Financial Institutions Reach Out To Growing Market Niche: Kids
Leominster Credit Union (LCU) recently rolled out a new program aimed in part at exposing the financial institution’s brand to potential new customers. Very young new customers.
On LCU’s website is MoneyIsland, an interactive video for youngsters 8 to 14 to learn the basics of finance. Participants go on virtual trips around the world to spots like the Eiffel Tower and Atlantis — all on a budget, of course — and learn about financial responsibility.
“An educated customer is the best customer,” said Ingrid Adade, who was hired as LCU’s first financial literacy officer last year.
Finding new customers can be a key growth strategy for any business. And for local credit unions, appealing to young customers - even as early as elementary school-age children– can have dual benefits. Credit unions say the main goal of programs like MoneyIsland is financial literacy. But it also exposes children, parents and families to the credit union in a positive way.
“Brand building is certainly a part of it,” Adade said. “More people are beginning to know who we are because we’re out in the community in full force.”
ABCs Of Money
LCU is not the only financial institution attempting to appeal to youngsters.
Citizens Bank, for example, recently awarded a $10,000 grant to the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts to provide training for financial goal-setting for children in Grades 2 through 5 in Worcester.
Also, Digital Federal Credit Union of Marlborough has a number of programs aimed at kids, including the Barnyard Cents initiative for children under 13. By signing up, kids get a starter kit that includes a money tracking booklet, a calculator, quarterly statements and a newsletter, all aimed at elementary-aged depositors.
“Basic money skills are something that will benefit future generations,” said DCU spokesperson John LaHair. “If you start instilling financial values at a young age, the long-term effects will be that much better.”
Credit unions have a unique connection to many programs targeted at youngsters, said Dan Egan, president of the Massachusetts Credit Union League in Marlborough, a statewide advocacy group for credit unions.
An Original Mission
One of the original goals of the first credit unions was to provide financial counseling and help people make the right decisions about their financial futures, Egan noted.
Today, many credit unions have ties to specific groups within a community, such as employees of a municipality, or even departments within a city, such as a police force. Those specific ties to the community make it more likely the institutions will open a branch in a local high school or other public community setting, Egan suggested. LCU, for example, has two branches at Clinton High School and Wachusett Regional High School in Holden.
The credit unions in the schools not only allow students, teachers and staff convenient banking options, but they provide jobs for teens, which can translate into summer internships and potential post-graduate careers, Egan pointed out.
Plus, it doesn’t hurt to have a big sign with the LCU logo on it for hundreds of potential new and young customers to walk by everyday of the school year.
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