Payment Industry Insider

Jeffry Pilcher over at The Financial Brand (a great resource for financial marketing ideas and information) writes about the commonalities in credit union names. For example, the word “Employees” shows up in 1,553 credit union names.  It’s a fun article to read and it started me thinking, “What’s in a name?”

As most people in the cards business know, platinum cards carry a certain mystique around them.  Prior to platinum, gold cards were the…well…gold standard.  Now issuers are starting to introduce plum cards, titanium cards, emerald Cards and even diamond cards. Is there any impact in using these new and different names to separate yourself in the market?  Possibly.

Part of the point that Mr. Pilcher makes is that you don’t have to change the name of your credit union just because it has the word “Employees” in it just like 1,552 others.  He just suggests that if you are already considering a name change that something more unique might be better.  And I agree with him.

Just because you offer a platinum card like everyone else does not mean that you should change to a new and unique color or brand.  If you are already considering a change though, especially if you are going through a conversion, now would be a great time to create some differentiation around your card brand. If you have a star as part of your logo, call your most exclusive card the “Star Card” and tie something special to it.  The name alone is not what will sell your card or make your members want to use it.

Unless of course you call it the “Spend all you want, we’ll pay the balance Card”! And if that is the case, I’d volunteer to be a beta tester!