AUSTIN, Texas–PSCU is on pace to surpass $500 million in annual revenue this year, and the CUSO’s CEO is crediting its focus on a commitment to values and its sizable scale for its ongoing growth.
Speaking to PSCU’s Member Forum here, where approximately 1,000 people are on hand, Chuck Fagan said, “Our commitment to values is at the heart of everything we do every day. It’s how we hire, operate, evaluate.”
Fagan said the company is now more than a year into a partnership with the National Credit Union Foundation in ensuring its employees are schooled in the principles and foundation of credit unions. More than 1,000 of its employees have gone through training with the NCUSIF including 13 who have completed credit union development education (CUDE) training.
Five Organizing Principles
The principles around which the company is organized, he said, are service excellence, passion, trust, leadership and innovation.
“We hire employees based on these. If we abide by these things and align with what we are doing, we are going to grow,” said Fagan. “We know we are in the people-serving business. Even with investments we have approved this week, and we are going deep in AI, it’s still a people business.”
Acquisitions & Initiatives
Fagan told the meeting member demands continue to increase across multiple channels, which is why it is committed to the member experience. For that reason, PSCU has purchased several companies that are now subsidiaries, including Lumin Digital (for member engagement) and CU Recovery (to broaden collections beyond credit cards).
Other initiatives have included a 360-degree approach to preventing fraud, with Fagan saying PSCU was able to head off $210 million in attempted fraud in 2018 while keeping false positives low, as well as its Advisors Plus solution, which creates a strategic plan for a credit union’s card portfolio. Fagan said CUs that use Advisors Plus have seen balance growth that is 5.9x higher and transaction growth that is 1.5x higher than peers.
Renegotiating Deals
Fagan said PSCU’s continued growth and scale has allowed it to renegotiate 95% of the dollars spent to get better terms, creating greater efficiencies. He said the company is projecting 13%-14% revenue growth through 2020 and beyond. Of its $500-million in annual revenue, he said 5% is being invested back into the business in many of the ways outlined above.
“We have gotten revenue growing and now must sustain it,” said Fagan, who rejoined PSCU four years ago. “We continue to believe an unparalleled member experience is the PSCU differentiator. I feel like we’ve taken a stagnant company and repositioned it. When I first met with the board, I said my focus would be on three things: restore, reestablish, and resurge.
Learning About the Future
“We are focused on driving optimal experiences and then investing and learning about the future,” Fagan continued. “We have a whole team focused on faster payments. Flexibility is something we have heard loud and clear from you; don’t put my credit union in a box. So, we are building things that are specific to you.”
Fagan, who said the company has been on a 24-month run of improved back office efficiencies that provide a better experience for members, said PSCU will also be unveiling a new loyalty program later this year.