About Point West Credit Union
For more than 80 years, Point West has striven to bring financial inclusion and empowerment to the Portland metro area. They are proud to be a not-for-profit, member owned financial institution working to lift up the underserved, including immigrants, communities of color, and small businesses.
Here’s a snapshot of the credit union at the time of its most recent website refresh in October 2020:
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Asset size
Over $100 million
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Number of branches
One
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Number of members
About 10,000
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Field of Membership
14 Oregon counties
You don’t just do web design. You help credit unions find their strategic differentiators and then bring them ideas to help them succeed in standing out from the crowd.
— Steve Pagenstecher, Point West Credit Union, VP Member Experience
About the project
By bringing financial empowerment to the underserved, Point West is the epitome of a mission-driven financial institution. PixelSpoke approached the website redesign as both photojournalists and marketers, bringing individual member stories to the forefront. Rather than focus on products, we focused on the members—Citizens of Point West.
We first redesigned Point West’s website in 2016, then refreshed the look and feel in 2020. The website redesign, which won a W3 Award and a Communicator Award, focused first and foremost on leading with values, highlighting impact through stories and numbers, and serving members both at home and in the branch.
Leading with values
Point West believes in an inclusive community, where our values are what define us and guide our actions. We couldn’t agree more. We dedicated an entire section of the site to highlight this—featuring member photos, guiding principles, and resources for members to get more involved.
The website was just the beginning. We followed through with a printed piece (in both Spanish and English), and partnered with Point West’s internal marketing team on a social media campaign. Not only is the Declaration of Beliefs in Spanish, but we translated the entire site, with the intention of making Point West more accessible to those they serve.
Highlighting impact through stories and numbers
How do you capture impact? Numbers are a no-brainer, but we also wanted to explore the real people and stories behind the numbers. On Point West’s Community Impact page, an elegant sticky navigation solution enables visitors to toggle between data and interactive member stories.
Serving members at home and in the branch
Point West doesn’t really do things halfway. In the midst of its initial website redesign, the credit union was also cooking up plans for a new branch. At our request, the team shared flooring and carpet samples, and we recreated some of the colors, patterns and textures on the website. During the branch buildout, we supplied images from the custom photo shoot and the crew incorporated imagery and design from the website into the branch itself.
In an effort to make things even more convenient for members, we also created an entire microsite dedicated to an in-branch kiosk, where members could visit an abbreviated version of the website to take care of important business. Even with limited space and staff available, getting in and out on payday is now a piece of cake.
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