Strategies For Encouraging Credit Union Members To Adopt eStatements – Part 1 of 2

September 5, 2019

Adopting eStatements for your credit union provides a wealth of benefits for you and your members. Convincing those who already subscribe to paper statements can be challenging, but the right strategy makes a world of difference. 

There are three primary strategies you can follow to enrol new and existing members in your eStatement program. Here are the pros and cons of each:

The Default Option For New Members

This strategy involves making eStatements the default choice for new members only. If they prefer having paper statements, they can choose to opt in. This approach works because people in general tend to go along with the default option. 

Choosing this strategy helps your credit union cut down on costs and has a positive effect on the environment without hurting customer sentiment since they can always switch. Make sure that you Member Service Representatives educate clients when opening new accounts so they aren’t taken aback.

The Voluntary Opt-In 

For some credit unions, making eStatements the status quo for new members may seem too radical. A safer alternative would be a voluntary opt-in approach. The success of this strategy largely depends on how well you market it to members and the various incentive programs you can use to raise awareness among them. If not, it’ll be very unlikely that a significant number of members will make the switch without prompting.

The Mass Switch

A high-risk yet high-reward approach is to switch everyone’s default to eStatements. This option requires a lot of notice several months in advance and strong customer service efforts in order to avoid a backlash. While younger members might not even notice the change, less tech-savvy clients might get upset or confused. Make paper statements an optional choice for these types of customers.

Another option is to add a monthly service fee for those who choose to get paper statements delivered. One downside is that those who prefer paper statements might grumble at having to pay for something that used to be free.

IMS’ eStatements and eNotices solution speeds up the entire process of generating and sending statements to your members. It drastically cuts down on the time it takes to complete the process (and the equivalent cost!) as it already follows the format required by your print vendor. 

Additional benefits include instant notifications sent to members once a new eStatement is generated, easy access for your team, integration with your internet banking vendor, secure hosting of notices, member statements, tax documents, and more.

Connect with us to find out how we can help you and your members transition to eStatements here: http://cusolution.com/contact or read our next blog post for more promotion strategies that will help increase eStatement adoption!

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