
- Lower-cost credit union credit cards save households money and keep resources in local communities.
- But big banks and national affiliate marketing sites swamp the credit union message with an appeal based on low introductory rates and rewards.
- CardFit helps credit unions of all sizes reach local membership segments with its credit card comparison tool that shows the value of lower-interest debt.
Credit unions have a message to convey to consumers about the lower-cost credit cards they provide compared to the big banks. Credit union cards not only enhance household purchasing power but also support sustainable community development in accordance with a larger mission of people helping people.
It’s a compelling pitch that can get lost in the shuffle as credit unions, with their segment- and geography-based membership bases and relatively meager marketing resources, find themselves outmatched by big banks and affiliate sites that reach national audiences.
But there’s an opportunity for even the smallest credit unions to compete more effectively with larger institutions, said Joseph Gracia, Founder and CEO of CardFit, an innovative credit card comparison tool built with local credit union markets in mind.
Put your cards front and center in your outreach, and new members will come. Introduced in late 2024, CardFit is a comparison tool to help you do that.
“Use your cards to acquire new members and save your community money in the process.”
“Historically, credit unions have never led with credit cards — in part because of that membership eligibility piece,” Gracia said. “What we say is that you can use your cards to acquire new members and save your community money in the process.”
Gracia said the problem for every credit union is getting its unique message out to the consumers in the community who can take action on it. In every market where it operates, CardFit puts its credit union partner’s card front and center in a numbers-based interface that proves its value.
Without undergoing the hassle of a hard credit pull, it’s easy for CardFit visitors to check their eligibility, learn more about the credit union, and apply for a card based on whether the platform considers approval likely, possible, or a long shot.
“We give them confidence that it’s worth their time to go in and apply for a local credit union card,” Gracia said.
The Case for Credit Union Cards
The problem is that although most consumers agree that credit cards are convenient, many don’t think particularly rationally about why they use the cards they use.
Big banks and affiliate sites appeal to consumers with low introductory rates and rewards when all the numbers say it’s a mismatch for what the majority of cardholders, who carry revolving debt from month to month, really need.
Gracia has worked with credit unions since 2019 when he and his team rolled out a product to help members manage student loan payments. Then, the pandemic hit, and three and a half years of deferrals commenced.
“The first six-month student loan freeze, which started in March 2020, turned into three and a half years,” Gracia said. “Good for the student borrower — not good for us.”

Nickels is the company Gracia founded to provide those services to credit unions. The team pivoted to a model that analyzed members’ checking account payment patterns to infer how they used competitor credit cards.
That enabled Nickels clients to generate more personalized marketing to reach members based on their needs.
For example, high-volume transactors need messaging about saving and investing because their spending indicates they have discretionary money. Those with revolving debt on competitor cards, on the other hand, tend to respond most positively to balance transfer and personal loan offers.
“In doing that work with revolvers, we realized that credit unions win on rate,” Gracia said. “But we also realized it’s tough to market that.”
Then, in 2023, Nickels learned through the CFPB’s 2023 Consumer Credit Card Market report that half the country sometimes carries a balance on their cards in any given year.
“Revolvers earned about $11 billion in rewards but got charged $122 billion in interest and fees,” Gracia said. “That’s $42 in rewards earned for the low, low price of $456. They’re on the wrong card.”
Getting to the Heart of Consumer Credit Needs
CardFit is the result. The eligibility challenges inherent in the credit union model preclude most credit unions from advertising nationally or participating on third-party affiliate sites.
Drawing on Nickels’ earlier work with credit unions, CardFit uses insights from member spending to form a fuller picture of community needs. It then helps credit union partners produce targeted marketing materials that direct eligible consumers to CardFit.
Cards receive a clear comparison with competitors to make the savings and value readily apparent. CardFit then makes it easy for users to join a credit union and transfer an expensive card balance to take advantage of a lower rate.

Every credit union partner receives a unique instance of the product to put its cards front and center against the competition without the distraction of cards from other CardFit clients. Users check their eligibility through a feature that initiates a soft credit pull and indicates the likelihood of approval.
CardFit was live with about a half dozen institutions as we went to press with this article and is starting to see results. Current metrics indicate that it drives about 11 new qualified leads to each credit union per $1,000 in paid digital spend.
Each credit union partner sets qualification parameters based on its unique risk tolerance and origination workflow, which CardFit uses to indicate approval likelihood.
“We serve that half of the country that sometimes carries a balance and show them that rate beats rewards,” Gracia said. “As soon as you carry a balance, the rewards just completely get wiped out by the interest costs.”
Dedicated to Helping Credit Unions Grow Deposits
The numbers say folks who transfer expensive credit card balances to lower-rate credit union cards spend less to pay down debt. Credit union members set themselves and their communities up to get more of what everybody wants and needs.
Nickels serves behind the scenes as a CUSO (credit union service organization) partly owned by credit unions and recognized and regulated by the National Credit Union Administration. CardFit is the consumer-facing brand that helps eligible local community members realize the advantages and take action.
It arrives at a time of challenge as most, if not all, credit unions (and banks) find themselves in need of deposit resources. The pandemic may have led to the demise of the first version of Nickels. But pandemic stimulus funds also put billions in the pockets of consumers and businesses that ended up in savings and checking accounts.
“If you’re bringing in new members, you’re bringing in new deposits.”
Those “excess” deposits are now gone along with the stimulus programs that gave rise to them. Meanwhile, consumers have bigger fish to fry as interest rates and inflation drive up credit card debt and defaults.
It’s a perfect storm that puts CardFit in a position to help more credit unions quickly. Thus, new partners are coming to the fore, with the most recent being Lake Trust Credit Union, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
CardFit also recently signed on to participate in the 2025 testing agenda for the lab* at Filene, a research institute for “testing new tools, products, and strategic solutions for their potential to help credit unions grow and deepen their impact,” according to its website. That means working with six additional credit unions that will evaluate CardFit as a group.
“We should be live with more than 20 credit unions by the end of the quarter,” Gracia said. “If you’re bringing in new members, you’re bringing in new deposits.”