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For Immediate Release
Contact:
Jan Dailey, SVP, Marketing Manager
972-391-6191, jan.dailey@tnbcard.com
Kristine Tanzillo, Dux Public Relations
972-889-9577, kristine@duxpr.com
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Appealing Rates, Life of Balance Option Drive Successful
Balance Transfer Promotion for TNB Card Services Credit Unions
Dallas – September 10, 2007 –Nearly irresistible interest rates, good for the life of the
transferred balance, helped power TNB Card Services client credit unions to a highly successful
balance transfer promotion, with impressive response rates and sizable movement of balances
onto their credit union credit cards.
The recent promotion, in which 33 credit unions participated, reached out to qualified
cardholding members, and yielded $5.3 million in transferred balances. That is a 35 percent
increase over the total amount of balances transferred in a similar promotion in 2006. The
average amount transferred per cardholder across all the participating credit unions was more
than $4,300.
The TNB-managed promotion gave credit unions a choice of seven different annual percentage
rates, from 0 to 5.9 percent, with the option to extend three of those rates – 1.9, 3.9, and 5.9
percent – over the life of the transferred balance. It was the life of balance option that had great
appeal for cardholders, driving some of the highest response rates in the promotion.
Two of the credit unions that were top performers in the promotion were First Financial Federal
Credit Union of Wall, New Jersey, and San Antonio City Employees Federal Credit Union of
San Antonio, Texas.
For First Financial FCU, it was the first balance transfer promotion ever, since its former
processor didn’t offer them, and its first promotion with TNB since moving its card processing to
TNB in 2006. The credit union was thrilled with the positive response.
"It was fantastic," said Jane Wittman-Roll, vice president of marketing for First Financial FCU.
"We didn’t have any historical data to measure against, so we wanted to at least hit the industry
average. We were hoping for a 1 percent to 1.5 percent response, and we far exceeded that."
The credit union generated a response rate of 4.12 percent, with the average cardholder
transferring $4,807. First Financial FCU offered a 5.9 percent life of balance rate, and saw a total
transfer of more than $475,000.
"We attribute our success to the life of balance rate plus the fact we have been aggressively
rebranding our credit union in the last year," Wittman-Roll said. "We think our members are
really starting to take notice of our products and services."
First Financial FCU, a community credit union, serves Monmouth and Ocean counties in New
Jersey through six branches. The 71-year-old institution changed its name from Mon-Oc FCU to
First Financial in mid-2006, at the same time it moved its processing to TNB. The 32,000-
member credit union has assets of $180 million.
San Antonio City Employees FCU generated an average response rate of 6.51 percent, with an
average balance transfer of $5,985, for a total of more than $1.5 million transferred. It offered
two rate choices – 3.9 percent life of balance and 5.9 percent life of balance. The response rate to
the 3.9 percent offer was 8.97 percent, with an average transfer of $7,039. Response to the 5.9
percent offer was 4.03 percent, with an average transfer of $3,619.
"This promotion definitely exceeded our expectations," said Tim F. Haegelin, president and
CEO for San Antonio City Employees FCU. "The low rate incentives were a plus, and it was a
timely promotion, since interest rates were starting to go up."
San Antonio City Employees FCU, a longtime TNB processing client, serves anyone who lives,
works, worships, or goes to school in Bexar County, Texas. It has 43,878 members and assets of
$307 million.
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About TNB Card Services
TNB Card Services, owned and directed by credit unions since 1976, provides electronic payments
processing, as well as an agent issuing solution for credit unions nationwide. Serving more than 500
financial institutions and managing more than 1.8 million cards, Dallas-based TNB enables credit unions
to enhance member loyalty through credit union-branded card products. For more information about
TNB, go to www.tnbcard.com or call Dusty Bowers at 1-800-422-0733 ext. 6555. |