Matt Weidler, an ECCUemployee, was awarded a $10,000 check for having a brilliant idea — accessing ATMs using a cell phone. Matt was announced the winner of the CO-OP THINK prize on May 17 at the annual THINK Conference in Anaheim, CA.
Read more about Matt’s winning idea by going to the CO-OP THINK website and clicking on 2011 Winner.
What do you think of Matt’s idea?
Transitions are important, aren’t they? Some of you can remember making the transition from typewriters to personal computers. For me, this post constitutes an equally eventful shift. Yesterday I wasn’t a blogger. Today I am. Amazing. And to think that when I gave up my typewriter, “blog” wasn’t even a word.
The transition from summer to fall is always eventful too, especially for ministries. I trust your ministry team is increasingly energized as you pursue your mission in this new season. And just like the ministries we serve, we’ve been busy here at ECCU. With so much happening, now is a good time for an update on what we’re up to.
This blog is a good place to start. We launched it in July, and it’s already well on its way to achieving our goal of delivering financial management insights and information while giving readers the opportunity to join an online conversation about ministry, money, and more. Please take time to comment on posts that catch your attention and invite your friends to join the conversation.
We also rolled out a new e-newsletter, Managing Ministry Money, which delivers the “best of” blog posts and updates on financial services, events, and other resources. I hope you choose to subscribe.
ECCU members have been receiving preliminary information about another initiative that’s been getting a lot of our staff’s attention—enhanced online banking. This significant investment of credit union resources is focused on making ministry banking quicker, easier, and more secure for our members. We’ll be communicating more details in the coming months about the launch of this new system.
Those ECCU member ministries that utilize our remote deposit services are now enjoying quicker access to their funds and reduced risk of fraud thanks to a recent upgrade. They’re also experiencing increased speed and accuracy through automatic email confirmations and duplicate deposit identification.
You’ve read several recent posts about cash reserves because we’ve been talking with so many ministries about the importance of building reserves. These conversations have prompted us to develop financial tools and resources to help ministries better understand liquidity and cash reserves. We’ve even created a new account to help ministries build their reserves—the Cash Reserves Savings Account.
See what I mean about this being an active season for all of us? I can tell you that we’re enjoying all the opportunities to better understand ministries’ needs and equip them with the financial services and resources to meet them.
What’s even more fulfilling, though, is the way these interactions and conversations are building relationships. I think that’s the aspect of being involved in a financial cooperative that keeps all of us working so hard. We are definitely better together.
Having been a banker for more years than I like to admit, I have seen my share of changes in the financial world. There have been more in the past ten years than ever before. The reason? Technology.
Technology and ECCU’s ability to harness it has brought about some incredible efficiencies we never would have thought possible. Today, for example, you can make a deposit directly to your ministry’s ECCU account without leaving the comfort of your office—even if your office is in another state! With our Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) service, all you need to do is run donor checks through a scanner, connect to a secure site on the Internet, and make your deposit. Not only does this improve your ministry’s cash flow, it also eliminates your need to go to the bank, photocopy checks, and fill out detailed deposit slips. RDC can even integrate the information with your donor system. All this means less time spent on banking and more on ministry.
Technology does more than help ministries like yours run more smoothly and efficiently. It can also enable them to grow in ways they may not have before. Another example…
One of our radio ministry members had no trouble attracting listeners to their website. They did, however, have trouble enlisting new donors. The problem was the process prospective donors had to go through to set up online giving. Once they got to the ministry’s website, they had to download, print, fill out, and mail back a form. ECCU’s web ACH service changed that process. Now people can sign up online, and the ministry can debit their account through a web ACH transaction to receive their contributions without waiting. The first month the ministry used this technology, they added 14 new donors. Pretty great compared to their previous growth rate of one new donor per month.
It’s technological advances like web ACH and Remote Deposit Capture that allow ECCU to help ministries focus and grow in ways we never could have imagined. For us, technology is constantly improving the way we partner with our members.
Are you aware of other technology that could help us serve you more effectively?
