LAS VEGAS—Credit unions are suffering from manual back-end processes that are slowing service and the industry’s service rankings.
But to change those behind-the-scenes steps as digital delivery dominates consumers’ expectations, a credit union must not just myopically examine its current process steps, said Mark Robnett, president and CEO of Justice Federal Credit Union in Chantilly, Va. Instead, it must also envision where it wants a product or service to be and then work backward on the process steps, asserted one expert during PSCU’s 2022 Member Forum here.
Robnett spoke during a panel session focused on the latest industry trends
While the front-end appearances, such as websites and mobile apps, can look slick, the back-end of the credit union can be “a mess,” Robnett said.
“When we think of digital process improvement we look at our back-end processes. But what we really do at our credit union is look forward at where we want to go,” he explained.
This approach, opposed to just looking at back-end steps closely, gives the credit union a much better “perspective,” Robnett said. “And, this can lead to a new way of getting things done, which is often better."
CUs Slipping
As cutoday.info has reported, credit unions for the third year in a row fell behind banks in the American Consumer Satisfaction Index rankings. Experts have stated that credit unions need to look at the steps in their back-end processes to find the friction points that are slowing members’ experiences and turning them to other, faster financial services providers.
“It is all about making it frictionless and rethinking the outcome,” said Robnett. “And when you get better at digital delivery a smaller credit union can seem large. A credit union in the million-dollar asset range can seem like a billion-dollar organization.”
A Unique Challenge
Amy Sink, CEO of Interra Credit Union in Goshen, Ind., acknowledged digital delivery is sometimes difficult to do in its market, for a unique reason.
“Twenty-five percent of our members are Amish, so there are some challenges there,” Sink said. “Also, there are many rural markets in Indiana where digital service is very slow.”
Sink told meeting attendees that was apparent when the CU’s branches opened back up following COVID shutdowns.
“The branch traffic came right back,” she said.
Sink contends that getting better at digital service is actually an advantage for small credit unions.
“We are smaller than the big banks so we can be more nimble,” she said. “We can try things and work with new partners more quickly than big banks and transform ourselves.”
Sink added she is concerned for smaller credit unions that have old core systems that won’t take those organizations into the future.
New Working World
Turning to the topic of the new work environment brought on by the shift to remote work and the Great Resignation, Chris Shockley, president and CEO of Virginia Credit Union in Richmond, Va., said, “Employees are telling their leaders they want to work at an organization that offers flexibility and opportunity and to be connected with a mission. That is the definition of a credit union. So, if your employees tell you they want to go somewhere else, let them know that the grass they are looking at outside the credit union is artificial turf, and that the best place is the credit union and you need them there.”