Addison Avenue CU connects with ALL members at recent Tweetup

November 8, 9:56 AMSF Personal Finance ExaminerBarbara Bryn Klare

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Addison Avenue Credit Union
credit: Addison Avenue Credit Union

Tweetup and Meetup
Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union, a $2.4 billion credit union based in Palo Alto, recently hosted a TweetUp for members - for which they are getting some very good press, as they work to reach out to both online and offline customers. The TweetUp, held at the local Philz Coffee shop, was an in-person get together for Twitter followers to discuss topics ranging from the economy to the credit union's new campaign. Local members of the Palo Alto community just "passing by" were also encouraged to join the event.

Getting Down to Business, Online
Addison Avenue hosts a slew of social media tools to connect with its members, including Twitter, online groups, YouTube, their Cafe blog, and Facebook. Addison senior vice president of eCommerce Stu Fisher estimates that only 30 percent of members ever visit a branch. “We tweet, blog, reach out through our online community Groups – whatever it takes to keep in touch with them." As you might expect, since Addison Avenue was originally started to serve employees from Hewlett-Packard, it has a more technology savvy member base than the average credit union, but the trend toward online banking is one that looks to continue nonetheless, and most banks/credit unions are chasing after this demographic, and this one only, as they rush to lay off tellers and close doors on expensive brick-and-mortar operations.

Online Banking - Whom Are We Talking About?
Speaking of demographics, the Pew Report "Generations Online in 2009," illustrates an interesting one in online banking use. According to the PEW report published in January of 2009, the largest generational group to bank online is not the Generation Yers (ages 18-32), but the Generation Xers (ages 33-44), a target group with a good amount of cash to invest or spend. Most businesses that serve the public are (or should be) jumping on the social media bandwagon, dissecting the latest research on who Tweets and who goes online and such, but it behooves a credit union or bank to reach out to all of the community, online or not.

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