Posted by Brent Dixon on December 19th, 2008
Great credit union awareness campaign from the fine folks at Boom Creative.
Check out the other two spots here and here.
(via the WhatTheB.com)
Posted by Charlie Trotter on December 15th, 2008
OK, I need some candid information from the credit union and financial industry braintrust that reads this blog.
The Economy is doing some pretty squirrelly stuff right now. Politics aside, the Bailouts seem to only be prolonging the inevitable. Surely there are some of you CU folks with greater insight into this mess. How bad is it going to get? For real. And I’m not asking you to tell just me.
CUs seem to be the only financial institutions left that have any trust. How are you using that trust to prepare people for what may come: very hard times? I hear people on TV saying Obama & Co. can turn it around. Super. I really hope they can. I’m rooting for them so hard. But I hear other people burying 20-pound bags of rice in their backyard, and these are NOT the usual crazies whose inane babbling is easy to write off, they are people whom I respect, sharp, sane, wise.
It seems like a great opportunity (responsibility?) for CUs to come out and say, “Here’s how you can act now to keep it from going bad.” Or “Candidly, it is going to get pretty hairy for a lot of people, so here are some practical ways you can prepare to weather it well.”
And I’m not talking about re-explaining “freer checking”, I’m talking about getting real with people about what they can do to prepare for what might be harder times than our country has ever seen. If CUs are truly dedicated to their communities this seems like a great time to commit to being about the “whole man”, to really being in this thing together.
People are looking straight answers. If you know something that will scare them – and I mean scare the living tootsie rolls out of them – will you tell them? Then, will you tell them how to do something about it? If you do, if you are on the level with people in ways no one else will be, then, when it does swing back around, they will never forget who kept their trust, who helped their families by saying some hard, scary things, then helped them process those things sanely. And they will remember it a lot longer than that free iPod.
Jeff has been talking about word-of-mouth in his last two posts (with more to come). But word-of-mouth doesn’t just happen when your members are happy with your services, it also happens when people are scared.
So, please, tell me what you know, then tell me how you are going to tell your members the same thing.
Posted by Brent Dixon on December 3rd, 2008
Earlier this week, Denise Wymore called me out. She said this:
A few months ago I asked a friend – a talented blogger, thinker, and doer – how he keeps a steady stream of inspired words coming while also getting stuff done and not going nuts. Among other things, he said this:
“If I don’t put something out there, I won’t exist.”
The best advice I’ve ever heard on blogging came from Merlin Mann. He said this:
“Find your obsession. Every day, explain it to one person you respect. Edit everything, skip shortcuts, and try not to be a dick. Get better.”
When we began this site, we said this:
Two heads are better than one, one thousand are better than two, one million even better, and on and on and on.
A collaborative effort, a union of resources, all for a greater good – sound familiar?
Credit Unions have been doing this stuff for a hundred years…Open Source CU represents a continuation of that group effort.
Taking this month off from blogging has been good for me. But I also thought more about this site and community over that month than I probably ever have. Those of you who know me know that blogging sometimes gives me heartburn. But at the same time, I love it and I love y’all.
Starting now, I’m going to post to Open Source CU once a month, the third week of every month. I’ll usually write about design and creative direction, because when all’s said and done it’s what I think about the most.
We started this site as a collaboration. And I’ve always been a better asker and facilitator than writer. So the rest of the posts, the majority of the posts I hope, will come from other people with other passions in the credit union movement. From you.
If you’d like to contribute, drop me a line at hi [at] itsjustbrent [dot] com.
Posted by Brent Dixon on October 23rd, 2008
Given the current economic climate, credit unions are receiving a lot of media love lately. Here are a few snapshots:
Business is booming for Ed Speed, which is a little odd, considering he lends money for a living. But that’s the story of credit unions nowadays, including the one in southeastern Texas that Speed runs, where real estate lending has doubled over the past five weeks, and auto loans are on track to grow by 40% to 60% in October.
Members-only non-profit credit unions are having their turn in the sun as years of sticking to boring, old-fashioned banking practices — they typically hold the mortgages they make on their own books and only dabbled in subprime — put them in a position to grab market share while national banks, auto finance companies, credit card outfits and private student loan firms cut back on loans. “In good times, you’d say these guys are much too conservative,” says George Hofheimer, chief research officer of the credit-union-focused Filene Research Institute. “But in times like these, it’s just what the doctor ordered.”
With major instability in banking and unprecedented failures and buy-outs, it may feel like the only safe place to put your money is under your pillow. While even through buy-outs like Washington Mutual’s, your money remains FDIC-insured, this is a good time to consider an alternative to for-profit private banks—like credit unions.
Here’s the simple reality: Banks have shareholders who want to see a profit on their investment. So banks do everything in their power to get as much money from their customers as is legally possible while still remaining competitive with other banks. Here’s a case-in-point: Citizens Bank paid the Phillies $92 for the naming rights to their new stadium. Where did that money come from? Customer fees.
