Published by the Credit Union Association of New York

“SaveUp gives members an opportunity to see a snapshot
of all their finances in one place, not just their credit union
account,” she explains. “It helps members realize that even
small change, such as giving up that daily cup of coffee or
transferring high-rate debt to a lower rate, can make a big
impact…all while incenting them with ‘credits’ that can earn
them cash and prizes! It’s a win win!”
Park said GPO FCU’s mission is always to focus on its
members, and recently the credit union made a pledge to save
those members money. In 2011, members saved more than
$1 million on interest payments when they brought their
higher-rate loans to GPO FCU from other institutions. GPO
started tracking the savings in 2004 and is hoping to save
members $10 million in 10 years.
“The pilot version of the program is fairly basic,” she
says. “But we have decided to move forward with SaveUp
and will now be able to customize the program and deliver
product promotions and savings tips that are targeted to the
members’ needs in an effort to save them money.”
Since GPO FCU began promoting Save Up, more than
200 members have begun actively using it, linking nearly 500
accounts to the site. Park says the response from members
has been “very positive.”
GPO FCU rolled out
the SaveUp pilot
to members in April.
Differentiating credit unions
Matt Davis, director of innovation at Filene Research
Institute, says the organization has been active in incentivizing
savings accounts at credit unions for years. Some seven years
ago, Peter Tusano, current dean of the business school at
Oxford and a fellow at Filene, was intrigued by the success
of prize-linked savings accounts in South Africa and other
countries and wanted to bring the concept to the United
States. The problem? State lottery laws make it illegal to tie
savings accounts to prizes.
After finding a loophole in Michigan law, Filene worked
with the Michigan Credit Union League to start prize-linked
savings accounts which offered sweepstakes entries for every
More than 200
members have begun
actively using it.
$25 saved. The program quickly accumulated $8.7 million
in deposits, which Davis says proved such an idea could
work. Subsequently, six states have changed their laws to
make these types of accounts legal.
“Out of the blue, we heard that SaveUp had created a
program that is legal everywhere, yet still incentivizes
people to save money or pay down debt via an arms-length
procedure,” recalls Davis. “We liked the idea and wanted to
help credit unions get involved. We think it is an opportunity
for credit unions to help themselves and their members at the
same time.”
Davis says Filene is studying SaveUp from the consumer
side and the credit union side to determine the program’s
impact. The pilot is in the final stages, and Filene expects to
publish the results by the end of September.
“SaveUp is trying to get people to be excited about a
chore, because thinking about financial services is a chore,”
he explains. “If we can prove that SaveUp is successful, the
opportunities are endless. We can make every aspect of what
we do fun, which would really differentiate credit unions.
How cool would it be if credit unions were fun and banks
were not?”
Davis believes it’s too early to draw conclusions about
SaveUp, as Filene has not yet calculated all of the data, but
it appears the program is doing well.
“GPO FCU did a quick adoption and set up of SaveUp,”
notes Davis. “Adopting new technology can be a pain for credit
unions, but GPO’s experience was a good one. Our hat is off
to them because it takes some bravery to be part of a new
program, and we as an organization really appreciate it.” ■
Michael Bartlett is the West Coast Reporter for Credit Union Journal,
the nation’s leading credit union newsweekly, providing objective
credit union community news. He has been a Credit Union Journal
staff writer for more than 10 years. He can be contacted at
mbartlett@cujournal.com.
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