Welcome to Shared Branching
Please welcome Community Powered FCU (formerly DPL FCU), Newark, DE to the shared branching network.
Community Powered FCU will be joining the network as an issuer and acquirer on January 24, 2011. They will add their four locations as outlets; watch Life is a Highway for when these locations go live and you can start sending your members to their offices.
Training Tip - Reduced Denied Transactions
Denied member verifications can lead to a bad member experience and increased costs for the credit union. In an effort to help reduce the denied member verifications we have a few training tips that we hope your credit union will find beneficial for both outlets and issuers.
Acquirer Training Tips:
- Select the correct credit union
Several credit unions have similar names. Selecting the proper credit union the first time increases the speed of the transaction, ensures excellent member service, and keeps fees down for issuing credit unions. Tellers may want to review with the member the city and state of their credit union at the beginning of the transaction process to confirm that they are selecting the correct credit union.
Only make three attempts before referring the member to contact their credit union. Members do need to provide their account number for shared branching in order to complete a transaction on their account.
- Enter proper account number
It is important to enter the account number the member provides to you and if that account number does not bring up the account after three attempts, the teller should refer the member to contact their credit union. Keeping in mind, some credit unions require a leading zero to be entered into the system.
Issuer Training Tips:
- Review denied transaction reports
CO-OP Shared Branching provides a daily report - the Issuer Transaction Detail (Rejected) Report, report 201. (If you do not get your reports from CO-OP Shared Branching, you will need to work with you processor on the equivalent report). We recommend that all credit unions monitor this report daily for members who were not able to be serviced at a shared branch. The report will show why the transactions were denied – invalid account number, issuer timeout, issuer down, no funds, etc. Contacting members who had a declined transaction is good member service and can help keep expenses down.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact Sandy Shenk at 800-932-0661 ext. 5267 or via e-mail at sandy.shenk@pcua.coop.
Children's Miracle Network Champions Celebration
In November, the Children’s Miracle Network annual Champions Celebration was held at Walt Disney resort in Orlando, Florida. This celebration honors 55 young champions from each state who are living testaments to the medical care being provided at Children’s Miracle Network hospitals every day across the country. These champions represent all of the children who are treated at these hospitals each year, and their stories serve as inspiration to others to always support to work of children’s hospitals.
Don’t forget that CO-OP Shared Branching standalones and outlets are able to accept donations for Children’s Miracle Network. CO-OP Shared Branching acquirers can find a participant called “Children’s Miracle Network” on their ISO tables. If acquirers select that institution and access account #23456, tellers will be able to make cash donation deposits only to the account. The funds will be distributed periodically to Credit Unions for Kids and Children’s Miracle Network.
CO-OP Shared Branching encourages outlets to take advantage of this simple way to raise money for Children’s Miracle Network. Some ideas to raise awareness and money for the charity include:
- As members make donations, give them the chance to get their name printed on a paper balloon to hang around the branch. If your credit union is interested in using the paper balloons, contact Sandy Shenk or Children’s Miracle Network with the quantity your credit union desires.
- Encourage tellers to mention the option to donate to each member that visits the branch.
- Print flyers to display at teller windows promoting the charity and ways to contribute.
CO-OP does understand different organizations have selected various charities to support, but they are pleased to be able to try and raise awareness and support for Children’s Miracle Network.
For more information on Children’s Miracle Network and the Champions Celebration, visit www.childrensmiraclenetwork.org.
THINK 11 Registration Now Open
Registration for THINK 11, being held in Anaheim, California at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa May 14-18, opened on November 1st. The THINK Conference is designed to put a fresh perspective on the challenges and opportunities faced by credit unions every day. It's a credit union event for credit union employees, but you won't find the standard conference format or see typical industry speakers. What you will find is innovative and inspirational ideas, leaving you with actionable, take-home insights to help your credit union succeed. And, if you're a credit union employee, registration is free.
Don’t miss it. Sign up today! Register for free today by visiting www.co-opthink.org. Also follow @COOPTHINK on Twitter for daily updates.
CO-OP Member Center Offers Outbound Call Services
CO-OP Member Center is announcing Outbound Call Services to help credit unions proactively capture lending opportunities, support marketing campaigns and provide a variety of other member services.
“Outbound calling is one important way credit unions can organically grow their lending business,” said Mark Chatfield, Chief Operating Officer, CO-OP Member Center. “In addition, today credit unions need to be the first with a value proposition to their members, because they are always in jeopardy of going to another lender.”
CO-OP Member Center offers two types of Outbound Call Services, including Outbound Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and Live Agent Calling. Outbound IVR includes services such as sales, new member orientation, payment reminders and phone surveys.
Live Agent Calling services include sales, auto loan recapture, pre-screened lending and Regulation E opt-in overdraft protection.
Amplify Federal Credit Union in Austin, Texas, has already used outbound calling from CO-OP Member Center to support its lending program. During two separate, two-week lending campaigns earlier this year, Amplify FCU achieved a triple-digit increase in lending results using CO-OP Member Center, and generated almost $1 million in loan originations.
“CO-OP Member Center is an economic staffing solution that lets us maximize our member outreach, and the outbound calling agents are a wonderful extension of the Amplify family,” said Cindy Twilla, Relationship Development Specialist, Amplify FCU.
CO-OP Member Center offers a wide range of lending and member services in addition to its new outbound call services. The telephone and Internet call center services nearly 300 credit unions, including 40 clients with assets exceeding $1 billion. In fact, in September, CO-OP Member Center processed its four-millionth loan application in its history.
Located in Fort Worth, CO-OP Member Center is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CO-OP Financial Services.
For more details, contact Sandy Shenk at 800-932-0661 ext. 5267 or e-mail at sandy.shenk@pcua.coop.
CO-OP My Deposit Expands for Use by Small Business Clients of Credit Unions
CO-OP Financial Services is enhancing CO-OP My Deposit to allow credit unions to reach out to small business owners who want to electronically submit checks to their credit unions for deposit.
“This expansion of our check imaging suite allows credit unions to target a lucrative and underserved segment in today’s economy – small business owners,” said Stan Hollen, President/CEO, CO-OP Financial Services. “The upgraded CO-OP My Deposit is a perfect fit for small- to medium-sized businesses, as well as schools, religious organizations and non-profit associations, that need to deposit checks on a regular basis.”
CO-OP My Deposit was introduced in March 2008 for credit union members to scan and deposit checks from their homes. The server-based application now eliminates the need for small business owners who have a higher volume of checks to travel to a branch. Set-up is very straightforward – only a certified high-speed scanner and a personal computer with Internet access are needed to take advantage of the convenience of CO-OP My Deposit.
In addition to its easy Web-based access, the advantages of CO-OP My Deposit to small businesses include reduced float time, online revisions and adjustments, e-mail receipts, online history viewing, and automatic data capture and balance before checks are submitted to the credit union.
Within the CO-OP E-Commerce Solutions business line, CO-OP My Deposit is part of the CO-OP Check Imaging Suite that features ATM Check Imaging and Fast Branch kiosks, as well as My Deposit Branch. CO-OP My Deposit works in conjunction with the Next Generation Network, an advanced platform enabling “plug and play” so credit unions can easily launch new products and services with minimal or no capital investment.
For more information, contact Sandy Shenk at 800-932-0661 ext. 5267 or e-mail at sandy.shenk@pcua.coop.
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For additional information, contact Sandy Shenk, PaCUSC State Coordinator, 800-932-0661, Ext. 5267.