Houston, Texas – First Service Credit Union has been recognized with three 2026 Diamond Awards from America’s Credit Unions, a national program honoring excellence in credit union marketing.
The Diamond Awards celebrate standout campaigns, creative storytelling, and meaningful member engagement across the country. Entries are judged by marketing professionals from peer credit unions, making this recognition especially meaningful within the industry.
“These awards reflect a team that isn’t afraid to challenge expectations of what credit union marketing can look like,” said Candice Harris, Chief Marketing Officer at First Service Credit Union. “Whether we’re turning a branch opening into a true community event, creating experiences that make kids excited about banking, or applying retail tactics to financial products, our goal is always the same: connect with people in a way that feels real, relevant, and valuable.”
The award-winning campaigns each took a different approach to member engagement:
The Sugar Land Grand Opening reimagined a traditional ribbon cutting as a community celebration, drawing families in with local partnerships, interactive experiences, and a firsthand look at the credit union’s relationship-focused branch design.
The Bongo Bash campaign transformed youth banking into an interactive, in-branch experience, using gaming-inspired elements and hands-on activities to engage kids and families, resulting in a significant increase in new youth accounts.
The Cyber Monday Campaign introduced a four-hour flash sale model to financial services, generating more than $15.5 million in CD deposits and funding 93 loans in a single day. Cyber Monday has conditioned consumers to expect limited-time deals, but very few apply this model to banking. By combining urgency with compelling, easy-to-understand offers, the credit union was able to help savvy, engaged members take advantage of a limited-time deal to save more than they would on a normal day.
Together, these campaigns reflect First Service Credit Union’s continued focus on innovation, community connection, and delivering meaningful value to its members.
About First Service Credit Union
First Service Credit Union is a member-owned financial cooperative based in the Houston, Texas area. We understand the importance of a healthy financial life. That’s why 15 Brown & Root employees gathered in 1977 to form our not-for-profit credit union based on a mission to serve and help people reach their financial goals. Today we’re more than 103,000 members strong with more than $1.4 billion in assets. And we’ve held true to our mission of always placing our members first.Membership is available to the family of existing members and those who live, work, worship or attend school in Conroe or Magnolia Independent School Districts or any of these counties: Austin County, Brazoria County, Chambers County, Fort Bend County, Galveston County, Grimes County, Harris County, Liberty County, Matagorda County, Montgomery County, San Jacinto County and Waller County. First Service also serves the employees of a number of Select Employee Groups, including KBR and CenterPoint.