Image via CrunchBase Million banks and credit unions always desire young adults and the needy for the potential they offer as long-term customers, but it’s really hard for them to reach out to them from the traditional corner branch. As these customers are really difficult to find and hard to impress.
That’s why a unit of Brookfield’s Fiserv Inc. has come up with a computer application that it says will reach young people where many of them hang out — on the Internet social networking site Facebook. Again, thanks to Face book for making the two ends meet. But one of the biggest benefits is the free advertising to. When a Facebook user decides to join MyMoney, Facebook’s “news feed” feature announces it to friends of the customers — and friends of friends. That gives the user a chance to join online as well, including a link to help them find a participating credit union in their area. Kirsten Gardner, marketing manager for Fiserv Galaxy, stressed the importance of the “viral marketing” aspect that occurs when people sign up for it on the Facebook page. Viral marketing, in this instance, is the automatic spread of information about MyMoney from one Facebook user to another whenever someone adds it to their page.”If I go in and add MyMoney to my Facebook application, then all of my friends get a little notice that says I added it and they can click on it,” Gardner said. “That’s one of the ways they are made aware of it. Instead of the typical advertising, which that group really isn’t interested in, they are interested in what their friends are doing and what their peers are doing.” The program recently was cited as the best online innovation by the magazine The Banker at its annual retail banking technology awards. So far 37 credit unions are using MyMoney, and 1,200 Facebook users have signed up to use it.