Gesa Credit Union
In June 2016, Gesa began offering our members an alternative to traditional Payday lending called FastCash. Once we had tested the product, we decided to launch a marketing campaign to promote it to our members.
Background on FastCash:
We launched FastCash because it was discovered that nearly 1,500 of our members were using Payday loans on a monthly basis. While traditional Payday lenders charge up to 390 – 500% APR on their loans, Gesa's FastCash loans doesn’t exceed a fixed APR of 73%.
A FastCash loan offers members a quick loan with repayment terms of 2 to 36 months; depending on the type of loan, and amount borrowed. Members can borrow any amount from $100 - $4,000 unsecured with no credit report needed by applying through Online and/or Mobile Banking. The application and approval process is quick and easy, usually taking less than one minute. Once approved, the funds are immediately deposited into the Member's checking account and available for use. This unique product gives us the opportunity to offer members a loan that is lower in price, yet faster and cheaper than Payday lenders.
We offer two separate products as follows:
FastCash
• Loan amounts from $100.00 - $700.00
• Low fees
• No application fee
• 6 months of Gesa membership required
FastCash Plus
• Loan Amounts from $701.00 - $4,000.00
• $25.00 loan application processing fee
• Repayment term is based on the amount borrowed, up to 36 months
• 12 months of Gesa membership required
While Payday loans sometimes have a negative reputation, they actually help support members financial stability and health by providing needed liquidity to balance daily financial needs, weather financial ups and downs and provide the opportunity to build long-term financial health. By managing these loans, members can improve their credit scores, build upward mobility and gain access to more traditional lending products.
FastCash Campaign Details:
The objective of the campaign was to build awareness of FastCash to our membership base on a very limited budget of $3,500 since this was not included in our 2016 Marketing Plan.
Our target audience for this campaign was our current members; more specifically our members who had Online and Mobile Banking, had a Gesa Checking Account who had utilized Courtesy Pay in the last 12 months, and members who had ACH payments going to a Payday lender or had utilized another alternative lending product.
Gesa’s members consist of individuals who live, work, worship, or attend school in the State of Washington.
FastCash Campaign
Category
Direct Mail Single > Direct Mail Single - $1 Billion and Greater
Winner Status
- Gold