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Siting Service Centers
Effective desktop mapping helps Security Service FCU research new and potential locations.

By Karen Richardson

June 2008

Security Service Federal Credit Union is the largest credit union in San Antonio, and the 10th largest in the nation. Begun in 1956 with only $25 in deposits, this not-for-profit, member-owned financial institution was founded to serve the financial needs of the U.S. Air Force Security Service command. The credit union has since expanded to $4.6 billion in assets and more than 640,000 members in its 30 Texas locations and 13 Colorado service centers.

Security Service FCU is recognized as a leader in the credit union industry by implementing the latest technology to improve convenience and service to its members. For example, Security Service FCU was the first credit union in San Antonio to implement online banking, and is forward-thinking in its other service offerings to its members by including a 24/7 member contact center, where members can speak to a live person in English or Spanish; a network of more than 100 ATMs; and regular Saturday hours at most service centers. Selected service centers are also open on Sundays, and mall locations are open during mall hours.

To continue offering excellent customer service, accessibility to customers and business efficiency, Security Service FCU was interested in analyzing useful demographic information for both areas surrounding its current service centers and new areas for potential sites. The credit union wanted to determine market area demographics to help with various target marketing endeavors.

First, the credit union tried a Web-based geodemographic solution, but found itself limited in what it could accomplish. "We couldn't import or export data easily, and that turned us off the solution," says Javier Cano, marketing product research analyst for the credit union. Cano also found that running complex queries over the Internet meant a long wait time or, worse, the application timing out.

After this experience, Cano had a better idea of what to look for in a solution. He found ESRI's  BusinessMAP™ Financial offered the tools and data he needed to better analyze his information. "BusinessMAP Financial was able to easily resolve the issues we had," says Cano.

BusinessMAP Financial is an easy-to-use database mapping product that gives access to a number of datasets for financial analysis and planning activities, such as ESRI's demographic data, the Community Tapestry segmentation system, credit union data from the National Credit Union Administration, BranchInfo Data and MarketBank Data from RPM Consulting, Dun & Bradstreet business listings, community development financial institution data, aggregate total employee data from InfoUSA and street-level map data for North America from Tele Atlas.

Security Service FCU is able to export information quickly and easily from its marketing database and import into BusinessMAP FSE.

More than 25 report templates make it easy to present the data once it has been analyzed. Templates include demographic summary, net worth profile, deposit potential, loan potential and competition.

Security Service FCU first licensed the software for business development purposes. Being able to look at current demographic data and import its own database of customer information using either street addresses or ZIP codes gave the credit union the ability to see where members were located and if the credit union was providing services as well as it possibly could.

Using this method, Security Service can target special services to areas it might have missed before, such as a large concentration of young families near a particular branch, who might be interested in first-time home loans.

"Exporting information from our marketing database and importing into BusinessMAP FSE is a breeze. Since BusinessMAP is on my computer, it can process data imports and exports so much quicker than the Web-based mapping solution I'd previously used," states Cano.

Even though a potential site may have desirable demographics for a new branch location, Security Service FCU is able to double check how convenient it is for customers by using BusinessMAP FSE';s drive-time analysis. Security Service FCU can set parameters to get a realistic reach of each site and then easily create reports based on the analysis.

Security Service FCU now also uses BusinessMAP Financial to analyze its current and potential sites by conducting ring studies and generating drive-time analyses to see how much time it will take customers and potential customers to visit a site. Using the ring study analysis provides Cano with a quick and effective means of revealing and analyzing demographic information for his site planning. The drive-time analysis creates one to three drive zones around a location that may be driven within a specified time. The zones can then be analyzed by aggregating demographic data for such things as targeted advertising campaigns and new site locations.

Says Cano: "Even though a potential site may have desirable demographics for your organization, how convenient is it for your potential customers to get there? BusinessMAP Financial's drive-time analysis, which lets you set the parameters, shows a realistic reach of the site. Not only do you have a visual representation of this, but the ability to create reports based off the drive-time analysis lets you dig further around the site's reach."

Once a site location is pinpointed, Cano uses the retail and deposit potential data to see if each market area has room to grow. Finally, a competitor analysis is run to find out which competitors are in the area and how many locations they have.

"The large demographic database that is included with BusinessMAP is easy to query," states Cano. "Having the database window open while working on creating a map is great because it shows demographics as you go."

These studies are important in supporting the business decisions the credit union makes. The maps included in the reports are also easy to create, allowing Cano to add or remove data layers and customize symbols and text within the map. This gives him great flexibility with what he wants to show on the map. Says Cano, "Customizing maps in BusinessMAP blew us away."

Conducting a ring study with reporting from a point of interest is as easy as a few clicks of the mouse. The ability to customize symbols, text, and coloring visually help this map speak specifically about our goals.

Using BusinessMAP Financial, Security Service FCU is able to create specific maps for each report it generates for business development, something it couldn't do before. This has significantly improved its data presentation.

"Conducting a ring study with reporting from a point of interest is as easy as a few clicks of the mouse. The ability to customize symbols, text, and coloring visually helps our maps speak specifically about our goals," says Cano.

He was so impressed with the solution that he introduced it to the marketing department and now it is used to analyze various marketing campaigns. "This solution is all in one when it comes to demographic data and mapping," says Cano. "Before, I would have to pull demographics from our previous online solution and then export that data to import into a generic mapping software solution that was not customizable or user-friendly. BusinessMAP Financial allows me to query demographics, customize maps, and generate reports with the report templates in minutes."

Security Service FCU has been able to save a lot of time used in researching because all the market demographics are included with the product. Cano has already received more than a return on his initial capital investment in the software. "Cost wise, BusinessMAP Financial has the data and functionality that other, much more expensive mapping solutions have, at a fraction of the cost," he explains.

For more information contact Javier Cano, marketing product/research analyst, Security Service FCU, at 210.476.4476 or e-mail jcano@ssfcu.org.

Karen Richardson is a writer at ESRI focusing on the use of GIS in the commercial business industry.