From risk to retention: How Commonwealth One lowered first-year attrition by 10%

Overview

CommonWealth One Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Virginia, serves a diverse membership including James Madison University students and alumni. With a focus on deepening relationships and improving member retention, the credit union made reducing first-year attrition among new checking account openers a strategic priority.

Challenge

Historically, staff attempted to increase engagement through personal emails and letters sent to new checking account openers. Despite these efforts, results were minimal, and first-year attrition remained high. The credit union needed a scalable, digital-first approach to engage members from the moment they opened an account and reduce the likelihood of dormancy.

Acquiring checking accounts is expensive, and the onboarding process can make or break success.”

Karyle Thornton, Chief Marketing Officer

Solution

CommonWealth One turned to the Digital Onboarding engagement platform to automate personalized campaigns that inspired account usage and drove adoption of key services. The solution included:

• Automated email and SMS campaigns linking members to personalized microsites
  
• Self-service widgets that removed friction, including:
  
  • Direct Deposit Widget to enroll online without paper forms
    
  • Mobile App Widget to direct members to the correct app store
    
  • Secure Personalizations Widget to retrieve account numbers securely
    
  • Survey Widget to capture real-time member feedback
    
• An educational microsite content highlighting account benefits, including rewards designed for James Madison University students.

Results

As a result of these efforts, the team achieved the following outcomes:

• Reduced first-year attrition among new checking account openers by 10%
  
• Increased member engagement across checking products
  
• Positive member feedback citing a smoother onboarding experience and higher satisfaction
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Impact

By making onboarding seamless and digital-first, CommonWealth One successfully strengthened its relationship with new members while reducing attrition costs. The initiative demonstrated that modern onboarding drives measurable improvements in engagement, satisfaction, and long-term loyalty.

The Digital Onboarding platform reduced the first-year attrition rate among checking account openers by 10 percent. It feels like a true partnership, and we are thrilled with the results!”

Karyle Thornton, Chief Marketing Officer

Conclusion

CommonWealth One Federal Credit Union proved that rethinking onboarding through automation and self-service tools can dramatically reduce attrition and increase member satisfaction. By partnering with Digital Onboarding, the credit union set a strong foundation for long-term member relationships.