The Latest On BrightLeaf Financial
3/1/2009
BrightLeaf Financial Network, a consumer financial planning service offered exclusively through credit unions, introduced a new version of its Web-based service today. The new version features enhanced capabilities that make it easier than ever before to create a financial plan.
Since launching the service last year, ten credit unions nationwide, including notable institutions such as Alliant CU, Baxter CU, and SchoolsFirst FCU, have signed up to offer the service to their members, and all licensees will introduce the upgraded service to their members during the first or second quarter of 2009.
“Our core philosophy at BrightLeaf is straightforward: a credit union member with a financial plan is better off than a member without one. With that in mind, we have revised our web-based financial planning service to make it even easier for the average person to use,” Bryan Link, Managing Director of BrightLeaf, said. “All you have to do to get a financial plan is be a member of a participating credit union. Using our online tools, it takes roughly 20 minutes to complete, and our credit union customers are offering BrightLeaf as a free service to their members.”
“Prior to developing the new version of our software, we carefully listened to feedback from credit union members,” Link said. “That feedback clearly indicated that members want more advice from their credit union on how to shore up their finances. Our service gathers the member’s income, debt, spending and goal information in a simple online process and creates a clear pathway to identifying financial problem areas and saving for future financial goals.”
To help members assess their plan strength, BrightLeaf gives each member a letter grade – the common A, B, C, D or F – that indicates how likely they are to achieve their financial goals. “We thought the commonly used letter grade would be easily understood by most people,” Link added. “The letter grade is shown throughout the planning process so that members can see how changes in their plan, like paying off debt or saving more, can affect their ability to reach their goals.”
The BrightLeaf service examines five interrelated areas of financial planning: spending, debt management, insurance, retirement and future goals. After completing the online process, members receive a set of reports that provide specific steps to achieve targeted goals, such as paying off debt or saving for retirement. The two primary reports are the FIT List (Financial Improvement Tasks), which deals with near-term financial issues, and the GET List (Goal Execution Tasks) for longer-term goals.
“The language we use and the visual path in the new version of our service has been significantly upgraded from the previous version, but the underlying philosophy that stresses the need for everyone to have a financial plan remains the same,” Bill Grizack, director for BrightLeaf said. “A key component of our revised service is that it allows credit union members to see their financial plans evolve as they go through the process rather than having to wait until the end.”
Grizack said that credit union members will see the familiar Sophie character that was featured in the service’s previous version as a personal guide for credit union members. “Unlike the old version, Sophie is now an ‘opt in’ tool, so she will wait to provide help until prompted by the user.”
In addition to financial planning tools, BrightLeaf provides a “learning center” on credit union Web sites that includes information about a variety of topics, written in lay terms, such as the need for insurance or an emergency savings fund.
BrightLeaf Financial Network is a CUSO that was created by MEMBERS Development Company and a group of credit unions with a mission of meeting the financial planning needs of middle-income Americans. Through BrightLeaf, credit union members have the ability to create a custom financial plan using a set of easy-to-use, secure online tools and then be referred directly to their credit union for help with putting their plan into action. BrightLeaf is based just outside of Winston-Salem, NC.
For more information, visit www.brightleaffinancial.com.
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