According to the CUSO, this release includes a huge revamp of several frequently used screens, which leverage the larger screen size changes made during the 2008-2009 GOLD upgrades.  Some of the updated features include:

• Verify ID Button Indicator – The Verify My ID button now indicates whether the Photo ID checkbox is checked.  Regardless of the text and color, clicking this button will retrieve a photo ID if one is scanned.
• Tiered Services are Clearer and More Prominent – The Tiered Service scoring has been moved up on the page to the area previously occupied by the Verify My ID button.
• Graphical Representation of Gender Field – Credit union staff will now be able to instantly tell if this membership is an individual membership or an organizational account with the new graphical representations and associated colors.  The purple silhouette of a person’s head will appear for an individual membership (a girl for a female gender and a boy for a male gender); while three heads will indicate that the account is marked as an organizational membership.  If the field for the gender contains an O, meaning unknown, a question mark will appear in the middle of a red silhouette.
• Member Name Now in Larger Font – The name is now larger and easier to read, and the DBA label, if available, remains below the member name and is in the standard font to create an easy separation of the two pieces of information.
• Driver’s License Number Clearly Posted – The driver’s license is now posted in the left column just about the newly designed Verify My ID button and below the relocated mother’s maiden name.  This number is subject to Privacy controls so that part of the number may be masked.
• Quick Access to AFT, ACH and Savings Deposit Box Screens – New blue Go! buttons above the AFT, ACH and BOX indicators give you quick access to Inquiry versions of the Automated Funds Transfer/Check Funds Transfer screen, the ACH Distribution screen, and the Safety Deposit Box screen.
• Click for Procedures button – A new red Procedures button is now available in the upper left hand corner of the screen, which by selecting will take the user to the Procedures screen for the Membership Designation.

For more information on these changes, and other upgrades included in the 10.0 Release access, http://www.cuanswers.com/client_release_summaries.php.

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For example, to target young members, a “Youth Club” might be established that carries a low annual fee but waives normal activity fees and minimum balances. Marketing efforts targeted toward young people can easily be directed to all members of the club. Membership in the club saves money for the member and can encourage young people to establish a habit of saving and handling their financial business through the credit union.

Like the CU*BASE Tiered Service Levels feature, which automatically grants rewards based on member activity, the Marketing Club is designed to reward desirable behavior. However, Marketing Clubs are promoted differently because they require that a member join and possibly even pay dues. In exchange for dues, the members receive special benefits for belonging to the club including fee waivers, and special rate benefits.

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CU*Answers has issued a call for ideas regarding improvements the CUSO can make to its CU*BASE® Tiered Services programming, which allows users to score member relationships and apply tiered pricing, rewards programs and track member demographics and behavior. “Imagine if a basketball team did not keep stats as they tried to measure performance in response to coaching, game plan, and general execution,” said Randy Karnes, CU*Answers CEO, regarding the importance of Tiered Services.

Karnes said his technology firm is tweaking its Tiered Services application to keep in step with expanding credit union core competencies and evolving consumer behavior. Since Tiered Services tools are integrated into the CU*BASE core processing system, credit unions can use the tools without any expensive reward processing add-ons.

CU*Answers is inviting clients to bring their ideas to a focus group meeting scheduled for October 9 in Grand Rapids, where the evolution of the product will be hashed out in pure credit union form: democratically. All clients are invited to participate in the meeting and contribute their wish lists and ideas.

Likely focus group topics include:

• What additional things would you like to see scored?
• What about a separate scoring/rewards system for organizational accounts?
• What’s the next step for Lifetime Points?

“If this goes true to form like all our other focus group meetings, we’ll probably have 30 or more people from many different credit unions, from managers and marketers to member service leaders,” said Dawn Moore, vice president in charge of CU*Answers writing and product design.

Moore said CU*Answers’ method of using client feedback and collaboration to grow products organically is another example of the cooperative philosophy in action.

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