SECU Rewards Card... Too Little, Too Late, Too "New/New".

  "Hubris is one of the great renewable resources."

😎 If your goal is to waste time and squander member resources,  introducing an SECU rewards card is a pretty safe bet!

Why not just offer members flip phone specials, cable TV subscription deals, fax machine discounts, and Ukrainian travel points? 

✅ The nagging unanswered questions about an SECU Rewards card remain:

1) What will the SECU Rewards card offer?  We've heard "no annual fee, grace period and lower interest rate" !!! Got all those already with the current SECU credit card, nothing new there.

2) The value to the members of the SECU rewards card must be solely in the rewards - points, travel, cashback, right? Because it certainly isn't hard to find many other card programs with no annual fee and a grace period [link]. And low rates are also available depending on the specific card [link].

3) Not too hard to guess that at best an SECU Rewards card will not exceed the rewards of other cards and will be viewed as inferior by many SECU members, who will easily find a "better deal". Further tarnish on a stellar reputation?

4) Why is it taking so long to introduce a rewards card? SECU has been offering and servicing credit cards for several decades [servicing  over 342,000 member cards as we speak!]. What's the "hold up"?

5) If the "new/new" believe rewards are such a good deal, why not just add them to the 342,000 existing, highly loyal SECU credit card holders?  Why treat them as second class folks? Look after your current members first!

... another "Blockbuster" idea from the "new/new"?

 

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.