential to credit union success. Synergent’s Payment Services ensures credit unions can access, implement, and manage these digital payments.
Data is the key to unlocking insights and target marketing to your members. Synergent’s Direct Marketing Services can help your credit union grow debit card penetration and usage through targeted communications that share the benefits of using your credit union’s card over any other. When it is time to measure the penetration and success of your debit card program, Direct Marketing Services can meet with you to report where growth has occurred and where opportunities remain.
Want to learn more with a free consultation? Please contact Rebekah Higgins, VP of Payment Services, or Doug MacDonald, VP of Direct Marketing Services.
