Allowing Members to "Opt Out" and Select a Preferred Contact

Overview

It is now easy to honor member requests about what kinds of marketing materials they will receive from your credit union. With this release, members can opt out of receiving email and phone solicitations for two kinds of communications:

  • Marketing/solicitations from third-parties (such as CUNA loan insurance offerings).

  • Education and marketing communications from the credit union (rates, current month’s CD specials, new products/services, announcements, alerts).

While we were at it, we added a way for members to also indicate via It’s Me 247 their “preferred” method of contact, whether by email, fax, phone 1, phone 2, etc. (And of course we added options so that these preferences can also be recorded in CU*BASE by a teller, or other credit union employee.)

One key goal for this project was to give Xtension Call Center and Member Reach the information they need to know which members they should contact for the various campaigns they handle. But this will also allow credit unions to honor member requests to opt out of receiving things like marketing emails and third-party solicitations if they wish.

The idea with this project was to make it possible for a member to opt out, but not necessarily easy. That’s why the opt out screen in It’s Me 247 online banking will contain language to try and discourage members from opting out, especially for CU-initiated communications.

Flagging Members Who Want to Opt Out and Selecting the Preferred Contact

A new “My Contact Options” page on It’s Me 247, accessed under Preferences, allows a member to indicate preferred contact and opt-out selections.

CU staff will use Update Membership Information, or the Name/Address Update feature in Inquiry and Phone Operator, to make these selections for members in CU*BASE.

Your credit union could also use the newly expanded User-Defined Codes in tandem with these new exclusions to cover more detailed opt-out/in scenarios.

  • IMPORTANT: While the opt-out flags can be used to control whether members receive communications, the Preferred Contact Method is a courtesy, informational flag ONLY. No CU*BASE function will adjust according to this flag. It is intended as a way for the member to say, “if you have to contact me, I’d prefer you call my cell phone first.” The change happens in your procedures: when a CU employee goes to contact the member, the first thing they should check is the member’s preferred contact method.

Honoring Opt Out Flags In Marketing Efforts

Checkboxes to exclude members based on the two new opt-out options have been included in several places within CU*BASE, most notably the Member Connect messaging screen — the starting point for sending online banking and email messages, mailing labels, selective statement inserts and telemarketing Trackers. (Additional de-selectors have been also placed on the screen directly before sending the messages themselves, as a final reminder just before you send the communications.)

Additionally, these opt-out checkboxes have been added to the List Generator and Sales Tracker so that you can exclude members when using these tools. Opt-out choices have also been included when charging off a savings account or writing off a loan so that you do not send marketing communications to the holders of these accounts.

  • Were you previously using Mail Codes to mark members for opt-out preferences? Call Client Services and they will assist you in flooding these members with the appropriate new opt-out options.

Other Miscellaneous Guidelines

  • The new flags are independent of any use you might be making of the User-Defined Codes (formerly Mail Codes) described earlier. Therefore, both of these features could still be used to provide much more extensive opt-out combinations if desired. (CU*BASE will not be incorporating the User-Defined fields into any marketing, communications, reporting, or other features from this point on.)

  • These flags are independent from the Statement Mail Group codes that handle whether statements are printed or not.

  • These flags will be ignored by e-Statement and e-Notice processing (because the member specifically requested those communications).