SAFE Credit Union, through a partnership with NCR Digital Banking, is using geofencing technology as a trigger for push alerts to its customers. The credit union uses the tool to get feedback from customers as they leave the branch and to inform customers of potential rewards when they attend certain events or perform certain tasks. 

“For us, it’s about getting relevant messaging to members at the right place at the right time,” said Danielle Juarez, assistant vice president of digital strategy and innovation at SAFE Credit Union, in an interview with Bank Innovation. Before location-based alerts, which it started using with its members in June 2018, SAFE relied on email, direct mail and social media to communicate with its customers.

The Sacramento-based credit union is using the technology to increase engagement among its members. The alerts take the form of push messages, which are sent to customers who have enabled location services and push notifications on their phones. SAFE, which targets customers to encourage more transactions eligible for its bonus purchase rewards program, said the alerts increased the program’s use by 30% over a four-week period. It also targets members looking for cars at a dealership about SAFE’s indirect lending mechanism.

SAFE, which has 220,000 members and $2.8 billion in assets, was an early adopter of NCR’s geofencing-based alerts tool. Of its 150,000 active online banking customers, 70% are active on the mobile app.

While marketing is an important focus for SAFE’s geofencing tech efforts, it also serves as a means by which to notify members in specific geographies of service outages. For example, when SAFE was experiencing debit card outages on January 7, it sent targeted alerts to customers. As a result of the outage alerts, abandoned calls decreased 88% (200 calls) within minutes of the alert.

Other banks and credit unions also have used geofencing to reach customers. For example, Alliant Credit Union, which has long embraced digital solutions, has used geofencing for more than two years. In 2016, Ally Bank used geofencing for a marketing campaign to to warn customers when they they were near a store where they typically splurge.

SAFE first tested the geofencing tool on employees for about four months. For example, the app would alert employees in the corporate office to go to Juarez’s desk to receive company swag. When that worked, the credit union started targeting members near branches that were holding customer appreciation days, she noted.

Doug Brown, senior vice president and general manager of digital banking at NCR, believes institutions need to strike a balance between pushing helpful alerts and annoying customers with too many messages. “Sometimes it’s more art than science,” he said. “Let’s be mindful of cadence so we don’t spam you into oblivion.”