In Brief, Aug. 30

MCUL & Affiliates 2019 Lending School
CU lending professionals may now register for the MCUL & Affiliates 2019 Lending School taking place at The James B. Henry Center for Executive Management in East Lansing. Don Arkell, a consultant with CULendingAdvice will be the facilitator of the event which includes frontline topics on Oct. 22 and management topics  Oct. 23. Registration is $219 per person, per day.

LAFCU Marketing Earns National Gold Awards
LAFCU’s marketing campaign introducing the credit union’s new “vertical” credit cards won two gold awards in the 2019 MAC Awards. The national competition recognizes successful marketing efforts by credit unions.

LAFCU’s winning entries are:

• “Going Vertical” multimedia marketing campaign, which includes TV, billboard and digital advertising as well as internal promotion to members.
• “Going Vertical” 30-second video for the campaign’s TV and online advertising.

“While it's important for the strength of LAFCU that our marketing efforts are effective and deliver measurable results, awards such as the MAC Awards speak to the quality work of our marketing team as viewed on a national level,” said Kelli Ellsworth Etchison, LAFCU chief marketing officer.

The campaign used the unique vertical design of the new credit cards to draw attention to the cards’ enhanced benefits that save money for users. The cards are also easier to use at checkout than traditional horizontally designed cards.

United Churches Credit Union Receives Charter Expansion Approval
United Churches Credit Union recently announced it has received approval of its charter expansion application by the State of Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS). The approval means United Churches can now serve anyone who “worships in Wayne or Monroe County, Michigan.” The field of membership expansion was approved effective July 8.

Established in 1957, United Churches' original field of membership was limited to a select group of participating churches in Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Taylor, and Allen Park. The organization’s charter expansion will help United Churches with its goal of growing its membership base beyond just that group of participating churches.

“This is great news,” United Churches Credit Union CEO Susan Smith stated. “We will now be able to serve people we believe United Churches has already been connected to for many years by offering and providing low cost loans and valuable services to a larger community. It also will help us remain a viable organization that can give back to an even greater number of worshippers by providing access to competitive financial products and financial education.”