CU’s and HSA’s
CUNA released an article yesterday about HSA’s and how the HSA market share will lean heavily towards the banking industry side of the playing field and that CU’s market share will slip. The article also says that about 15% of the market share currently resides with CU’s and that will slip to 5% by 2010.
It’s no secret that most CU’s are struggling right now with profit margin issues, inability to bring in core deposits, and heavier than normal loan write-offs. All of that leads right to impact of your bottom line.
HSA’s provide a wonderfully inexpensive product to offer to your members. Not only will it greatly benefit members who use it to pay their medical expenses, but it’s cheap core deposit money.
Visa is even coming out with solutions to help its customers (FI’s and consumers) spend their HSA money easier and help with the IRA guidelines. Click here for that article.
HSA’s are great for both the FI and the consumer, so what’s stopping the CU’s for owning this? We here for our members, right?
If you aren’t sure what an HSA is or want more info, try the Wikipedia article or the US Treasury resource here.
Many credit unions may have a distinct advantage in generating Health Savings Accounts because of their established SEGs.
For the most part, healthcare decisions are made by employers. So, Credit Unions can take a wholesale approach and help the employers determine if HSAs are a good option. As healthcare premiums continue to rise, I’m confident that these employers will be anxious to discuss this as an alternative!
Robbie, I agree… the credit unions should be looking into HSAs.