Back in November, thousands of people moved their accounts from big banks to credit unions. This call to action came from an actual consumer who was fed up with her bank and wanted to make a statement.

Why not make your resolution, to finally change to a credit union? We would love to have you. And on that note, I’d like to share how you can join SFCU. Today, many employers are searching for ways to cut costs and increase their bottom line. And many organizations and associations are looking for great FREE benefits to enhance their membership. Adding credit union membership as an employee benefit or benefit to your club or organization is a great idea for several reasons.

*We offer a full line of money-saving financial products and services.

*Your company and/or organization will receive FREE marketing support to effectively and easily promote the credit union.

*A dedicated credit union representative will work with you one-on-one to make the most of your partnership!

There is absolutely no cost to offer this benefit to your employees or members. For more information call us at 901-682-5626 or email us at generalinfo@searsfcu.org.

Resolve to make your employees and members feel special, give them the great FREE benefit of CU membership.

I wish you all a safe, happy and prosperous 2012!

-Amy

This 75th anniversary year has been wonderful. We’ve been to so many places and met so many people but as they say, there’s no place like home. And I have to say our Family Fun Day/Member’s Appreciation event at our office was fantastic. We had such a great turn out! This was our first time ever hosting an event like this and between the great food, vendors, LIVE band and of course, our members in attendance, we had a blast. We hope to make this an annual event. The entire staff at SFCU is thankful it went so well and for your support.

We’re also thankful that the news is finally spreading about the CU difference. These last few weeks, you’d have to be living under a rock if you haven’t heard the news about banks charging crazy fees for debit cards, checking accounts etc. I’m proud to say that our checking is still FREE and our Quick Check VISA debit card is FREE as well.  And as far as that goes, if you’re happy with SFCU and you know it, share the gift of membership with your family members! We’re sure they’ll be happy with less fees too!

Now that the holiday season is upon us, and you wanna skip the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping, think of us as your one-stop-shop for the holidays. Take the guess-work out of gift giving and pick up a VISA gift card here at the credit union. Let’s face it, gift cards are always the right size and the right color! You don’t have to worry about them being exchanged!

We’re also thankful for all of our members. We really appreciate your business and look forward to serving you for many more years to come! We hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a happy and healthy holiday season!

This being the last “official” day of summer, I look forward to the cooler days of Fall and to the many BIG events that we have planned in the coming weeks. We’re proud to once again be a sponsor of the Bartlett Festival that is set for next weekend. Look for our booth, play Plinko and win some exciting FREE stuff! Also, we’re hosting our very own Family Fun Day in celebration of our 75th anniversary. It’s going to be  a great day, set for October 15th. we’ll have LIVE music, FREE food, games and more!  By now, you may be wondering, why I titled this post, Why Throw Your Money Away? Well, let’s get down to it.

Unless you ‘ve been living under a rock the past few weeks, you’ve more than likely heard about banks charging folks to use their debit cards. Seriously. Some are charging $4, some $6, I’ve even heard some banks are going to be charging as high as $9 to use your debit card. Not to mention, they’re also charging you a monthly maintenance fee for your checking account. Think about that for a minute, they are charging you, to use your own money. Now, while the fees may not sound like much to you, multiply them over the course of a year and they start to quickly add up. Perhaps you think it’s ok to accept the charge, because you appreciate the convenience of having your card and switching to another institution is just too hard. Well, I’m here to tell you that ‘s simply not true.

There’s never been a better time to discover the credit union difference. We offer mobile banking, online bill pay, direct deposit, payroll deduction, mobile banking and much more. Plus, if you have items automatic payments taken out of your current bank account and think it would be a hassle to get them changed over, we have a solution for that too. Our super convenient switch kit, allows you to get those payments transferred out of your new account, smoothly.  We encourage you to bring us a copy of your current bank statement from your other financial institution. We’ll go over it with you and have you switched to us in less than 30 minutes.

It’s your money, do you want it to work smarter, or harder?  That’s up to you. Sears Federal Credit Union, does not charge a monthly fee to use your debit card, we also don’t charge a maintenance fee on our checking accounts. All it takes is $50 to open up your share savings account. That $50 is your ownership of the credit union. That also allows you to open a checking account for free, gives you a free debit card and access to a variety of other services. 

If you do not currently work for the organizations that are members of the credit union or not a part of our homeowners associations, or The Bartlett Lions Club, contact us. We’d be happy to talk to your employer about becoming a member of SFCU. It is absolutely 100% free for any business or organization to join us. We’re not talking about moving payroll here, we’re talking about offering the FREE benefit of credit union membership to your employees. all it takes is a letter on company letterhead to join and we can help you with that too.

