ICYMI: In Case You Missed It

In Case You Missed It (v20)

We’ve got free student loan financial education. Checking account sign-on bribes are a bust. Starbucks supports Deaf-REACH. Webb and Hubble compare telescope sizes. Big brands are creating RBG IPs. And that’s not all. Here’s what we noticed, in case you missed it:

Student Loan Sense videos launched, free for CUs!

We’re incredibly proud of this project to help educate students about student loans. Help us spread them around! The videos are smart, sassy, short, shareable, and free for any credit union to share and use. Get all the details at studentloansense.com.

Have you heard of Disability Pride Month?

Like many Americans, you might not have known that July was Disability Pride Month. To celebrate, Starbucks has been promoting support for Deaf-REACH, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit. It’s great to see stories like this, but unfortunate that they’re not very common. It’s been more than 30 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law. This should be a no-brainer by now, especially considering how important accessibility can be for your business.

Can a business actually copyright a color?

A handful of companies have been pushing the boundaries of intellectual property law by trademarking specific colors. When these colors are considered synonymous with a brand or product — think Mattel Barbie pink, McDonald’s red, Tiffany blue, and UPS brown — a company may decide to claim a certain form of “ownership” over it. Others are less obvious, of course. Wiffle Ball, Inc., for example, has a trademark on yellow for its bats, and there’s even a couple of universities that have protected their school colors. So if you’re thinking of rebranding, be careful of the colors you choose and avoid magenta at all costs. Because T-Mobile is particularly lawsuit-happy over “their” color.

Bribing people to open checking accounts doesn’t really work

Some of the sign-on bonuses for opening a big bank checking account are kind of ridiculous. $300? $600? Really? This article from the fine folks over at Financial Brand outlines why you can’t buy loyalty. And it’s another reminder for CUs to focus on creating and nurturing lifetime value, not next quarter’s numbers. Sure, marketing checking accounts is tough, but there are a lot of better ways to land them for good.

Webb vs. Hubble Telescope Throwdown

Get your mind off earthly matters, and ponder a little of the universe’s majesty and wonder. On this website, webbcompare.com, you can use a little slider to compare images of well-known celestial landmarks from the older Hubble telescope against the new hotness, the Webb telescope.

Keeping the spotlight on Solar

The Biden administration recently announced their new initiatives through the Department of Energy and Department of Health and Human Services. These programs will assist low-income communities in getting access to more reliable clean energy and jobs in the domestic solar industry, among other benefits. Could we see some Solar FCUs popping up in the not-so-distant future? Either way, between this administration’s pursuit of Solar energy and the Sun-powered cars at home and abroad, you can’t ignore how Solar energy is hot (sorry) right now. It also serves as a good reminder that Green loans continue to be a good idea for enterprising CUs.

Keep your eye on the regulatory and legislative news…

The possible outcomes of legislation on Credit Card and Overdraft fees are getting all the attention right now, but there are some important potential adjustments brewing in the CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) and LID (Low Income Designation) regs. There’s even a new bipartisan Senate Caucus forming around CDFI. As ever, the good folks at CUCollaborate, NAFCU, and others are keeping an eye on things in Washington for the credit union movement; subscribe and stay informed. Even a small-seeming change in regs or definitions can have significant impacts on credit unions.

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