Vantage Launches Young & Free St. Louis!

It’s new, it’s bold and it’s ready to roll—say hello to Young & Free St. Louis!

What’s Young & Free St. Louis? It’s a whole new way for Vantage to interact with the 18 to 25 crowd in the Greater St. Louis area. It gives them a voice, an undeniable way to be heard. And, it gives us a way to learn what they want from their financial life. That’s Young & Free St. Louis.

Are you the voice of the 18 to 25 crowd?
To kick things off, we’re launching a search for the Young & Free St. Louis spokesperson, someone with something to say and endless ways to say it. The search runs May 28-July 5, 2010, with a spokesperson to be announced in early August. And yes, you’ll have a chance to vote for the winner! Public voting will be held July 12-25 at youngfreestlouis.com/video-gallery-2010-search/.

Be sure to tune into Fox2 News in the Morning and catch Tim Ezell as he monitors the search and adds his unique insight. You’ll also hear radio and TV commercials on local media outlets throughout the search period.

What are we looking for?
Energy. Creativity. An extrovert. A social media whiz kid. All this rolled into a bundle of expanding energy. Are you the one? Do you know someone who is? Then by all means, throw that hat into the ring! How? Create a 60-second video telling us why you’re the perfect fit. For all the exciting search details, visit youngfreestlouis.com/job-application/

Our spokesperson will become a full-time, salaried Vantage employee for one year. During that time, this spokesperson will use his/her electric creativity and social magnetism to connect with young people throughout the Greater St. Louis area via numerous forms of social media. We’ll even provide a platform from which to shout—www.youngfreestlouis.com, the official website.

The job menu will include travel, special events, daily blog entries and weekly video blogs. The tools will include a Nissan Cube, an Apple MacBook Pro laptop, an HD video camera, and an iPhone. We want our spokeperson talkin’ the talk and walkin’ the walk, all in the name of keeping Gen Y on top of the latest trends and Vantage on the tip of their collective tongues.

Having a voice isn’t all!
A voice is just the beginning of Young & Free St. Louis. We’ve also created a unique, feature-filled account just for the 18 to 25 crowd—it’s definitely not your mama’s account. In fact, that’s what we called it—Not Your Mama’s Account!

Not Your Mama’s Account is the first of its kind anywhere. Let us say that again, ANYWHERE! Take our word for it when we say listing all the benefits here would be too exhaustive, so here are just a few:

   Account management on performance enhancement … stuff!

• Keyword “tagging” that feeds spending/saving forecasts for easy budgeting.
   
• Social media integration that features real-time feeds from members’ Twitter and Facebook accounts as well as from Vantage Credit Union’s Twitter account and website.
   
• A member’s preferences and transaction history will dictate coupons we’ll pass along from local merchants individual members use.
   
• Value-offer summaries let members know how much they’ve saved (or could have saved) based on coupon redemption from participating merchants as well as Vantage offers.

    Free checking with Swipe2Save—Not only is this exclusive new feature a free checking account, it’s a savings vehicle as well! Members can choose to save automatically every time they make a purchase with their Not Your Mama’s Account debit card.

    Unlimited POS Fee rebates—All PIN-based POS fees will be rebated back to a member’s Regular Savings account at the end of the month (you qualify by making at least one electronic deposit (remote deposit or direct deposit) per month of $250 (cumulative) and by being enrolled to receive e-statements).

    Oops NSF Fee Rebates—Hey, we all make mistakes. With a Not Your Mama’s Account, members may receive one Oops NSF FEE rebate every six months (will be honored per 6-month period January–June and July–December).

Again, you can get all the particulars at www.youngfreestlouis.com. These are just a few of the many features of our new account created specifically for Gen Y. As you can see, it’s definitely not your mama’s account, not by a long shot! But please, don’t rub it in.

Merchant opportunities
Yes, Vantage is giving young people a voice, but we’re also giving merchants a chance to reach Gen Y in a very specific, targeted way. By knowing what young people like based on where they spend their money (gas, groceries, quick shops, fast food, school supplies, cell phone/internet, entertainment, the list goes on…), merchants have the opportunity to provide members with coupons and savings offers to places they like to visit. The merchant reaches more potential customers, the member saves on things they already spend money on—it’s a win-win proposition! To get involved in this unique opportunity, please contact Maria Jansen at mjansen@vcu.com.

Young & Free St. Louis, it’s here and we’re ready to make a difference! We encourage all Gen Y members to visit www.youngfreestlouis.com and add their comments to the blogs, participate in online forums, submit events to the calendar, ask our experts questions and upload photos. We want feedback on how we can better serve our young members!

Stay tuned. We’ll be announcing new features as they become available. Until then, feel free to take a look around!