RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – Co-op Solutions has published a new white paper it said is designed to help credit unions both “plan and execute their own highly effective member-centricity strategies.”
“An actionable blueprint created to integrate easily with strategic planning, the information is based on proprietary credit union member research and insights from credit union CEOs,” Co-op said in releasing the white paper, “Building the New Member Centricity: A Blueprint for Credit Union Leaders.”
The paper, which is available at no charge here, stems from Co-op’s research in partnership with EY and Filene, as well as in-depth conversations with industry leaders who attended Co-op’s inaugural, multi-day THINK CEO Summit in mid-2022, the company said.
“Between 2021 and 2022, for instance, PayPal grew its primary financial relationships (PFRs) by a factor of five. Among the strategies catapulting the fintech newcomers to PFR dominance is a focus on customer centricity – or specifically, life-centricity,” Co-op said. “It’s a strategy Accenture predicts will generate annual growth rates nine percentage points higher for the organizations that deploy it.”
Indeed, Co-op noted its market research of earlier this year, reported in Co-op CU Growth Outlook, found that “creating active, daily engagement aimed at financial wellbeing…can achieve increases of 34% in member market share.”
Path to Greater Participation
“A great member experience is not just a service opportunity, it is a path to greater member economic participation,” said Samantha Paxson, chief experience officer for Co-op. “Based on the collective thinking of the nation’s leading credit union CEOs at our CEO Summit, we’ve created an economic growth blueprint to help credit unions pinpoint their individual opportunities to do more for members.
“Each credit union will discover a different set of existing competencies, as well as new areas for evolution, to drive member-centric, daily interaction, and transaction strategies to increase utilization,” Paxson continued. “By focusing on their unique strengths, credit unions will activate value for their members’ growth through meaningful, daily engagement to be the preferred financial interaction.”
A How-To Guide
According to Co-op, its strategy guide for credit union leaders is divided into two sections. The first includes concepts for transforming challenges – from reduced income to aging tech stacks – into opportunities.
“As an example, the white paper includes input from CEOs on their top challenges in the current environment,” Co-op said. “Improving the member experience topped the charts with 46% of credit union leaders naming it as the number one issue; member experience was followed closely by challenges around evolving the earnings mix, with 43% of CEOs choosing that option.”
Seven Elements
In the second section, Co-op said credit union strategists will find practical steps for moving their cooperatives toward measurable growth in PFR. The section walks through seven elements for achieving member-centricity, Co-op stated, including:
- Build a foundation of service
- Modernize technology infrastructure
- Optimize data
- Redefine financial wellness
- Establish payments as the path to growth
- Protect against future risk
- Develop talent for the future
The Recommendation
Co-op said it is recommending strategists begin with the first section to level-set peers’ perspectives against their own.
“After that, the second section will help strategists begin to craft their own customized plan of action to address the seven key components of member-centricity,” Co-op said.
To download “Building the New Member Centricity: A Blueprint for Credit Union Leaders” click here.
Just in Time for the Holidays, CUToday’s Free Morning Headline Email is Now Double-Free!
Don’t forget to check your Spam/Junk email folder if you haven’t been receiving your free, popular and daily CUToday.info news headlines.
And if you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time.
CUToday.info has received very positive response from readers following the move to an improved provider of the daily headlines, but many also noted they did need to go to their Spam/Junk folder and mark it as safe.
The new email solution has not only improved every reader’s delivery experience, but it also features a fresh, new format that is easy to read, especially on mobile devices.
Please note and/or make your IT department or email administrator aware the emails will be coming from the domains CUTodayinfo.com and CUTodayinfoReply.com.