SAVANNAH, Ga.–A credit union that has an internal “lab” in which it is able to test its digital offerings with members to see if their behavior actually matches what they say they will do, shared some advice with credit unions gathered here.
Speaking to America’s Credit Unions’ Strategic Growth Conference, Ben Maxim, chief innovation officer with MSUFCU in Michigan, reminded his audience that “Our true competitors aren’t each other and are not the banks, it’s the experiences our members have every day. Our members are engaging with these brands and it shapes what they expect our experience to be like.”
To that end, for example, he said members of MSUFCU, many of whom are college students, have stated they won’t shop anywhere that doesn’t offer a buy now, pay later financing option, which is not great news for any credit union that wants and needs members to use the CU’s cards.
Other Areas Deserving Attention
Among some of the other points made and examples shared:
- Automation. Maxim shared how MSUFCU has created a member-facing chatbot called Fran based on natural language processing that has taken on the work of 50 employees each month. Those employees have been redirected to other functions.
Internally, it has created “Gene” to answer employees’ numerous questions, which he said is turned to as a resource 3,500 times a month. Employees have been asking for additional information and resources to be included.
- Tokenization. Maxim said by 2028, 85% of global transactions will be made through tokenization on ecommerce sites. “So, if you’re not in Apple Pay, you need to get your card in there.”
- Spatial Computing. Maxim urged credit unions to pay extra attention to spatial computing technology, or the VR technologies represented by headsets such as Oculus that are growing rapidly.
“People are going to work and live and do finances in this environment,” he said, pointing out $280 billion is expected to be spent on the technology over the next five years.
In MSUFCU's case, it has used the technology so far to help with financial wellness for members.
“People who feel their PFI has helped them with their financial health are three times more likely to recommend and be satisfied,” he said. “We use it at MSUFCU as a way to teach you what you can do and then make some recommendations about tools. It’s a way to do more with our brand than just come in and move some money around and check balances.”
Now With Free Shipping! The CUToday.info Daily News Email Keeps Getting Better!
The biggest, best and freshest news reporting in credit unions remains free, and now has an added bonus---free shipping to your email address! That’s right. Each morning CUToday.info delivers its daily Fresh Today news update offering the latest headlines and breaking news right to your email, with the easy-to-read headlines format allowing you to click on the stories that interest you most in order to learn more. So stop paying those bank-fee-like subscription prices from other so-called “news” publications!
If you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time—and it’s free!
Please note that after signing up you may need to go to your Spam/Junk folder and mark the morning headlines email as safe. CUToday.info does not provide its list of readers and emails to outside parties, and we will not be contacting you to sell you an extended warranty or sending you any links so you may cash in on an inheritance you didn’t know was coming.
And did we mention it’s free?