Comments on: Share Draft Accounts: Daft or Differentiated?

By: When the hand that feeds you starts feeding themselves | The Life and Times of a Credit Union Employee

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:37:52 +0000

[...] free checking accounts from one another? I’m sorry, is it a checking account, share draft account, or a spending account? Is your checking account free-er than your neighboring credit union? [...]

By: Editor

Editor — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:05:21 +0000

Hi Shawn. Thanks for your comment. I like the Geezo naming structure. It much more accurately reflects how consumers actually use- and relate to their money. People use their money to pay their bills first, buy some stuff second, and — if there’s any surplus leftover — they might be able to save a little.

By: Shawn Ward

Shawn Ward — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:30:05 +0000

Ha, great topic. I think you can extend the question to savings account as well. We have spent some time debating this at Geezeo. Instead of a default product mix of checking (share draft) and savings – we think there should be three default accounts:

1. Billpay account – this links to a cash flow calendar – showing you if you have enough money to pay your bills. The goal is to not paying your fixed bills with the next account:

2. Spending account – this is you day to day and discretionary spending account (debit card).

3. Goals account(s) – people are not motivated to save for the sake of saving – there should be multiple goals accounts (similar to christmas clubs in the past). For example a family could have a holiday goal, vacation goal, and home remodeling goal account. Each account should have a target dollar amount and end date – visually users should see a meter letting them know if they are on track compared to their goal plan.

The billpay and spending account would replace the checking account. Given the popularity of debit cards people are more removed from their money (just look at the amount of overdraft fees). New regulation will limit that cash cow – so it is critical that credit unions help their customers change their bad financial behavior and get a better grasp on their finances. More satisfied customers will lead to larger share of wallet.

Also, it should be easy for members to transfer money between these accounts to protect against overdrafts – alerts with easy mobile transfer capabilities will be key.

By: Editor

Editor — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:04:16 +0000

I really like “XYZ Financial Cooperative.” That solves a long-standing riddle that has plagued the credit union (errr, “financial cooperative”) industry.

From my logical perspective, I always struggled with the word “credit” in the names of credit unions. It seems to suggest a lending/credit focus, similar to the way a lot of Canadian credit unions unintentionally connote a focus on savings by calling themselves “XYZ Savings” (Coast Capital and Kootenay are two examples).

By: The Financial Brand » Is it time to rename ‘checking accounts?’

The Financial Brand » Is it time to rename ‘checking accounts?’ — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:51:24 +0000

[...] « Share draft accounts: Daft or differentiated? [...]

By: Denise Wymore

Denise Wymore — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:45:52 +0000

@Bill – or…….how about (insert your credit union name here) Financial Cooperative?

Like Teachers Financial Cooperative….or The Golden 1 Financial Co-op?

or Red Canoe Financial Co-op?

By: Denise Wymore

Denise Wymore — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:39:28 +0000

Okay – it’s official…….The Cooperative Bank’s $IRL (money you have in real life) account replaces the Credit Union Share Draft account. I like it.

By: Morriss Partee

Morriss Partee — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:07:58 +0000

@Bill- I hate to burst your bubble, but the term Cooperative Banks means something else. They were first chartered in the early 1800s, mostly in England and New England. They are cooperatives that operated under the FDIC: http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=cooperative+bank&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

There is also some excellent discussion on “cooperative banks” vs. “credit unions” on Trey’s blog here: http://treyreeme.com/2008/07/22/all-credit-unions-should/

By: Bill Myers

Bill Myers — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:27:37 +0000

Now that we’ve fixed that nomenclature, let’s mend “Credit Union” itself. I’m tired of a public that confuses Credit Union with “Credit Bureau” or “Labor Union.” My twenty year plan includes a re-christening to Cooperative Bank.

By: Malinda

Malinda — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:20:24 +0000

Brent & Elaine, thanks for having my back!

By: Denise wymore

Denise wymore — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:02:42 +0000

I think Brents on to something….we could differentiate ourselves again by eschewing the checking account moniker for a new brand that focuses on an old Filene philosophy: Promoting Thrift!

By: Stacy Dugan

Stacy Dugan — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:26:30 +0000

Nice, Brent. I like “Money-That-You-Actually-Have-In-Real-Life” but I’d shorten it to $IRL. It’s more text-able.

By: Stacy Dugan

Stacy Dugan — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:15:47 +0000

When talking about share draft accounts I (and many CU people I know) would reference that they are checking accounts at a credit union as the ‘short’ explanation. I think it would be better to have the short explanation be focused on how checking at a credit union is better, not on term definition. So I vote with majority in saying farewell to share draft accounts and hello to checking credit union style!

By: Brent Dixon

Brent Dixon — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:15:13 +0000

How about “Cash” or “Money-That-You-Actually-Have-In-Real-Life?”

By: CU Ninja

CU Ninja — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:14:07 +0000

I’ve always called it a checking account but have certainly heard the term “share draft” before. I do wish we had different terminology but tend to agree with Carla that it’s too late for share draft and we should focus on the future. Denise brings up an interesting point about not only different terms but also feature/benefit differentiation.

So what’s the next badass account that CUs can come up with?