The Long Promised SECU Rewards Card... Next "New/New" Innovation?

  ... "most asked for" "new/new" service!

😎 Got chastised a bit about not following through on this issue:  "Anonymous March 2, 2025 at 1:08 PM Guess you decided that your anti rewards card posts weren’t as effective so you had to move on."

If case you missed the post on S&H Green stamps [link], "shopping rewards" have been around forever. Hope we can at least all agree that a "rewards credit card" is neither a new, nor original idea - this is definitely not "unicorn" country!. But it appears to be "the next big idea" at SECU!

✅ Is the one thing members most need from SECU right now really another credit card - rewards or otherwise [see post-link]? If on average every American already has 2.3  cards, what "value-added" will the "new/new" SECU REWARDS card bring to the membership? At December, 2024, SECU members carried 342,000 SECU credit cards with balances of $1.21 billion, compared with 317,000 at December, 2021 with balances of $880 million - a growth of @50% in balances is not too shabby a record, is it?

😎 To get started, let me ask you to think about a couple of questions. But first, lets talk about that "most often requested service" statement put forth by the "new/new". Haven't been able to find any record of an actual survey or polling of SECU members on this issue. Was afraid the claim was based on one of those infamous "raise your hands" inquiries  frequently put forth by the "new/new" as authentic and statistically reliable. One member did email me an alleged copy of the following member survey:  

                      ✼✼✼✼  2024 SECU Member Services Survey ✼✼✼✼ 

Would you like SECU to... (check Y/N).

1) Offer A Rewards Card? [Y/N], 2) Eliminate Loan Review Committees? [Y/N], 3) Prohibit you from speaking at the annual meeting? [Y/N], 4) Charge you a higher loan rate if your credit score was crippled by that nasty divorce [Y/N], 5) Enable you to wait longer on hold? [Y/N],  6) Lower savings rates? [Y/N],  7) Stop focusing on you and let anybody join? [Y/N], 8) Hold more Fireside Chats? [Y/N].  

(Note: Should acknowledge, have been unable to independently validate the authenticity of this email.) 

✅ But lets get on with the two questions you need to consider:

1) Is a rewards credit card truly the #1 issue the SECU Board needs to address now? If so, why? If not, what should be #1?

2) Why doesn't SECU offer a rewards credit card? After all it is "industry standard"! 

... probably has something to do with that "1983 technology" which continues to keep SECU up and running.

Why Credit Unions Are Losing Political And Public Credibility...

  ... speaketh with tongue forked?

✅ One of the original, foundation principles of all credit unions was the concept of a limited-membership, financial cooperative - not serving the general public. The limitation was often phrased as "a group sharing a common bond". The "common bond" was most often focused on an employer, church, union or social group - with spouse and family included.

😎 The definition of "limited membership" has changed significantly over recent years; and has been one of the chief concerns over the future direction of SECU. In 2021, the SECU Board appeared to be going off half-cocked with aspirations of building a regional or national credit union empire at SECU - with member funds, without member support.

Stumbled across an excellent example of how "limited membership" has been effectively eliminated at many credit unions. The credit union is called Unify [link] which started out in 1958 as the credit union for Western Airlines employees. As you'll note from the "Do Good, Get Good" membership category, might just as easily call Unify the "Friends of Hobbs Credit Union"...  

 

 

 

✅ Unify is no longer the exception among credit unions in terms of open membership eligibility. The question for SECU members: " Is this the model you hope your credit union will become?" Should you have a voice in that discussion, in that decision? 

😎 You don't currently. 

. .. is Calvin [& Hobbs] eligible as a family member?