Most people just accept it. After all, what choice do they have?
I’ll tell you: Credit unions. The owners of credit unions are the members themselves. So there are no fat-cat shareholders to answer to. As a result, credit union profits are returned to members in the form of fewer fees and better interest rates.
Consider a credit union: OK, they’re about as sexy as an accountant in a bow tie [An aside from Brent: Ouch]. But they offer several benefits: They have non-profit status, so they can offer services at lower costs than many banks—from late fees to bounced check fees. That translates to lower interest rates on loans (including mortgages), and higher interest rates on savings accounts and CDs.
How can credit unions best react to and prepare themselves for the newfound attention / opportunity / responsibility? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Posted by Brent Dixon on September 15th, 2008
The NCUF activated CUAid.coop, an online giving center, today to collect donations for credit union people affected by Hurricane Ike.
The Texas Credit Union Foundation is asking credit unions to help by placing a link to CU Aid on their homepage. If you’d like to help, here’s a handy (unofficial) badge you can add to your site by copying and pasting the code below it:
<a href="http://www.cuaid.coop/" title="CU Aid: Donate to credit union people affected by Hurricane Ike"><img src="http://www.ihopeyouloveit.com/images/cuaid-ike-badge.gif" alt="CU Aid: Donate to credit union people affected by Hurricane Ike" /></a>
<a href="http://www.cuaid.coop/" title="CU Aid: Donate to credit union people affected by Hurricane Ike"><img src="http://www.ihopeyouloveit.com/images/cuaid-ike-badge-sm.gif" alt="CU Aid: Donate to credit union people affected by Hurricane Ike" /></a>
The secured site accepts credit card and wire transfer donations.
In 2006, the NCUF raised over $3 million for Katrina relief. Pretty incredible.
Posted by Brent Dixon on June 27th, 2008
Frugality and thrift allow us to emphasize those things that are most important in our lives. When we restrict our spending on the unimportant, we’re able to indulge ourselves on the things that matter most.
...from Get Rich Slowly’s ‘The Art of Frugal Living’
(via Aaron Martin)
Posted by Denise Wymore on June 18th, 2008
When Brent asked me to be a guest blogger, I initially was writing a post on my love of NPS. But in the past week have had the opportunity to spar with Ron Shevlin again on the subject, so you can go there for that.
Then I read Doug True’s guest post. What’s on his amazing mind. It got me thinking. I just celebrated my 28th year in the credit union movement. If you told me 28 years ago that I’d be a guest blogger on Open Source CU—huh? There are about four words in that sentence that didn’t exist 28 years ago.
So, what’s on my mind?
I’m in Oshkosh this morning. Watching the news.
I just heard my copy of USA Today drop in front of my door.
Open it.
Front Page: How Rising Home Values Placed your Finances at Risk.
Hmmmmmm…you mean all of the VISA Home Equity cards weren’t a good idea?
It goes on to say….”Banks urged owners to borrow more, based on ‘phantom equity’ that has vanished.”
Flooding Threatens Outdated Levees
I am seeing tons of evidence of last week’s flood in Oshkosh. Very sad.
Sports: Hmm. Celtics won. Probably not the best choice for the announcement:
“Celtics Reign, End Drought.”
Money section: Banks Raise Penalty Fees for Clients’ Overdrafts.
Too depressing.
Let’s see what my google alerts give me. Ahhhhh…...Grace.
What a beautiful word. Grace.
Rita Haynes, CEO of Faith Community United Credit Union appeared in the Dallas Morning News yesterday. “Give Credit Unions the Credit They Deserve ” was the title of the article.
They have created the “Grace Loan” – a small, short-term loan that requires the borrower save a portion of what they would have given to the payday lender in fees, thus teaching them good financial habits and helping build a credit history for their goals.
It got me thinking about the history of credit unions. Our purpose in society. Our cause.
Grace: Pay day lenders are charging interest rates that can reach 400 percent and cripple those who are least able to bear the consequences of debt.
History: The first credit union in North America, the Caisse populaire de Lévis in Quebec, Canada, began operations on Jan. 23rd, 1901 with a ten cent deposit. Founder Alphonse Desjardins, a reporter in the Canadian parliament, was moved to take up his mission in 1897 when he learned of a Montrealer who had been ordered by the court to pay nearly $5,000 in interest on a loan of $150 from a moneylender.
Grace: While payday lenders are geared to take advantage of the poor, credit unions – with investment pools of money formed by members themselves – are geared to help the working class or low-income families establish good credit.
We counsel folks to take loans that are appropriate for their circumstances and in this way protect their members from crushing debt and encourage a habit of savings.
History: Credit Unions were chartered to make loans for provident and productive purposes only.
Grace: We teach someone how to plan and save and become a good credit risk.
History: Credit unions were chartered to promote thrift.
Thank you Rita.
Denise is a rambunctious Culture Consultant. Her goal is to help credit unions question everything and to renew their faith and their commitment to the credit union brand. Read more from Denise on her blog Cult-ivation .
