ROI for Financial Wellness: Demonstrating Value for Credit Union Members

As modern consumers' financial needs evolve, credit unions are constantly exploring innovative tools to remain competitive and retain member loyalty. Customizable programs have proven to be a highly beneficial tool for enhancing financial wellness.

These aren't just gimmicks or feel-good add-ons – they represent real, tangible benefits for credit union members, which can be quantified in terms of Return on Investment (ROI).

This article dives into how credit unions using these user-centric tools are not only fostering deeper relationships with their members but also showcasing decisive value in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

We will also discuss how to measure and demonstrate the ROI of these financial wellness initiatives and tools you can use to support your members.

Why Customizable Benefits?

Customizable financial wellness benefits stand at the intersection of several key trends in modern banking. As digital technology reshapes our everyday lives, credit union members increasingly expect on-demand, personalized experiences extending to their financial interactions, as well.

PYMNTS’ research study found that 75% of individuals who began using digital banking services during the pandemic plan to continue utilizing these apps, platforms, and otherwise online resources.¹

Simultaneously, there is a growing awareness of the importance of holistic financial health – beyond just savings or loan rates – and here's where credit unions can shine.

Financial wellness programs provide tailored tools and resources that enable members to manage money more responsibly while achieving their individual goals – buying a home or saving for retirement.

These include various platforms like interactive budgeting tools, debt management utilities, educational webinars, or workshops, all customizable per member’s individual needs.

The beauty of these initiatives lies not only in their direct benefits – improved savings habits and reduced stress over finances – but also in the overall deepened relationship between the institution and its members.

When a credit union goes above and beyond to support its member's financial well-being proactively, it cultivates trust that translates into loyalty – a critical factor when competing against bigger banks with deeper pockets.

Quantifying ROI

Investing in customizable wellness initiatives involves careful cost considerations for any resource-conscious credit union. But how do you measure the return on an investment like this? Start by looking at participants' engagement metrics.

For example, if you're utilizing an online platform for financial education, a key indicator of success is the click-through rates on these resources. Similarly, look at the registration and completion rates for workshops or webinars, as high engagement levels are signs they're hitting home with your members.

Another vital metric to assess returns from these initiatives is behavioral changes in members. This can be measured by increased saving behaviors, decreased use of high-cost credit options, including payday loans or overdraft fees, and improved loan repayment habits.

These positive financial behaviors show individuals are taking control of their finances – and are engaging directly with your customizable benefits program.

To take it further and equate these behaviors to a monetary return on investment (ROI), Credit unions can create correlation analyses between the roll-out of programs and subsequent effects on metrics like customer retention rates and loan default reduction.

Even attributes like referrals can speak volumes about customer satisfaction levels, displaying indirect ROI.

Demonstrating Value

Identifying ROI does not end at calculating dollars saved or profit made. It's just as important to effectively communicate those benefits back to stakeholders, employees, board members, shareholders, etc.

This requires creating compelling narratives around your measurements using anecdotal feedback where possible – real stories showing how your member’s lives have tangibly improved due to wellness initiatives.

Don't forget about your employees, either. Credit union staff who better understand the financial wellness tools you offer will be more effective at promoting these offerings to members and may even see benefits in their finances.

To support this internal education, consider offering your financial wellness programs as an employee benefit.

Personalized Financial Wellness with Enrich

Implementing a customizable financial wellness program for your credit union members can be difficult without the right resources. In fact, benefit dissatisfaction has increased this year by 3% – a worrying decline that could be avoided.²

This is where platforms like Enrich Financial Wellness come into the picture. Enrich offers an all-inclusive, personalized, white-label financial education platform that allows credit unions to design a wellness program tailored to their members' needs.

Enrich's comprehensive suite of tools includes interactive courses covering everything from budgeting basics to advanced investment strategies, calculators for understanding personal finance concepts, articles and videos packed with actionable advice, interactive games for testing knowledge and skill development, and more.

Contact Enrich for a demo today and see how your credit union can transform member relationships, increase loyalty, and boost engagement through a customized financial wellness program.

1 - https://www.pymnts.com/digital-first-banking/2021/simmons-bank-pairing-digital-tools-with-human-touch-digital-first/

2 - https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/as-employee-wellness-declines-benefits-satisfaction-drops-to-decade-low.aspx