MADISON, Wis.—The day-to-day can get in the way of innovation, emphasizes one industry expert, who told credit unions they must break loose from those kinds of ties if they want to create the kinds of new processes and opportunities needed to compete with the big banks and fintechs.
“People have a lot of misperceptions as to what innovation is, and sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot because we get so caught up in the sort of day-to-day thinking, thinking about things in a certain way, we don't get creative,” said Jeffrey Robinson during a Filene Research Institute webinar on the organization’s newest Center of Excellence—the Center For Innovation and Incubation.
Robinson, a Filene fellow who’s heading the Center for Innovation & Incubation, spoke about what lies ahead for center, how it will assist CUs, and how credit unions should be looking at innovation themselves.
The new center is among the six Filene Centers of Excellence: Center for Data Analytics and the Future of Financial Services, Center for Consumer Lives In Transition, Center for Diversity Equity & Inclusion, Center for Community Social Impact, and the Center for Emerging Technology.
Why The Box Exists
“People like to use the phrase think out of the box,” said Robinson. “How we’ve done things over time—we have to break out of that. You know why there is a box, because of people's perceptions of how things have always been done.”
But Robinson said that in a world in which innovation and the digital landscape is changing rapidly, credit unions have to break out of their old habits and ways.
“I always joke with my students about this—if you had told me 10 years ago that I would input my address into my phone and in minutes some unknown car with a driver would show up at my door to take me where I need to go, I would have never thought that was possible,” said Robinson, who is on the faculty of Rutgers Business School. “That’s a good example of innovation.”
Consumer expectations are changing quickly and what they expect from their credit union is changing as well. Robinson said credit unions have to break away from the day-to-day mentality and get to a stage of innovation.
“Because if you don't, there's a lot of competitors out there who are going to get there,” he said.
Opportunities Being Addressed
Robinson outlined some of the early opportunities the Center for Innovation & Incubation will address:
- Adapting to digital
- Mining for growth
- Financial health as a strategy
- Future of work
- Remixing the value proposition
“These are some interesting areas, because we think there can be new products and services that could come out of each of these five areas,” Robinson said.
Robinson noted that focusing on the credit union value proposition provides a great deal of opportunity for the industry.
“We will focus on what is it that credit unions do that you make them unique, special and different from other financial institutions, and why should a member or consumer think about having their account at the credit union,” he said.
Robinson added that most people think about innovation as a thing.
“But it’s actually a process,” he concluded. “It’s a process that can get you thinking differently.”