Direct Deposit Week Deemed a Success!

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National Direct Deposit and Direct Payment Week, held May 15-19, 2000, was a great success, thanks to all the financial institutions that participated in the celebration. More than 1,000 kits, containing posters, fliers, statement stuffers, stickers, etc., were ordered from the Automated Payments Partnership, which provided all the materials financial institutions needed to conduct Direct Deposit promotions in their facilities.

A number of other promotional activities were executed throughout the week as part of a national public awareness and education campaign. Government officials signed proclamations, including the Eighth District governors of Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. Signs promoting the ease of Direct Deposit were placed in major airports located within the Eighth District. Advertisements were also placed in major newspapers within the partnership's 13-state territory.

And the campaign's not over yet. Electronic payments will be promoted at a River City Rascals baseball game in July (see Reserve Note).

Are promotional activities such as these really effective? Apparently so. Recent findings reported by NACHA show that the number of Direct Deposit and Direct Payment transactions are steadily rising. In 1999, Direct Payment rose 19.4 percent nationwide from the previous year, while Direct Deposit posted a 15.8 percent increase.

As always, the partnership welcomes suggestions for ways it can improve your ACH marketing efforts for next year, as well as feedback about the things that made your promotion a success in 2000. Feel free to express your comments at the partnership's web site, www.appartnership.org under "Information Request." Also, a variety of Direct Deposit and Direct Payment materials can be ordered from this web site, including videos, brochures, posters, marketing guides, etc., to have on hand for marketing campaigns throughout the year.

Many thanks to all those who participated in this year's campaign. We look forward to partnering with you again!