Kingston, Jamaica: September 28, 2009- After being one of the first credit unions to utilise social networking sites, blogs, text messaging and video sharing websites to communicate with both existing and potential customers, Churches Cooperative Credit Union (CCCU) is raising the bar on its customer service once again with the launch of “I Transact”, its internet banking portal which gives clients the ease and convenience of doing financial transactions online.
CCCU’s online banking portal can be accessed from the company’s website www.churchescreditunion.com. Customers can use the facility to transfer funds between accounts, view and print statements, make loan payments and check their account balances anywhere they have internet access.
The company anticipates that the new service will be tremendously popular with its clients who will now be able to access banking services at their own convenience and save both time and money in the process. The ability to do banking transactions online will reduce the necessity of actual bank visits, eliminate in-line waiting and allow customers to have continuous access to up-to-date account information.
“Instead of our members having to come to us, we’re taking banking to them,” Basil Naar, CCCU’s General Manager explained. “Internet banking puts our customers in control of the entire process and now they won’t have to be restricted by our opening and closing hours or branch locations, they can do their banking whenever they want from wherever they are as long as they have internet access.”
Internet banking is just the latest technological vehicle that CCCU is using to facilitate excellent customer communication and deliver exemplary customer service. The tech-savvy financial institution has been using blogs, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Myspace to provide information for, and get useful feedback from, its clients and the wider public.
“We realise that our members are incorporating the internet into practically every aspect of their lives and we are using this to provide them with even better service,” Mr. Naar said. “The many social sites on the Internet represent an open forum for members and prospective members to hear from us, talk to us, and talk about us. This new medium represents a powerful presence and we are the first financial institution in Jamaica to use the internet in this manner.”
CCCU is rolling out their internet banking portal at a point when the popularity of online banking is at an all time high. Forrester Research, a United States based independent research company has estimated that approximately 54 million US households currently use internet banking and that number is expected to increase to 66 million by 2014. In the United Kingdom, financial powerhouse Halifax has said that 68% of savers now have an online savings account and the UK’s Office of National Statistics has indicated that 49% of the internet users in that country engaged in online banking.
“Not only is the internet a great medium for doing business and providing customers service, it’s also the greatest and most participatory platform for communication. It is used by a large cross-section of people which makes it an effective medium for communicating and reaching out to our members. Our updated website will now serve as a banking facility and as a billboard for our products, services and activities and, in the coming months we will be adding features that will make it even more interactive and informative.”
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