Credit unions offer better consumer value when it comes to ratesand features on checking and savings accounts. But the strategy hasmore to do with a lack of marketing acumen than it does commitmentto member service, according to officials at WalletHub.com, theonline consumer financial website.

WalletHub's Q2 2014 Banking Landscape Report, released July 11,tracked the second quarter costs and features of 2,000 checking,savings, money market and certificate accounts offered by nationaland community banks and credit unions.

In all cases, credit unions easily beat their bankingcompetition in all areas.

But credit unions' member service commitments played less of arole than the marketing issues the institutions face in drivingthose rates and features, according to Odysseas Papadimitriou, a former Capital One senior directorand CEO of both WalletHub.com and CardHub.com.

“Credit unions have a hard time attracting customers becauseit's so complex to figure out what credit unions consumers qualifyfor,” Papadimitriou said. “Credit unions have to compensate for thelack of marketing agility by having better terms. Banks don't haveto do that.”

The WalletHub data indicated that credit unions were 72% cheaperthan national banks, offered 105% more features and provided 562%higher interest rates on deposit accounts. When it came to smaller,community-based banks, credit unions were still 48% cheaper,offered 46% more features and provided 699% higher interestrates.

“Banks are profit-maximizing institutions, no question aboutit,” Papadimitriou said. “Credit unions have better products andthe only reason banks get away with charging more is because creditunions have a marketing challenge.”

With the promise of rising rates, Papadimitriou stressed thatboth consumers and financial institutions should be aware ofmarketplace changes that will affect relationships betweeninstitutions and their depositors looking for greater return ontheir dollars. Rapidly evolving financial technology also will meana sea change in the way consumers conduct their financial business,something that has already put many credit unions behind the eightball in their marketing efforts, Papadimitriou said.

“We created an online marketing tool at WalletHub like the big banks use andoffered it free of charge to credit unions with no stringsattached,” Papadimitriou said. “We've gotten some inquiries, but sofar no takers.”

The WalletHub tool is an online app that would allow creditunion members to rate credit union services. By literally pasting afew lines of copy from http://wallethub.com/widgets/reviews/onto the credit union's web page, the institution can have asignificant marketing boost through an increasingly familiarconsumer-support advantage, according to Matei Nicolae, WalletHub'sproduct manager.

“Our goal at WalletHub is to level the playing field within theindustry by giving credit unions free access to the same toolsthat mega-banks use,” Nicolae said. “It's proven that whenleveraged correctly, user reviews can increase conversionrates by 20% to 50%.”

Citing data indicating that 72% of consumers place a high valuein positive consumer reviews, WalletHub officials said they remainpuzzled by the fact that, after reaching out to hundreds of creditunions in the six months since that app was introduced, none havetaken them up on their free offer.

“I myself have emailed credit union CEOs with the offer, butthey say, no, that they are not interested at this time,”Papadimitriou says. “I think there is some issue with a lack inmarketing sophistication going on here.”