Crediting Amazon Prime Day, MSUFCU reports sizable lift in card usage

Recently released data from one institution shows that Amazon Prime Day continues to pay off for credit unions.

Michigan State University Federal Credit Union in East Lansing, Mich., reported a whopping $856,000 in transactions with its credit and debit cards during the online shopping bonanza this year. That’s a 19% lift over last year and 4 percentage points better than the CU’s internal goals. Nearly 10,300 members used their MSUFCU cards on Prime Day 2019, the $4 billion-asset CU said.

“Amazon Prime Day has become a big cyber sales event each year, and we are pleased our members take advantage of the great deals offered,” said Deidre Davis, MSUFCU’s chief marketing officer.

Like many credit unions, MSUFCU ran promotions tied to Prime Day in order to drive its plastic to top of wallet. Members who used the CU’s cards were eligible to be selected to receive a $250 gift card.

This was the first year that Prime Day has been expanded to two days. While credit unions have run promotions similar to MSUFCU’s for many years to try to entice members to use their cards during online shopping, the “Amazon effect” is spreading to other retailers in a way that has created new opportunities for credit unions.

The industry continued to see strong growth as a result of Prime Day 2019, eclipsing many previous records.