Credit Unions in the News

Great Falls, MT–January 25, 2019–One lucky member of Embark Credit Union in Great Falls has won $5,000 in this year’s grand prize drawing of the WINcentive Savings Program.

The program offers a new type of savings account that makes saving fun by entering savers into monthly, quarterly and annual prize drawings each time they increase their savings balance by $25. Members can earn up to four entries per month for a chance to win the next $5,000 grand prize drawing in January 2020, as well as $100 monthly and $1,000 quarterly prize drawings between now and then.

WINcentive Savings accounts became available to members of several of Montana’s credit unions, including Embark, in September 2018, after the passage of legislation that allows the state to incentivize good consumer saving practices through prize-linked savings accounts. Account holders have saved a grand total of $83,112 in just four months. There are currently 385 account holders at six credit unions in Montana.

“I’m so excited to have won!  I think this is such a great opportunity for other people to get involved in the program.” Said Deborah B, member of Embark Credit Union and winner of this year’s grand prize drawing.

Members feel rewarded by watching their savings grow, they experience the excitement of the prize drawings, and most importantly, they are improving their money habits with no risk. Unlike playing the lottery, WINcentive Savings costs nothing. All of the money that members deposit into their accounts, plus interest, remains the member’s.

Julie McCamley from Embark Credit Union said “It’s exciting to offer such a great program to our members.  The prize drawings, and the chance to win, can certainly be good motivation to save.  Establishing good savings habits can be hard, so we think the WINcentive Savings Account is the right tool to help people get started and then keep going.  When members start to see their effort payoff and watch their savings grow, we believe that’s the true “WIN” behind WINcentive.”

In Great Falls, Montana Federal Credit Union also has happy winners. A longtime member of Montana FCU and winner of the credit union’s $500 annual prize, Bob Brand, said “I’ve been saving so that my grandson will have money for college in the fall. This is so great!”

“When we first learned of the WINcentive Savings Account program, we couldn’t wait to bring it to Montana Federal Credit Union” stated Becky Timmons, Vice President of Marketing at the credit union. “In addition to the excitement of the cash prizes, we’re also helping our members build sustainable, long-term savings habits that will help them save for unexpected events such as car repairs or illnesses, or for big milestones such as sending a child off to college. Sometimes we all need a little extra incentive to save money, and this program does just that.”

Update: As of February 15, the total number of WINcentive accounts has increased to 431 and the total amount saved is $142,517.17.