BECU promises to actively serve people within their field of membership. But with only two brick and mortar branches, how are they fulfilling their commitment to over 300,000 members? In three words, the answer is: location, location, location.
BECU didn’t reinvent the wheel in order to serve their members; they instead opened Express Service Centers in stores where their members already visit every day. After partnering with food and drug retailers, they now have ten centers equipped with online banking services, a 24-hour ATM, and are staffed M-F 9am-6pm and Sat 9am-5pm. Grace Semingsen, SVP of Operations at BECU, cited the following four main reasons behind opening their cashless in-store centers:
- Cost of entry is less expensive
- Marketing dollars are lower
- Addresses member needs for greater convenience
- Drives routine transactions to automated channels
These centers are not only cost-effective for the credit union, but they also, provide ease and convenience to both current and potential members and educate members on the use of remote delivery channels, says Semingsen. Analysis of new memberships between December 2002 and July 2003 show that Express Service Center members have higher account penetration with over 4.6 accounts per member as compared to less than 4.2 accounts per member for brick and mortar full-service Finance Center members.
Below is a list of the top 20 credit unions over $20 million in assets by branches & ATMs.
