Exchange Credit Program Quickly Pivots to Provide Assistance for Guam Cardholders Following Typhoon
After Super Typhoon Mawar hit Guam on May 24, the Exchange worked to ensure associates’ safety and reopen the facilities as soon as possible for the community.
At headquarters, the Exchange Credit Program (ECP) team sprang into action, assessing how it could help MILITARY STAR® cardmembers affected by the typhoon. The team created temporary emergency relief terms for all cardmembers residing in Guam, providing 90 days of no interest and no payments on card balances and new purchases. The terms are provided automatically, so Guam cardholders do not need to apply or request the emergency relief.
“Many military residents in Guam are dealing with property damage, lack of utilities and the like,” said Grant McCloud, ECP vice president of credit strategy. “The MILITARY STAR emergency relief takes one thing off their mind so they can focus on getting back on their feet.”
The effort involved many moving parts across ECP and other directorates from start to finish: The Finance and Risk teams determined the financial terms of the assistance, while IT and Development teams created the programming necessary to automatically implement the terms. Meanwhile, ECP’s team worked with the signing team to create posters and digital products to share the information with shoppers, and ECP Call Center agents were briefed on the assistance. Throughout the process, ECP worked closely with Store Operations and Pacific Region leadership to ensure everyone was informed and on the same page.
ECP also communicated with the other military resale partners, as the Navy and Marine Corps have a presence on Guam, and MILITARY STAR is used by members of all military branches.
“There’s a lot of complexity to the process, especially on short notice,” McCloud said. “Typically, we plan our financing offers at least two or three months in advance, but we had to turn this offer around in a matter of days in order to help our affected cardmembers.”
The cross-functional effort also put into place a process for future situations. While emergency relief for disasters is determined based on each situation, ECP’s rollout of the assistance for Guam provides a blueprint that will allow the team to deploy relief terms for similar instances in the future even faster.
“I was thrilled with the team’s response to this emergency,” McCloud said. “We needed so many people involved to make this happen, and they all responded immediately, no hesitation. The can-do attitude really shines at the Exchange.”
