From attrition to retention: How Island FCU reduced checking attrition by 25%

Overview

Island Federal Credit Union, based in New York State, is a top-performing institution with more than $1.5 billion in assets and over 52,000 members. With a focus on delivering affordable products and exceptional service, the credit union sought to strengthen relationships with checking account holders and reduce costly attrition.

Challenge

Checking accounts are central to building household relationships, but attrition among “Cash Back” checking account holders was eroding long-term value. Island Federal needed a way to ensure new members fully understood the account’s benefits and engaged with key services, while reducing the expense of acquiring and replacing lost accounts.

Acquiring checking accounts is expensive, and it’s imperative that we retain our relationships.” 

Christopher Murray, Vice President of Marketing

Solution

Island Federal leveraged the Digital Onboarding engagement platform to educate members and drive adoption of key services. The credit union:

• Trained front-line staff to highlight account benefits and rewards
  
• Automated delivery of up to nine personalized emails and nine SMS messages during the first 40 days after account opening
  
• Used widgets to make adoption seamless, including:
  
  
  • Secure Personalizations Widget to retrieve member numbers
    
  • Direct Deposit Widget for instant enrollment
    
  • Card on File Widget to set Island Federal’s debit card as the default across merchants
  • ‍Mobile App Widget linking directly to the app store

Results

The campaign delivered measurable growth and retention improvements across multiple engagement metrics:

• Reduced attrition among Cash Back checking account holders by 25% over two years
  
• Increased digital banking enrollment by 20%
  
• Boosted online banking adoption by 14%
  
• Delivered stronger engagement through education and automation
  ‍

Impact

By combining staff education with automated digital campaigns, Island Federal significantly improved member retention and adoption of digital services. The initiative demonstrated that reducing attrition not only saves acquisition costs but also deepens member loyalty and lifetime value.

Our front-line staff and the Digital Onboarding platform kept members engaged and educated on their account benefits, which made all the difference. Reducing attrition by 25% is a big achievement! ”

Christopher Murray, Vice President of Marketing

Conclusion

Island Federal Credit Union proved that focusing on early engagement pays dividends. By leveraging Digital Onboarding to highlight account value and remove friction, the credit union reduced attrition, increased adoption, and set the stage for stronger long-term relationships.