Newsroom

Oct. 26, 2011 – Monday night's ABC World News spot focusing on fee-weary bank customers' move to credit unions was the crowning touch to weeks of efforts on the part of NAFCU's communications team to promote the cooperatives as the answer for convenience and great service.

When Bank of America announced it plans to assess its customers $5 each month they use their debit cards for purchases, NAFCU sprang into action, reaching out to the media with press releases and interviews about why credit unions remain a better option for consumers who need great service at low or no cost.

Day by day, the story grew, with newspapers, trade publications, television and radio reports quickly picking up the story line that fee-weary consumers were rushing to credit unions.

Patty Briotta, NAFCU's public relations manager, was interviewed by San Francisco's KGO Radio Newstalk team about the bank-fee backlash.

News outlets such as USA Today, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, AOL's Daily Finance, Associated Press wire service, PBS Television's Nightly Business Report and others carried the story about how consumers were looking with fresh eyes at what credit unions have to offer.

Externally, the Occupy Wall Street movement made its own contribution, albeit an indirect one, providing a springboard for continuing talk about bank fees. Bank Transfer Day, a project urging people to move from banks to credit unions by Nov. 5, lent weight to the developing story about the credit union member experience and the fact that nearly everyone can choose to join one of the cooperatives.

Switching to a credit union is "a piece of cake," Karen Tyson, NAFCU's senior vice president of marketing and communications, emphasized in interviews leading up to Monday's ABC News report. Briotta, continuing to pitch the story to news outlets, said the Nov. 5 deadline is great, but "why wait?"

Both promoted NAFCU's credit union locator site, CULookup.com, and the resulting press has driven increasing traffic to the site and an uptick in inquiries from credit unions about how to get their services listed there.

More from:

• The Credit Union Advantage
• Patch.com
• Credit Union Times
• MyBankTracker.com
• The New Mexico Independent