OSHKOSH, Wisconsin (November 5, 2012) – CitizensFirst Credit Union, one of the leading not-for-profit financial cooperatives in the Fox River Valley, has announced its acquisition of Chatter Yak! LLC, a credit union service organization providing cutting edge technology-based marketing solutions to not-for-profit financial cooperatives throughout the United States.
Chatter Yak! LLC offers qualifying financials with consultative services and strategies designed to increase credit union awareness, engage credit union members and to differentiate credit unions from other institutions within the financial industry. Chatter Yak! LLC also has a proven track record of reaching elusive younger demographic age groups.
“Credit unions spend a lot of time talking about attracting a younger crowd,” said CitizensFirst CEO Kevin Ralofsky. “Chatter Yak! LLC makes it possible for even the smallest of them to reach this population, and to integrate the use of social media in their marketing strategies.”
Specialized offerings at Chatter Yak! LLC include customized website design, Next Gen outreach and acquisition programming, and Yak! Tracker, a third-party social media contest application. An equally important area of expertise is increasing the financial literacy of high school and college students through community outreach programs, an approach that embraces the cooperative principals which differentiate the credit union culture within the financial industry.
Chatter Yak! LLC is the brainchild of Ralofsky and CitizensFirst Director of Marketing and Social Media Bryce Roth. Organized in 2011, the organization got its start at Vacationland Federal Credit Union of Sandusky, Ohio, where both Ralofsky and Roth were previously employed. Ralofsky joined CitizensFirst in May of this year, Roth in September.
“The acquisition of Chatter Yak! LLC is key to the new direction Kevin has brought to CitizensFirst,” said Roth. “It’s an exciting opportunity and a privilege to be a continuing part of making credit unions relevant to the next generation of members.”
CitizensFirst is a not-for profit, member-owned community financial cooperative. It has more than $370 million in assets and serves nearly 29,000 people at five branch locations in Oshkosh and Fond du Lac. Membership is open to anyone who lives, works or worships in Winnebago, Fond du Lac, Outagamie, Calumet, Dodge, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington or Waushara counties, and the Township of Berlin in Green Lake County.