The Battle Over Tax Rebates

I see a big battle brewing over our member's money, specifically the tax rebate checks that will be filling mailboxes in the Spring. It's my guess that merchants and financial institutions alike are already strategizing heavily on how they'll be able to "win" that business. I think it's going to be really interesting to see what creative ideas come out of this. I'm envisioning a whole lot of advertising being purchased for things like big screen TV's, automobiles, as well as investment products. Will our members spend, save, invest, pay-down debt? The President and the economy are betting on spend. Me? I'm spending! Eighteen hundred bucks should really help with that big summer vacation we have planned.

Aside from the interesting social science experiment going on with this, I think it's also a good opportunity for my Credit Union to strategize exactly what we hope to get out of this event, go after it in a focused way, and measure the results. Is it new car loans? CD's? Investor Accounts? What's our play? This is going to be a battle and we need battle plans. And then, on the back side, it's a great opportunity to measure the results, especially since their will be a fairly large sum of money being injected over a short period of time. Let's line-up behind understanding what our members did with their money.

I'd love to hear what you're seeing as this battle begins in earnest.