Illustration for Marketing Maven Column at Enterprise Magazine

"Credit unions can crash the wedding party of both old and new members by offering an innovative new matrimonial account for couples. Since today’s marrying couples are older (the average age for first-time brides is 28.8 years and 31.0 for first-time grooms, according to a 2003 Statistics Canada survey) they often prefer gifts of cash over crockpots and collanders.

MatriMoney is one solution. The couple opens a credit union account and receives announcement cards for notifying wedding guests that they are registered at the credit union and would appreciate gift deposits. Guests who do make deposits – in person or online – then receive an elegant gift fulfillment card to present to the bride and groom.

At Mountain America Credit Union in Salt Lake City, Utah, however, MatriMoney is a secondary chequing account that only accepts and processes on-line credit card gifts. An online kiosk connected to Mountain America’s website assists those guests who don’t have online access."

by Diane Luckow