 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|||||||
Northwest FCU sees success with revised collection strategy Email program from DigitalMailer generates time- and cost-saving results |
||
Herndon, VA, Sept. 24, 2009 – According to Northwest Federal Credit Union, the days of making member calls to collect late loan payments are growing few and far between. And, it says, the same holds true for the dollars spent and staff time used to mail delinquent loan notices to its members. To replace the uncomfortable task of phoning members and the expense of mailing late notices, NWFCU has partnered with DigitalMailer's certified email engine to deliver delinquent messages to its members' inboxes. And the Credit Union is doing so just five days after missed payments, instead of the traditional 15 days. Results of these efforts? Of NWFCU's 673 five-day emails sent out the week of August 20, 423 followed up with payments – a 63 percent response rate. "Our Credit Union has working email addresses for more than 55 percent of our membership, so we knew finding an efficient way to use email in our collection efforts could be cost-effective and beneficial," said Cindy Cherry, Collections Manager at NWFCU. "We wanted a method to help improve collections that didn't create a lot of extra work for staff and could easily pull member data from our systems. DigitalMailer helped us find the answer." Using the Automatic Relationship Builder, DigitalMailer's email delivery program that targets members with customized email messages based on customer profiles, NWFCU sends five-day late email notices to members on its delinquent list. The program synchronizes NWFCU's existing reports with DigitalMailer's email engine, automatically filling in the variable fields with names, amounts due and loan types. The system also collects delivery and open-rate data, and imports it into NWFCU's collection software. This confirms not only that delinquency notices are received, but that they are viewed by the members. "The email system is easy to use and provides valuable tracking information," said Cherry. "And with 63 percent paid...I think that's pretty good. It's definitely improved the success of our collection efforts." The Federal Reserve's second-quarter 2009 statistical release shows charge-off and delinquency rates at commercial institutions continued to increase: residential real estate loans grew to 8.84 percent, credit cards to 6.70 percent, and other consumer loans to 3.73 percent. This follows similar trends among consumer auto loans noted in an earlier report released in April by the American Bankers Association. As more credit unions face growing member delinquencies, more are looking for new strategies in the collections area, says Ron Daly, DigitalMailer President/CEO. "There's no doubt today's economy is challenging credit unions as they collect on loan payments," said Daly. "But by using resources they already have at hand – their members' email addresses – and pairing them with a certified email delivery engine, credit unions are finding convenient, cost-efficient methods to help improve their collections, which ultimately improve their bottom lines." For more information on NWFCU's email collections process and its results, please contact Lisa Mallow at (866) 714-7041 or lisa@mjblankerspr.com. ### About Northwest Federal Credit Union About DigitalMailer |
||
 |
||
|
