This year's top stories in credit unions you might have missed
Posted by Trey Reeme on December 13th, 2006
Did you know:
- A financial institution’s blog became their main website during a time of crisis?
The world’s firstING Direct’s online-only checking account is being beta-tested right now?- A P2P lender wants to work with credit unions?
- A social network is helping people manage their finances?
- A major bank is focusing on the social web in big ways?
I’d dub these the top five here on OSCU – developments that we may well look back on in 2010 and say, “Whoa. That changed the game.”
What other big story (one that wasn’t “mainstream”) am I missing?
I’m most interested in topics covered on other blogs, and don’t be afraid of “shameless self promotion” – if you wrote it, all the better.
I was a customer of Wingspan bank in 2000 which was online-only.
Jesse, Good point – ING Direct is claiming Electric Orange to be “America’s first paperless checking account” – so I was doubly wrong: it’s incorrectly self-proclaimed by ING, and I misspoke by saying “world’s” instead of “America’s.”
Thanks for the link to the Wingspan article – sounds way ahead of its time, now, and strikingly similar to Electric Orange in this Quicken article from way back then. I’m amending the post!
I may be getting this wrong, so correct away.
This seems to me a big story though it wasn’t reported this way:
“Banker wins Noble Peace Prize and a credit union leader doesn’t.”
Based on the history of the CU movement I would have thought that the opposite would have been more likely.
Of course I am referring to Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank he created.
Great list Trey …
Don’t forget Canadian Credit Union – VanCity – quietly they are moving the social lever more than any Bank/ Credit Union in my view. Vancity are defining community spirit online, and making the most of the natural advantage Credit Unions share – localisation.
Mike and Colin,
Great adds to the list!
A clarification on Wingspan Bank. I wrote an extensive analysis of their product offering in July 1999, and I signed up for an account. Wingspan DID include paper checks with its account and they were free of transaction charges (other than check printing charges). Online bill pay was also free.
Also, I agree with four of your five top stories; but I don’t think the ING Direct checking account is revolutionary. A good line extension for ING Direct? Yes. Good marketing/PR by ING? Yes. But not anything that changes the industry.
The “send paper check” function is just a better way of describing regular online bill payment (to non-electronic merchants), a feature most credit unions and banks have had for 7 or 8 years.
The fact that they don’t allow you to physically write a check yourself is hardly a benefit. What would be better is to allow paper checks, but charge a transaction fee that discourages their use.
In my opinion, the bigger story is USAA offering remote check deposits using regular in-home scanner (see Dec. 6 press release).
Jim,
That’s a great suggestion for ING Direct to provide a paper checkbook to users who couldn’t get around the loss of the checkbook and to charge a transaction fee.
It’s not a deal-breaker at all for me, but from many discussions I’ve had and read about the account, I can see that a lot of folks just wouldn’t know what to do without the trusty old-fashioned checkbook.