GLASGOW, Scotland–Smaller credit unions have plenty of opportunities to leverage technologies despite their limited resources, according to one discussion that took place here.
During a session at the World Credit Union Conference titled “Small Credit Unions & Technology: Innovation for Growth,” two people discussed what they are seeing and offered some recommendations for smaller credit unions.
Serving as moderator of the discussion was Scott Butterfield, who began in credit unions as a teller in 1985, spent the next 25 years working in CUs and founded his Seattle-based consulting firm, Your Credit Union Partner, 14 years ago. Today it works with 200 CUs in the U.S. and two more in the U.K.
Brett Wooden is SVP innovation at FTSI. Wooden worked in credit unions for 25-plus years before moving to the vendor.
Here’s a look at what was discussed:
Butterfield: (Referring to a presentation during the meeting on future readiness, as reported by CUToday.info here) I was surprised by how many CUs said they were future ready. To be honest, even my larger CU clients, if you speak with them one on one, would say they are not.
Wooden: The world right now in a state of future shock. That’s when government policies and regulations are not keeping up with the speed of technology and advancement. The world and big credit unions are in the same boat as small CUs in trying to keep up. The other thing is there is a lot of perceived barriers going against us from our boards and our executive teams when it comes to technology. The first one you hear is we don’t have enough money to implement some of this stuff. The second is that our membership is not very tech savvy.
Really when you look at the landscape of what’s present, I always go back to one of when credit unions don’t know where to start. ‘You start with the member experience and you work toward the technology, not the other way around.’ You start with the journey of your membership; you have to know your members. I would do things like empathy mapping. What are members doing, feeling, experiencing?
Wodden said credit unions should be looking at things like:
- Wearables, such as Fitbit. He said one CU has partnered with Fitbit in the belief physical health and financial health go hand and hand, and offers rate discounts to those who are regularly exercising.
- Set-top boxes. “When you build an app in the app stores, Apple and Google want you to have it on all their devices. I’ve seen some small CUs launch in the Chrome Cast, Roku, and Google platforms. It’s a way to be there everywhere. We want to be where people are.”
- Artificial Intelligence. “It’s our belief AI can help in the Great Resignation. Staff is burned out. Utilize AI to help with member care. Create templates. There are platforms out there that are very cheap that allow you to use a dropdown and to paste. Then utilize the data. Know what your members ask. What are members’ pain points? Why are they calling your branches? AI should not take away the employee. It should go hand-in-hand.”
- Hand-held devices. “Members still spend one second on your website before they head to your mobile banking. Market there. Be where your members are. As a small credit union don’t be a victim of your vendor. Know what’s out there for you and push your vendor further.”
Butterfield: Do you have a best practice on a smaller credit union that has implemented AI?
Wooden: In one credit union’s three-year strategic plan, the first year it was internal only. They looked at data, went through it, looked at their transaction servers and put all those into categories. And then they created things like their marketing promotions. One credit union found members’ biggest purchase was McDonalds, so they used that in a promotion by giving away gift cards.
Butterfield: For smaller CUs, do you see an opportunity from some of the AI apps or mobile app where credit unions can be collaborating together and working with the vendor?
Wooden: There are a lot of credit unions collaborating on financial well-being apps. A lot of times they have a great idea. What we recommend is getting those credit unions together and walking them through the design-thinking process and the problem trying to be solved. Unitus CU and four other CUs have been creating an app for the Urban League of Portland.
Butterfield: You said while working at a credit union you would watch hospital workers at the end of their shifts. Why?
Wooden: We would have our board meetings during the shift switch. (The employees) all first went to Starbucks and then literally would sit in the chair and lean back and close their eyes. It was a decompression. When I went back to our credit union I said last thing they want to do is call into our call center and then need a call back. I could tell they were stressed out. Forty-percent of the medical debt was their own employees.
Butterfield: The goal then is not to get a mobile app, it’s to answer what problem are we trying to solve?
Wooden: It’s also about keeping it simple. It’s about going back to design to make it simple. It makes me cringe when you hit a dropdown and there are 60 things to choose from. In your mobile app what are your members truly doing? Do your members really go to those extra things?
Butterfield: What about the metaverse?
Wooden. The metaverse is a virtual world focused on social connection.
Butterfield: How can credit unions get involved in the metaverse?
Wooden: Gaming accounts are attached to a debit or credit card. That’s where we as small credit unions can focus first. We want this virtual world to attach our cards.
Small credit unions can collaborate and this is where we can impact financial education for kids. There are a lot of tools for teachers. But 40% of kids 14-17 are in these virtual worlds. There is no representation of credit unions. Why not embrace where kids are? It’s so low cost. This is where I feel small credit unions could have a huge impact--in the financial well-being for kids.
Butterfield: We are all looking for younger members. If younger members are all attached to the metaverse, why not have this connection? Many of us do reality fairs. What if there was a reality fair in the metaverse. Now you don’t have to go recruit 50 volunteers to make it happen.
Wooden; The metaverse exists now. You don’t have to be in VR ware. Credit unions can also tap influencers. There are kids who make millions of dollars on YouTube. Why not reach out to those influencers: Hey, if you promote our credit union while you play the game, we’ll pay you, we’ll have you livestream on our Facebook page.
Augmented reality is also getting a lot of funding. If someone buying something, you could place financial information perhaps in a bubble using augmented reality.
Butterfield: Do you have other advice?
Wooden: My final advice is start cleaning your data. Look at your data and how it is being used to prepare for artificial intelligence. First thing you will need is clean data and data you understand.
In the future AI will rewrite itself. Use this software when it comes to responding to members and educating your staff.
Butterfield: Where should a credit union start in researching Metaverse?
Wooden: There are a lot of sites and conversations out there. The companies I would follow would be those doing ID authentication, so fi a member walks in or they are in a virtual environment, it scans their face to validate they are a member. Billions are being invested and they are looking for testers and beta-users.
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