ST. PAUL, MINN. -- Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union elected three board members at its Annual Meeting of the Membership. Margaret Egan, Connie Roehrich and Bill Tschida were elected to three-year terms and will serve the statewide credit union on its board and in various committee assignments. Roehrich and Tschida are incumbent board members and have served for nine and 15 years, respectively. Egan is new to the board.
During the meeting, credit union leaders also highlighted key 2016 accomplishments and detailed efforts now underway in 2017. The elections and year-in-review presentation were part of Affinity Plus’ eighty seventh annual membership meeting, held at its corporate headquarters in St. Paul. HIGHLIGHTSPresident/CEO Dave Larson explained that Affinity Plus took strong steps on several fronts in 2016, including: • opening two branches, in Baxter and Winona, Minn.;• launching Net Promoter Program, providing actionable, real-time member feedback;• experiencing a 23-percent increase in mobile banking usage, with 54,000 member using mobile. Larson emphasized Affinity Plus’ effort to identify and strengthen its three primary member-experience channels – community and on-campus branches; digital (including online banking and the credit union’s mobile app) and via phone. “We’re committed to our members and want them to have the best-possible experience in the channel that’s most convenient for them,” Larson said. “For some, that means regularly visiting our branches, or interacting digitally using mobile and online banking, or interacting with our call centers. For many, it means using a mix of all three.” Larson shared additional highlights with participants in a new impact-report infographic distributed at the meeting and set to be shared next week in Member Focus, the credit union’s quarterly newsletter distributed to nearly all 184,000 Affinity Plus members. WINCENTIVE SAVINGSLarson highlighted WINcentive Savings, the one-year-old, prize-linked savings program Affinity Plus and several other Minnesota credit unions offer. In 2015, Affinity Plus officials took a leadership position at the Minnesota Legislature to encourage legislation that eventually set the stage for the program’s 2016 launch. In 2016, 2,005 Affinity Plus members opened WINcentive Savings accounts, collectively saved $1.2 million and won $68,500 in cash prizes. Affinity Plus members who won cash prizes included Laura Helmbrecht, the 2016 grand-prize WINcentive winner, who attended Tuesday’s annual meeting. Larson noted that members opened 172 new WINcentive accounts in February 2017, the highest monthly total since early 2016 when the program was newly launched. Overall, so far in 2017 members have opened 436 prize-linked accounts. “Everything you want to know about WINcentive is in the name,” he said. “It provides an incentive to save and offers opportunities to win cash throughout the year. It helps support and encourage people to build good saving habits.” 2017 – ‘STRENGTH FOR THE FUTURE’Larson reiterated his commitment to members and employees, which “will always be at the top of our strategic agenda.” He shared several initiatives already underway in 2017, including new and improved branches; enhancements to online banking and the credit union’s mobile app; a focus on under-served markets; and more. “Affinity Plus is well-positioned for 2017 and beyond,” Larson said. “We’ve listened to our members, continue to build strong relationships with them and their communities, and base it all on our core values of caring, excellence and integrity.”