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PSCU says sweepstakes boosts bill pay usage by 17.8% for inactive bill payers

Friday, October 15, 2010 — 13:44:27 (EDT)

St. Petersburg, Fla., Oct. 11, 2010 -- The 129 financial institutions enrolled in PSCU Financial Services’ third annual Bill Pay Summer Sweepstakes achieved a 17.8% increase in usage of PayLynx™ online bill payment by inactive subscribers during the two-month promotion that ran from June 1 to July 31, 2010. There was an 8% increase in subscribers who made their first online bill payment, and a 6% increase in members who made three or more online payments a month. The sweepstakes offered a grand prize of $10,000, a $1,500 first prize travel certificate and two second place winners who each received an Amazon Kindle DX™ Wireless Reading Device and a $50 Amazon.com gift card.

The Bill Pay Summer Sweeps was conducted in conjunction with Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions and the power behind the PayLynx platform. This year, PSCU Financial Services and Fiserv provided participating credit unions with five marketing tactics including social media, email, web ads, a landing page and branch materials (posters, counter cards and statement inserts). “After tracking the success of these promotional tactics, credit unions that used social media to market this exciting promotion achieved the strongest results, with double digit growth in usage by inactive subscribers and first time users. Credit unions also boosted their results by using multiple promotional outlets,” said Leslie Reistrup, Director of eCommerce, PSCU Financial Services.

The cooperative’s bill payment sweepstakes was exceptionally effective, according to Fiserv, which each year conducts dozens of marketing campaigns with financial institutions. “PSCU relies on our research findings and practical experience to develop marketing campaigns that resonate with consumers, and we have found that incentives are an effective way to drive online bill payment adoption and continuing usage. The PSCU Financial Services’ annual sweepstakes is always an outstanding performer, and each consumer that participated will continue to benefit from the control and convenience online bill payment provides,” said Geoff Knapp, vice president, Online Banking and Consumer Insights, Fiserv.

PSCU Financial Services provided the prizes and there was no cost to participate in the promotion. Each subscriber who made three online bill payments during the promotional period was entered into the contest and received one entry for each payment made. All winners were randomly selected by a third-party sweepstakes administrator. Financial institutions that use the PayLynx platform were required to enroll in the sweepstakes in order for their members to be included.

The cooperative’s popular online bill payment product has more than 1 million online bill payment subscribers, who are supported by the CUSO’s award winning 24/7 Contact Center. PayLynx boasts a high percentage of active subscribers and strong rates of acceptance by billers. It also offers a specialized online bill payment solution for small businesses. PSCU Financial Services

Based in St. Petersburg, Florida, PSCU Financial Services is the nation's largest credit union service organization (CUSO) and serves more than 1,500 financial institutions nationwide. As a non-profit cooperative, the company is owned by more than 640 member credit unions representing over 14 million accounts and 1 million online bill payment subscribers. Its Contact Centers handle more than 17.4 million inquiries a year.

PSCU Financial Services offers 24/7 member support through four Contact Centers: its Eastern operations center in St. Petersburg, Fla.; a Western operations center based in Phoenix, Ariz.; and two call centers in Detroit, Mich. These Contact Centers perform member servicing and new member acquisition, cross-selling and automated lending solutions as well as support for debit/credit/prepaid cardholders and online bill payment subscribers.

Established in 1977, the company provides a broad array of cost-effective, high quality financial services that include credit, debit, ATM, prepaid, bill payment and contact center solutions. PSCU Financial Services uniquely offers its members a full range of processing options, any combination from full service to in-house pass through processing for credit, debit and ATM transactions. As a leader in the credit union movement, the company offers gateway access to national and regional networks. It also provides full function ATM terminal driving services. For more information, visit PSCU Financial Services’ website at www.pscufs.com .

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Source: Company press release.