Payment Industry Insider

Title borrowed from the Credit Union and Mutual Law Blog post about this same subject.

An important aspect of Web 2.0 that many people talk about is being more transparent to your audience. This means being honest and open in everything you do, explaining who you are and your intentions.

Blogs and social media have been a great way for credit unions and other financial institutions to open up these channels to their audiences, blogging about what they are doing, issues that concern them and fielding feedback.

America First is Using Ratings and Reviews

America First Credit Union of Utah has taken the concept of openness even farther with the recent implementation of user reviews for their website. Every product or service that America First offers is open for discussion, rating and review by its members.

America First leads into the discussion by stating:

“At America First, we value our members’ opinions.”

What better way to show that to their members than to open themselves up for criticism and commendation?

At this time, only AFCU members can post reviews of products (and rightfully so in my opinion). The credit union also lists a set of guidelines that they ask members to abide by when posting reviews. It asks users to refrain from using obscenities, personally identifiable information like social security numbers or physical addresses, and all the other legal mumbo jumbo, but nowhere do they say that members can’t leave negative reviews. In fact, they encourage it, and so it should be in a situation like this.

If you flip through the different products and reviews that have been left so far, there are some negative reviews (usually citing an issue the user had) and ratings with less than five stars, proving that these are not doctored or falsified. America First asked for their members’ opinions and they responded.

In the world of social media, companies and people have realized that receiving the bad feedback along with the good is actually beneficial because it provides an opportunity for improvement and possibly even further discussion.

Now that the bar has been raised, how are you showing members that you want to hear their views and opinions?