ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—The primary things it takes to become a member’s primary financial institution (PFI) are changing quickly with the migration to digital services, says PSCU.
“We are taking another look at the old definition of PFI—which was having the member’s checking account and maybe direct deposit,” said PSCU President and CEO Chuck Fagan. “That simply isn’t enough anymore. It’s more about engagement—are you putting the right reward programs in place. Are you protecting your members and giving them confidence from a fraud and security perspective… Becoming members’ PFI today is more about engaging with them to encourage them to shift to digital services.”
Fagan said that the ability of the credit union to make members feel secure, but not be intrusive, is a critical skill to develop if the CU wants to remain top of wallet with their card offerings.
“If you are declining them too much because you have your fraud parameters set too tight, then your card goes down in the queue. If you are too loose and the member continues to experience incidents of fraud and a lot of reissues, your card goes down in the queue. So it’s really managing fraud at the right level to not interrupt usability of the card while at the same time protecting the asset,” he said.
Balancing Act
Fagan acknowledged that can be a tough balancing act.
“But PSCU can help here. We have 900 member credit unions across the country, and if we see a fraud trend in California we can put strategies in place that are going to protect credit unions in New York or Virginia, for example. All of our members benefit from all that we are seeing,” Fagan said. “The more you see the more you know.”
Chuck Fagan
Fagan said that PSCU is staying ahead of fraudsters not only with system-based learning solutions but also as the result of “people working around the clock understanding what the fraudsters are trying to do—the crooks are not willing to take a pay cut, as we know.”
Turning to threats from the banks, Fagan reminded that credit unions need to keep pace with the larger financial institutions to remain relevant with members. He said that PSCU is helping its members here by taking 5% of its annual revenue and putting it back into new product development.
“And this is largely focused around mobile solutions that credit unions can tap into,” Fagan said. “This helps credit unions offer the latest products and ensures their relevance.”