In this economy, where prices are constantly on the rise, why throw your money away? Discover the CU difference. You can contact us at 800-447-2202 or 901-682-5626, or visit us at searsfcu.org.

We look forward to hearing from you.

-Amy

Well, it certainly didn’t take long for us to feel the heat from the lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer. And while I know we’re all feeling pain at the pump, I wanted to let you know that we can help ease the squeeze on your wallet. Now through July 31, 2011, when you use your Sears FCU VISA credit card or your SFCU Visa Quick Check card, you can earn double the points at the pump!

Every time you fill up your gas tank, and swipe either SFCU card to pay you earn 2x the points that are redeemable for merchandise and travel. How cool is that?

Normally, when you use your SFCU VISA, you earn a point for every dollar you spend, now you’ll earn 2 points. And when you use your SFCU debit card, you typically get a point for every two dollars you spend, now you’ll earn two points for every two dollars you spend.

So go ahead and fill up and the pump! You’re being handsomely rewarded with twice the Uchoose Points! Again, this offer expires July 31, 2011.

I hope you have a happy and safe holiday!

-Amy

Even though it’s felt more like summer than spring for the last few weeks, we are finally getting ready to kick off the official summer season. And we’re so excited about it, because we have several exciting promotions.

You can read more about all of them in the next edition of our newsletter, but I can tell you about one, right now!

Sears FCU wants to help relieve some of the pain you’re feeling at the pump! Gas prices are at an all time high, so we’re helping you out, by rewarding you every time you use your Sears FCU VISA or your Sears FCU Quick Check Card. 

In the months of June and July, when you use either card to fill up your vehicle you’ll earn DOUBLE the UCHOOSE reward points.  These points are redeemable for travel and merchandise.

Normally when you use your SFCU VISA card, you earn one point for every dollar you spend. Now you’ll earn two points for every dollar you spend. And when you use our debit card, you typically earn a point for every $2 you spend. Now you’ll receive two points for every two dollars spent.

So go ahead and fill up at the pump, we’re rewarding you for it! I’ll be happy to share more promotions as they get ready to launch, but as always, for the latest information, be sure to visit our website, searsfcu.org. Follow us on twitter, or like us on Facebook.

And per usual, I do like to share articles about credit unions, when we make BIG news in the national media, and there was one released this week that I think is worth noting. The Wall Street Journal, featured an article titled,

CU’s Still Outdo Banks on Deals. You can read more about it by clicking on the link:

http://tinyurl.com/3r3abbt

Have a great week!

Amy

You can link to it here. http://tinyurl.com/3oxkr8s

Once you review it, you’ll notice that NO other financial institutions besides credit unions were mentioned. We’re just sayin’ …

Have a great day,
Amy

USA Today, recently published an article entitled, Big Banks Hit Customers with Higher Fees, and More of Them, by Katherine Yung of the Detroit Free Press.

I’ll post a link to the article below, however it got me to thinking … in this economy, where gas prices are nearly $4.00 a gallon and grocery prices are on the rise. Can you really afford being nickeled and dimed by your bank? Perhaps you don’t care, everyone is different. But on the other hand, maybe after reading this article, it may just light the fire that you need to do a side-by-side comparison of what you may or will be paying at a bank, in comparison to what a credit union will do for you. There’ s never been a better time to compare! But, I’ll let you read the article, and you be the judge!

The link to the USA Today article is here: http://tinyurl.com/6dkvbqr

And now for our shameless plug, perhaps you thought it was too difficult and too much hassle to switch to us, think again! Our new and improved Switch Kit, does the work for you! It’s located under the Join Us tab, on the home page of our website, searsfcu.org.

Have a great week!

Amy

Let’s face it, there’s no better word of mouth than testimonials. I mean, your more likely to tell someone about an experience you had if it was really, really good or horrible right? I thought I’d share one of our member’s experiences with you-it may help you see why there’ s value in doing your banking on-line.

Dear SFCU,

I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you so much for your quick response to my debit card being compromised. I haven’t really been with you guys long, almost 2 years, but thanks to your staff’s guidance, I was convinced that signing up for online banking and using a debit card was the way to go-even though it was new for me, I still see the value in writing checks and keeping track of what I’ve written, it helps me better manage my money. But, I figured I’d try my hand at keeping up with the times. And, I must say, that after the first month,I loved the experience. I would go online and see what had cleared my checking account daily. It’s all been great, up until a few days ago. I was trying to make a purchase online and my card was declined. You can’t imagine my horror. Declined, me? I check that account a couple of times a day, just to be sure I’m keeping up with everything I’ve been spending. In this economy, I can’t really afford to go over, you know? But I know how much money I have in my account. So anyway, I immediately checked online and saw a purchase that was over $100 at a website that I wasn’t familiar with, and have never done any shopping there. I immediately contacted the credit union and the staff was so great. They completely understood my stress, and put me at ease right away. The card was declined because of some service that immediately freezes the account to weird or unusual purchases. What a relief. They immediately blocked the card and helped me apply for a new one, and worked to get the charges reversed. What service! I was so scared that I would be responsible for those charges, even though they weren’t mine.

