Our First Guest Author: Matt Davis, The Credit Union Warrior, talks Skip-A-Pay

Matt Davis (a.k.a, "The Credit Union Warrior") is the Public Relations Director at Members CU. He's also one of the biggest "CU-lebrities" around, thanks to his blog (http://creditunionwarrior.blogspot.com) and ambitious projects like the What Are You Saving For? website (http://www.whatareyousavingfor.com), which is helping to promote a save-minded member by offering prizes for folks who are doing a good job of hanging on to their money. 

Matt's dedication to the credit union ideal and fresh, fun writing style have made him a hit with other cu innovators and regular folks alike. Which is why we at the CU Soapbox were thrilled to have him as our first guest author. So, without further ado...

Members Credit Union’s David to ING’s Goliath: Holiday Skip-A-Pay

 

ING Direct just announced (click here for their press release) that they forgave $861,513 in January mortgage payments for 500 lucky homeowners. For the winners it is hard to imagine a nicer way to start your 2009. For the losers…well, you are just out of luck. 

Enter, $200 million Members Credit Union (Winston-Salem, NC). MCU offered a fee-free "Holiday Skip-a-Pay" to all members for any non-mortgage loan in November or December. The response? 4,089 loan agreements, accounting for $876,772 in member payment obligations, were amended. This accounted for 20.4% of the credit union’s outstanding loans, and an equal ratio of monthly loan payment cash flow. 

MCU launched the program on their CEO’s blog, jackbraswell.com for zero direct marketing cost. Comments such as "Thanks for caring about my family!!!" and "This is a blessing from God" will forever serve as public testimony on the blog. Whether members took MCU up on the offer or not, they will not forget the sentiment: when times are tough, your credit union is here to help. 

What is your credit union doing to outshine the big (in this case HUGE) banks? What can you do to make members’ lives during this trying economic time a little better? How are you making your program accessible for all members?