MADISON, Wis. – Call it the credit union marketer's latest old friend, but Master Consumer Information Files play an important role in today's credit union. According to CUNA's Credit Union Services Profile Report, 14% of credit unions and counting employ MCIF to segment their membership for target-marketing purposes. "While MCIF can be used for profitability analysis and tracking marketing promotion success," said CUNA Market Research Director Jon Haller, "this segmentation ability allows credit unions to tailor their marketing messages and realize tremendous cost savings, increased return on their promotional investments, increased service usage and ultimately an improved bottom line." Generally the bigger the credit union the more MCIF use increases. The report shows that of credit unions with assets under $10 million, only about 5% have a MCIF. The percentage jumps to 35% for credit unions with assets of $50-$100 million, and to over 80% among credit unions with assets of $200 million or more. "Member surveys are becoming an essential tool in today's competitive market," said Haller. "Not only do they allow credit unions to evaluate their strengths, weaknesses challenges and opportunities, but they can also be used to segment their membership by financial lifestyle and increase target marketing impact." For more information about CUNA's Credit Union Services Profile Report visit www.cuna.org or contact Meg Jelak at 800-356-9655, ext. 4172.