While the quick swipe of a card is SO convenient in this day and age-it doesn’t change the fact, that you become terrified knowing that some person out there has your number. I just want to say thanks again, for the outstanding job the entire team did at making me calm, relaxed and relieved that this issue would be resolved with my account. I’m not going to lie, I’m a little gun-shy about using a card again, because of what happened. But it’s good to know that if it does, you guys have my back.

 Thanks so much,

Annie Smith

Well, there you have it. As a manager, I couldn’t be more proud of my staff, but I’m even more proud of the fact, that she appreciated the experience so much, she wanted to share the tale. Thank you Annie, for allowing me to share this on my blog and don’t worry we’ll continue to be the watchdogs of your account. We appreciate your membership and look forward to continuing to serve you in the future.

-Amy

Amy is out of the office today-so, I’d like to take this opportunity to say hello, I’m pinch hitting for her-my name is Cammie Morrow and I am the Marketing Director for Sears Federal Credit Union and I’ll try my best.

I came across an article today, entitled, The Startling State of Social Media in Credit Unions… on The Financial Brand. Filene conducted a study by Crescendo Consulting Group that included 187 credit unions-I’m paraphrasing here- across the United States and Canada. Apparently the study is being done in two parts-the first, they assess their levels of success with social media. Then researchers will correlate the study with observable changes asset growth, increased share of wallet, increased membership etc. to gauge the tangible impact of social media.

I’m sure the study will provide valuable research to some-although by all accounts, this article says there are troubling signs and statistics. You can read it for yourself here.http://tinyurl.com/3o4g4cb

So what does this all mean? Well, I can only tell you from personal experience, my interaction with social media and why Sears delved into the fray. I dove into Social Media head first, in 2007. At that point in time there were only like 30 or so credit unions across the United States even on Twitter, at least from what I could find. That’s not an actual statistic, that’s just what I saw.   And I can absolutely credit a fellow credit union marketing genius who’s now at a CU in California, named Trey Reeme and a Filene fellow, Brent Dixon who kicked off my social media venture, they were with Trabian, another fantastic CU supporter organization.  The reason why they encouraged me to engage in it was simple, it wasn’t so much for advertising, but as having a voice and being able to listen to what is being said about your credit union online. It was a way to be truthful and talk one-on-one with your membership base. And that really resonated with me. They said as the stereo-typical “Gen Y” guys, people want truth and answers-no gimmicks, hate being lied to etc. for people to get the business. They point-blank asked, do you know what is being said about your CU online. And encouraged us to type in Google, our credit union name, and then “sucks” after it. I did so with bated breath, and luckily there was nothing at the time.

In a room full of people, I’m not sure how many went and signed up immediately, but I did. My CEO had a blog at the CU already and I convinced him to venture into twitter and facebook. Now, when I relocated to Sears FCU, a year and a half ago, I was still very passionate about social media being  a part of our new website, for the same exact reasons. Sure, some people don’t have a social media strategy prior to launch, but my reasons are the same as they were back then. It gives us a voice to immediately communicate with our members and for them to communicate with us. In my very brief tenure, I’ve been able to turn negatives into positives, posting about us getting phished and saving some of our members from unknowingly giving out their information to thieves.

I can safely say that our goal of using social media, is having access and information available for our members and that does meet our credit union goals. Our venues like facebook, twitter, and the blog, open up a dialogue. Isn’t that why some of the biggest companies in the world use it too? Social media is a powerful tool. I think about the recent events in Egypt and I’m amazed at how far it’s come. And how powerful it grows each day.  And sure, some larger credit unions out there may be seeing tremendous results with different flash mob campaigns, etc. But I have to say I agree with Aite Senior Analyst, Ron Shevlin. “It takes time and experience to figure out what works and what doesn’t.”

While Sears hasn’t been in the social media domain as long as some, I know we  will continue to use it as a way to let our members and others in the community know what we’re up to and to hopefully continue a dialogue with our membership. While we do plan on doing some interactive giveaways etc. It’s not in a vain effort to boost our numbers, it’s to interact one-on-one with our members. Like anything new, I do think it takes awhile to build an audience, but in that time, they’ll know we’re listening to them to and  I hope, that it will continue to be a venue for an open dialogue with our members for years to come.

Amy will return next week!