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Most CUs will provide wage increases for at least some of their employees, according to CUNA's just-released Small CU Staff Salary Survey.
St. L Post Dispatch on GAO report:Consumers may not benefit from altering Interchange system;would cut card competition. http://ow.ly/ETyX
CUNA's Hampel: Consumer holiday spending will be up slightly from last year. See Tues NN.
NCCUL and WOCCU met with Romanian CUs this week. The CUs are experiencing growth and want to increase their public relations efforts.
Kent Buckham has been named by NCUA as director of the newly created Office of Consumer Protection. The 7-person dept. launches in Jan.
PULSE study: Surcharge-free access on the rise
HOUSTON (8/19/08)--Surcharge-free ATM access is becoming more popular among debit card issuers, according to the PULSE 2008 Debit Issuer Study.
Sixty-two financial institutions, including credit unions, participated in the study. The institutions issue a combined 74 million debit cards, or 28% of all U.S. debit cards.
About 56% of survey respondents said they participate in a surcharge-free ATM network. Also, 84% of credit union respondents offer surcharge-free service to their members for certain "off-us" transactions, or transactions conducted at ATMs owned by other organizations.
The study also indicated:
- ATM transaction activity is increasingly "on-us," which means that cardholders are using issuers' ATMs, limiting surcharges;
- Active debit cardholders conduct 3.4 transactions per month; and
- Heavy ATM users are also heavy debit card users, implying that cardholders do not use the "cash back" option often.
About 51% of respondents said they offer rewards programs, compared with 37% in 2006. Of those, 42% offer debit rewards programs, compared with 16% in 2006. Points-based rewards are the most common program type.
Prepaid cards are gaining popularity, the survey said. About 61% of respondents said they offer the cards, with 16% looking to offer the cards in the future.
The survey also addressed growth challenges, such as:
- Contactless cards--10% of respondents offer the cards, but only 24% of their cardholders use the technology. Key barriers to contactless adoption include merchant acceptance, unfavorable cost/benefit ratios and low demand;
- Mobile banking--15% of respondents support mobile banking, while 28% said they will offer it soon; and
- Mobile payments--56% of issuers said they are exploring the possibility of implementing this feature.
PULSE, an ATM/debit network, serves more than 4,500 financial institutions, including credit unions, nationwide.
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