As the upcoming generation of consumers enters the financial services marketplace, credit unions should prepare to meet their expectations. Younger generations select financial institutions based on a very different set of criteria than their parents used.  They look for convenient, digital-first, personalized experiences—and they’re willing to walk away if a financial institution doesn’t deliver them.  In this episode of the CUNA News Podcast, Jamie Cosgrove, head of financial services at Podium, explores what the modern member expects from financial institutions, including the importance of a mobile-first, cashless transaction experience.  He also shares how credit unions can build trust with these members and explains how their preferences fit into growing consumer acceptance of digital banking due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.  Cosgrove says there are many tools available to move credit unions in the right direction, and they can provide feedback much more quickly than ever before.

CUNA News Podcast

GAC speaker preview, part 1

It’s been almost a year since the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic triggered nationwide lockdowns, remote work arrangements, and other massive challenges across the country. Through it all, credit unions have adapted and innovated to continue to serve members—but it hasn’t been easy. Fortunately, credit unions don’t have to go it alone. Groups like CUNA Strategic Services (CSS) work with credit unions to identify their business challenges and find solutions through industry providers. This episode of the CUNA News Podcast features Barb Lowman, president of CSS. Lowman shares what credit unions should know about CSS, including how it works with providers and the changes CSS has made to serve credit unions effectively during the pandemic. She also highlights some of the ways providers have supported credit unions and suggests a few solutions credit unions should consider in the days ahead.

Provider solutions

The most impactful moments don’t always appear on a resume or LinkedIn profile. “Sometimes the best things that happen to people to improve their life and to help them make great decisions are those things you would never hear about unless you are willing to deeply ask and get curious,” says Antonio Neves, speaker, author, and host of “The Best Thing” podcast. Neves will be the emcee at the 2021 CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference, which will be held virtually March 2-4.

Dig deep to discover 'the best thing'

For credit unions, the member experience has been virtually redefined since the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Member expectations have shifted as safety and ease of use redefine the consumer landscape. This raises two questions for credit unions, according to Jayne Hitman, national program manager for Creating Member Loyalty (CML), a development strategy program from CUNA focused on increasing employee engagement and the member experience. First, how do credit unions anticipate these changing dynamics among their members and prospective members? Second, what changes should credit unions make to meet these expectations and to deliver consistently great experiences across all their delivery channels? Additionally, assessing member satisfaction must also evolve, according to Paul Robert, CEO of FI Strategies, a strategic partner of CML. Measuring ease of use is at least half the equation in this new landscape, Robert says.

Changing service culture

As members’ interactions with their credit unions become more digital, their engagement creates a legacy of data that can be collected and analyzed to improve business performance. In this podcast, sponsored by Trellance, Kaushal Pandya, senior vice president of data management and chief data officer at Trellance, explains how credit unions can develop the tools to catalog and maintain their own data management programs. As Kaushal says in this interview, data management competency is a blend of people, technology, and process. Trellance works with credit unions to ensure each of those elements is integrated smoothly into an organization’s data management system. With the right practices and principles, virtually every credit union can maintain a quality data management platform, paving the way for better member engagement and product and service growth.

The benefits of agile marketing

Sticking to the fundamentals and building relationships with members are key components of lending, say two award-winning lenders. Lloyd Gill, retired CEO at $565 million asset We Florida Financial in Margate, Fla., and Tim Dunham, vice president of consumer lending at $1.1 billion asset Credit Union of America in Wichita, Kan., joined the CUNA News Podcast to talk about lending during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, what lending will look like in the future, the importance of relationship building, and more. The CUNA Lending Council named Gill the 2020 Phil Greer Lifetime Achievement Award winner and Dunham the 2020 Rising Star during the CUNA Lending Council Virtual Conference in November.

Insights into lending

The outset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020 provided unforeseen challenges for every credit union leader. Leadership lessons gleaned from webinars and audiobooks were put to the test under the pressure of a crisis, and new lessons were forged from failure and success. In this podcast, two credit union CEOs share their pandemic experiences and how they’re moving forward in 2021. Lynette Smith, president/CEO of $130 million asset TruEnergy Credit Union in Springfield, Va., shares how TruEnergy leveraged a largely remote workforce to serve 9,000 members during the pandemic with a blend of technology and appointment-only, face-to-face member service. Max Villaronga, president/CEO of El Paso (Texas) Area Teachers Federal Credit Union, explains how the $740 million asset credit union serves 65,000 members largely through remote services in one of the states hardest hit by the pandemic. Smith and Villaronga provide insight and lessons that credit union leaders can apply within their own organizations.

Pandemic leadership lessons

When Jordan van Rijn looks back at 2020, what stands out most is how quickly the economy is recovering following dramatic declines in gross domestic product and skyrocketing unemployment due to the pandemic. While the economy isn’t in the clear, van Rijn, CUNA’s senior economist, is heartened by the resilience of the U.S. economy—and credit unions. He’s hopeful for a recovery this year as COVID-19 vaccines become more widely available and administered. In this episode of the CUNA News Podcast, recorded in late December, van Rijn offers projections for economic growth and unemployment in 2021, the outlook for credit union balance sheets, possible roadblocks, reasons for hope, and more.

2021 economic forecast

Among the unforeseen challenges the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has created for credit unions are the compliance requirements driven by social and safety considerations. In this podcast, David Reed, an attorney, consultant, and trainer with Reed & Jolly, PLLC, explains how credit unions can continue to handle operations and human resources in the new normal, as pandemic-related considerations redefine the work environment. The top priority should be security and safety for members and employees, says Reed. Credit unions have plenty of best practices to follow but still must navigate the challenging territory of execution and communication. Reed also shares how credit unions can minimize risk while focusing on the member experience in 2021.

Compliance for the pandemic

It used to be that only large lenders with extensive financial and development resources could even think about building their own loan origination systems. Today, innovations in hardware, software, and agile processes allow smaller lenders to do so as well. With the need for personalized relationship management becoming increasingly vital for serving members, credit unions can envision and create loan origination systems specific to their business needs. This episode of the CUNA News Podcast, sponsored by defi SOLUTIONS, features Scott Hendriks, director of product strategy for defi SOLUTIONS, and Craig Levering, director of banking transformation practice for PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services. Hendriks and Levering discuss some of the technological and industry changes that enable credit unions to build their own loan origination systems. They also highlight the business benefits of doing so, trends to watch, and more. 

Faith-based credit unions

When the coronavirus (COVID-19) struck, CO-OP Financial Services had to act quickly and deploy its workforce in a remote environment. But it knew it also had to continue to assist credit unions as they worked to meet the needs of their members during the pandemic. “Our vision is to be an indispensable financial technology partner for credit unions,” says Todd Clark, CEO of CO-OP Financial Services. “We’ve made great strides for our clients. Within a couple of weeks, we shifted our focus for a short window of time to put some proactive COVID response solutions in place and a lot more self-service integration of digital tools through our developer portal.” Developing primary financial institution relationships is key for credit unions, especially during the pandemic, Clark says. Credit unions have done this and continue to put members’ needs ahead of profits during this challenging time. “Credit unions continued to be compassionate banking alternative,” Clark says. “And we’re reminding our credit unions right now that their members need them more than ever. Being there for their members, gaining their trust, and being their ally will increase loyalty in the long term.” In this episode of the CUNA News Podcast, sponsored by CO-OP Financial Services, Clark discusses the importance of payments as an avenue for growth, how COVID-19 has impacted digital transformation, how to leverage data to support financially fragile members, and more.

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CUNA News Podcast

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