Credit Unions are Using Data and Increasing Lines of Credit to Support Members during COVID-19
by Ann Farrell, Director of Portfolio Growth
With rising unemployment, stay-at-home orders, and volatile markets, one thing is clear – the global coronavirus pandemic has upended the financial situations of many consumers. Credit unions play an essential role in helping consumers in uncertain economic times like these. Being mission-driven and community-focused are attributes that remind us all that credit unions shine when things look dark.
There are proactive ways credit unions can help members during the current COVID-19 crisis. One way is to use your data to identify member needs. Credit union data is an asset, and this data can be used to assess members’ financial health, including how COVID-19 and the economic environment may be affecting them. Look at the data. See what it says about member needs. The resulting insights will show you how best to support members.
Here’s an example. With transactional data, credit unions can look across their membership and determine which members receive regular paychecks or income. Have those deposits recently ceased, been reduced, or become irregular in other ways? This one topic alone presents an opportunity to provide personalized outreach and support.
Another way is to adjust your programs or terms to meet a need. Perhaps your members would benefit from a skip-a-payment program or a promotional rate. What are some of the most assertive credit unions already doing? They’re proactively offering credit line increases to targeted groups of members based on trends identified in their data.
Offering a credit line increase is an effective way to support your members. By anticipating spending needs and managing credit limits proactively, you’ll demonstrate that your credit union is genuinely looking out for the interests of the member. And you’ll also realize some benefits, such as:
- Improving member satisfaction and loyalty
- Generating interchange income
- Growing credit card portfolio revenue
Using data and helping clients manage credit line increases are both areas in which Trellance is closely working with credit unions during this time. The benefits are even more significant for members now, helping to minimize stress by giving them more spending power. In a recent Trellance webinar titled “Boosting Credit Card Utilization To Help Members”, Kathleen Krauss, AVP of Card Services at Neighbors Credit Union, shared that her credit union decided to bring forward their annual credit line increase that is usually done in June to give members who are impacted financially by COVID-19 one less thing to worry about.
The credit line increase program is just one of several managed services Trellance provides. Our team of experts helps you use data to identify members who may benefit from a credit line increase then enables you to automate the approval process using the right parameters – fast, easy, effective.
Times have quickly changed. And credit unions are rising to the challenge, supporting members and, managing a new reality. The Trellance team is thrilled to be part of that support.
To learn more about credit line increase programs, download the Trellance Product Portfolio pdf.
