Somebody works in a town, lives eight miles outside it, and assumes the local credit union is not for him. He has never checked, because the website mentions a common bond and he does not know what that means.
He would qualify on his workplace alone. He has been paying considerably more elsewhere for four years.
The checklist
Publish these and eligibility stops being a mystery.
1. Explain the common bond in plain words
What it means, in a sentence, without the term doing the work. People read the phrase and assume it excludes them.
2. List every route to eligibility
Living in an area, working in an area, an employer, a family member's membership, an association or a profession. Most unions have several and publish one.
3. Publish the geography precisely
Named towns, postcode areas or a map. Vague descriptions make people on the edge assume they are out, and they are frequently in.
4. Explain the working in route separately
It is the least known route and it qualifies an enormous number of people who live elsewhere. It deserves its own paragraph.
5. Explain the family route
Whether a relative's membership qualifies somebody, and which relationships count. Families join together and nobody tells them they can.
6. Explain what happens if they move
Whether membership continues after somebody leaves the area, which is the reassurance that lets a younger member join with confidence.
7. Publish the minimum to join
The share or deposit required to open membership. It is usually small and people imagine a barrier, which is the practical detail in member questions credit unions answer every day.
8. Publish the identification needed
Exactly what documents, and what alternatives exist for somebody without the usual ones. Accessibility here matters more than in most financial services.
9. Explain the timescale
How long an application takes and when somebody can use the services. People applying usually have a reason and a timescale of their own.
10. Explain junior and family accounts
Where they exist, who can open them and the rules. It is a route to lifelong membership and it is frequently buried.
11. Explain what membership actually gives
Savings, loans, and any additional services, in plain terms. People need a reason to check eligibility before they will bother.
12. Explain how it differs from a bank
Ownership, purpose and how decisions are made. It is the reason many members choose a credit union and it should be stated clearly.
12b. Say what happens to an application that does not qualify
Somebody who applies and is declined on eligibility should be told why, in plain terms, and pointed towards a union that does cover them. It costs a sentence, it treats people decently, and it frequently brings them back years later when their circumstances put them inside the bond.
12c. Publish the borrowing position honestly
Many people approach a credit union specifically because they have been declined elsewhere, and they need to know whether membership alone is enough or whether a savings history is expected first. Stating the position plainly prevents somebody joining with an expectation that was never realistic.
13. Never turn an eligibility question into advice
Whether a product suits somebody is a different matter entirely, which is the boundary in what a bank website assistant must never do.
14. Answer eligibility questions at any hour
People check in the evening, the same membership pattern as sports clubs and membership enquiries out of season and chatbots for membership and community sites.
Getting started
Publish every eligibility route with precise geography and the joining requirements, then answer at any hour while advice stays with qualified people. SpideyChat for financial organisations answers from your published pages, plans are on the pricing page, and the chatbot ROI calculator works through the numbers.