Equity line time.

• Author: Wachtel, George
• Position: Letter Doctor - Letter to the editor

As a longtime member/customer of USAA, I receive regular mailings selling a variety of financial products from them. Here is the latest, which is promoting the timeless (and probably timely) home equity line of credit.

(1) The Letterhead. It is printed on semi-glossy stock, with this mock file tab--to remind their customers of the wide range of financial services they now provide.

(2) The Johnson's Box. Better to intrigue the reader here, than to provide the "solution" so quickly. The message would have been stronger with something like "How to lower your payments and save money each month ..."

(3) Name Personalization. The salutation is neat and clean; but it appears the production technique is something called "match/fill." Both the salutation and the "Offer expires ..." sentence in the last paragraph appear to be slightly off alignment from the rest of the text (which was probably offset printed in mass quantity).

(4) Opening Paragraph. It is good to tell the reader they are preapproved; but the sentence should go on to say how that will benefit them (i.e. "What's in it for me?").

(5) Savings Potential. The comparison box is a tried and true way of showing the potential savings between a low-cost equity line and high-cost credit card debt. With the white space available, they could have...