Extra Awards® Goes to Work for Goldenwest Credit Union

Case Study

Some credit unions offer a rewards program because members ask for it and leave it at that. Institution Other institutions take a creative, proactive approach and make loyalty awards pay off in a big Goldenwest Credit Union way. Goldenwest Credit Union of Ogden, Utah is in the latter group. Louise Hilliard, AVP of Payment Services at Goldenwest, describes loyalty program success and gives some advice Address on best practices. 5025 Adams Avenue Ogden, UT 84403-4102 Symitar: You’ve been quite successful with Extra Awards. How do you approach loyalty programs? Telephone Louise: A key strategy for us is to keep the promotions changing. If you don’t do something 801.337.8300 different you won’t engage members. We change it every quarter; it’s constantly moving. Website Could you give us some examples of how you do that? www.gwcu.org The first quarter we offer triple rewards points on balance transfers. The second quarter is Assets focused on card-not-present transactions and has a baseball theme. You can hit a “double” $1 billion by using your card at the gas pump and getting double points, or hit a “triple” with online purchases of entertainment or travel, which provides triple points. Members 100,000 Third quarter is back-to-school with triple points on purchases of clothing, tuition payments, or most any purchase except travel and gas. With fourth quarter and holiday spending, Founded members get double points on all purchases, and a 5,000-point bonus when reaching $5,000. 1936 In our recent fourth quarter, 295 members received the points bonus. The fourth quarter also includes a promotion for zero interest on balance transfers. Symitar Software Solutions & Services What are some the goals or results received? Extra Awards® In our recent fourth quarter, 295 members received the 5,000 bonus points for spending at least $5,000. In that same quarter, members applied for 127 new rewards cards. Interchange income was up 86% over the previous year, and more than $600,000 in new loans were reported. Overall, in the last December-to-December timeframe, there was a 125% increase in the number of cards, and a 105% increase in interchange. Case Study

What are some other examples of how you use rewards incentives? When our members have an inactive non-rewards card, they receive a letter with an offer. If they agree to change to a rewards card, they are given 1,000 points. If they spend $1,000 in the first 90 days, there’s an additional 5,000-point bonus. We have a 28% inactive rate for non-rewards cards, but only 9% for rewards.

Goldenwest has made Apple Pay™ available to our members. To encourage members to use our cards we made an offer. Anyone who makes their Goldenwest Rewards Visa Card their default card in Apple Pay earns triple points on all Apple Pay transactions for a specified time.

Have you used Extra Awards for promotions that aren’t card related? We have held promotions offering 5,000 bonus points for a new loan and we’ve awarded secondary market mortgages with awards. We’ve also done successful campaigns that don’t involve rewards. One promotion entered members into a contest whenever they spent more than $20 on a single purchase. The goal of that campaign was to promote high-value transactions.

Do you have some overall advice for credit unions that want to make best use of awards? I assume that everyone is using rewards; if not our card, then an airline card or a merchant’s card. You want to put your card on top, and you know people like variety. You must do something different or you won’t engage people. Offer attractive rewards and make fun, always-changing promotions. It helps that we have great redemption options from Extra Awards, like merchant gift cards. Our own employees tell us how much they like them.

For more information about Symitar®, or to schedule a demonstration or talk to an existing user, email [email protected], call 888-SYMITAR (796-4827), or visit www.symitar.com.