We're innovating – today and every day.
Right now our heads are filled with plenty of great ideas, but we're focusing our attention on the following:
Checking Account Strategies
Idea:
Are checking accounts going away? Really, who writes checks anymore? Is it really just a transaction account? In light of increasing regulatory changes and consumer trends, our owners need to understand current trends in consumer behavior and gain insight into how banks are moving to position checking accounts in the marketplace.Approach:
Pending regulatorychanges around interchange fees are prompting many banks to eliminate free checking accounts. The CU Times website recently quoted the AARP Bulletin, “Free checking, once the standard, is going the way of the VCR. A recent study found that the number of financial institutions offering it is down 11 percent from a year ago.” The elimination of free checking accounts has an immediate impact on the consumer—this move could push low-income consumers out of the banking system.During this project, we will consider:
- Recent changes in regulation which will impact non-interest income
- How our bank competitors are responding with changes to the typical checking account (also known as “payment” or “transaction” accounts). What are the facts, unknowns, and observations?
- Impact that our competitors’ changes to checking accounts have had on consumer behavior.
- Without the incentive of interchange revenue, credit unions may not be able to offer the same services they do now … what impact will fewer choices have on consumer behavior?
- What can our credit unions do to successfully position checking account products competitively?
- Innovative product design to give our owners creative choices of new checking account products based on consumer research.
Armed with this information, our credit unions will be better positioned to compete with the big banks in the area of checking/payment/transaction accounts. For more information, please contact Sarah Lietz.