According to Scott Collins, President of Xtend, Inc., a Grand Rapids, Michigan-based multi-owned cooperative CUSO, when it launched its Member Reach business unit in 2006, he was confident that credit unions would embrace the electronic channel as a critical component to their overall member communications strategy. The growth of both clients and volume has helped validate that assertion, and during 2010, Xtend reports an overall revenue increase of 37% for its Member Reach brand, delivering more than 3.5 million messages to members of 53 credit unions.
“During 2010, we witnessed the biggest demand yet for this service. Our Member Reach brand has experienced steady growth since it was launched, but we certainly saw a spike in the activity level this year,” remarks Collins. “Credit unions in the cuasterisk.com network (www.cuasterisk.com) were looking for a low-cost, yet widely accepted channel to communicate regulatory changes and market new services at an increased rate this year, and Member Reach was able to help accomplish both those objectives. Members have embraced hearing from their credit unions via Email and online banking message centers – those that use our service have virtually the same member opt-out percentage as those that send few if any electronic communications – and our price point is a fraction of the postage budget of even our smallest clients. Electronic communication is embraced and even preferred by some member demographics, so we look forward to continuing to carry the ball for our clients for many years to come.”
Fifty-three (53) credit unions engage Member Reach to deliver e-communication on their behalf, and more than two dozen others have utilized the service for custom projects. During the 2010 fiscal year, the CUSO reports an overall revenue increase of 37% for its Member Reach brand.