Fusion Outreach, a New Division for Y12 Federal Credit Union

Credit Unions came onto the scene more than a century ago to give everyday people the financial services they needed at an affordable cost. These efforts offered alternative solutions to the traditional options banks had available at the time. When money became scarce, individuals stepped up and started pooling their resources so they could make loan products available to the friends and families who needed it most. 

With those simple and effective methods, the credit union movement was born. From the start, it was an institution created through innovation and community service. Now, more than one hundred years later, credit unions like Y-12 FCU have evolved to deliver our members more than just affordable rates and services, but a full-service financial institution experience that still remains faithful to the motto “people helping people”.  

With that motto in mind, Y-12 FCU strives to not only deliver innovative and affordable financial services, but also educate our members on financial topics so that we can continue to enrich our communities in this quickly changing world.   Additionally, we’ve transformed the process by combining financial education and existing community outreach efforts with a developing online media strategy to get this powerful information into the hands of our members in a convenient and practical way. The combination of all these efforts encouraged us to create a new division at Y-12 FCU: Fusion Outreach. This division’s mission is “to connect people to smart financial behaviors through unique financial literacy programs and outreach initiatives that will inspire change, transform individuals, and serve our communities”.  By creating unique financial education that’s more conversational, we hope to reach diverse demographics and be ready for an increasingly online community.

By taking these traditional financial education conversations and making them fun, engaging, and practical, we aim to identify effective ways in which we can build relationships and confidence with our next generation of members. By implementing creative social media participation and being readily available within online platforms where our younger demographics already spend time, we’re one step closer to putting key financial education in front of someone who might not get that information otherwise. 

There are thousands of individuals and companies building self-help networks and making resources available via platforms like Spotify, YouTube, Twitch, and Discord (and many more) and if we truly want to continue to partner with and help people in today’s digital culture, we must participate in these emerging online “neighborhoods.” As more and more of our members become users within these online communities, we want to be there to meet and support them, especially those in search of financial literacy. Moreover, as interest in FinTech and Cryptocurrency begins to grow among all age groups, it’s important to be ready to adapt our financial literacy and take those important topics into consideration when developing new material to help members learn what they need to know.

 As this messaging continues to go out to new audiences, we’re growing Y-12 FCU’s online education offerings for those who wish to learn more about financial literacy topics. Fusion Outreach’s online efforts will point people to Y-12 FCU’s growing Financial Wellness portal. This portal allows users of all ages to create custom playlists and take lessons at their own pace. Visitors can even take a short interactive quiz that will help the user discover financial education topics that need reinforcing, even if they aren’t quite sure where to start. Over the past year this program has been used by thousands of our members with an average activity participation time of 20-25 minutes. It’s hard to imagine gaining this amount of time and attention from an online user, but that’s exactly what we’re seeing in the data. The truth is, just like a hundred years ago when Credit Unions first emerged, people are motivated and engaged when their community gives them the resources and tools to succeed in life. That’s the Credit Union tradition and Y-12 FCU’s Fusion Outreach is excited to be a part of it!