MIAMI BEACH, Fla.–Todd Clark says he remembers few things from the days he was not yet five, but one thing he certainly recalls was his parents’ excitement around man landing on the moon in 1969.
While most people remember Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, few remember there were thousands of people collaborating behind the scenes to make it possible.
Credit unions, he said, have that same power to collaborate and achieve lunar landings of their own.
Clark, CEO of CO-OP Financial Services, offered an update on a variety of company initiatives during the THINK 19 Conference here, saying “We have our own Apollo 11 mission going on.”
“Cooperation is not just a value, it’s a business asset,” he said. “It is what excites me about being here. The power of 5,500 or so credit unions coming together, doing work that matters to people and makes people feel good, treating our employees and members well; those are the things that are a driving force for me.”
The Only Option
The only way to capture the four-fifths of the retail financial services market that is not with credit unions, said Clark, is through partnerships. He noted even Apple and Goldman Sachs opted to partner on the Apple Card.
“Cooperation is not lost on even the biggest of the big. But I think it’s a much more valuable asset for all of us,” he said.
Clark told the meeting CO-OP’s overarching mission is to “protect and defend the member relationship side of the business.”
Other points made by Clark:
- He noted the company’s scale and ability make it—as a representative of credit unions–a top five customer of its two biggest partners, FIS and First Data.
- Over the last 40 years, he said CO-OP has paid out $442 million in patronage, but its board is now less about patronage and more about investing in innovation.
- He noted JPMorgan Chase has 51-million customers, but CO-OP credit unions represent 60 million members.
Achievements Outlined
In addition, Clark said the company’s recent achievements have included:
- Consolidating three different shared branching networks
- Forming Enterprise Technology & Services
- Acquiring the remaining 51% share in TMG
- Rolling out and MDM strategy and technology set
- Introducing AI and machine learning, including the Cooper anti-fraud solution
- Introducing a developer portal
- Integrating numerous services
“What we want CO-OP to be is extremely boring, with downtime minimized,” he said. “When NCUA comes in, we want them to have a few small findings and say we’ll be back in a year or two. That’s what we want to be–incredibly boring and incredibly stable.”