GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.– CU*Answers’ hosted its Annual Leadership Conference and Stockholders Meeting here. The event brought together credit union leadership from across the country for a briefing on the organization’s overall direction and major projects in the works for the coming year. At a separate session, CU*Answers Stockholders met for the annual board member election and to hear a recap of the CUSO’s financial position and projections for the fiscal year.
This year’s conference theme was “Would You Like Fries With That?” and included several CU*Answers- and client-produced videos that emphasized Internet Retailing strategies and developing automated responses to credit union member activity.
“We picked this theme to focus credit unions on their retailing strategies and anticipating automatic responses to members,” said CEO Randy Karnes.
Karnes said that credit unions are in a transition time where their online strategies are moving from a self-service focus. “Self-service implies the member already knows what they want. It’s time to move to an online retail focus to generate bottom-line opportunity,” said Karnes. “It takes two to have a conversation, so what is your automated response to member inquiry?”
Karnes challenged the group to start viewing their members as shoppers. “Start by thinking through whether you see your members as shoppers or people you simple serve,” he said. “Consider the difference between how you see yourself in your lobby and how you might need to tweak that for your online store. Getting your team out of their comfort zone is key to designing a new experience.”
The day-long conference was attended by 169 leaders from 96 credit unions, along with 22 vendors and 36 internal staff. And 59 of the CUSO’s 152 owners attended the evening Stockholders Meeting, with many more sending their vote electronically or by proxy.
Taking Advantage of Cybersecurity Grants
Meanwhile, during June, AdvantageCIO, the strategic technology consulting group at CU*Answers, has been encouraging and assisting in-network credit unions eligible for the $7,500 NCUA fraud and cybersecurity initiative grant to take advantage of this opportunity window and assess and improve their current security posture.
"Cybersecurity and resilience are serious economic concerns rapidly spreading throughout the credit union industry as the risk of data breach and fraud continues to expand," said Jim Lawrence, Manager of Business Continuity and Recovery Services at CU*Answers and AdvantageCIO consultant. "As an engaged and committed CUSO, CU*Answers and AdvantageCIO have the professional resources available to help credit unions design and build the infrastructure needed to continually monitor and enhance the security of their systems and to protect member information."
Engagements designed to help credit unions improve cybersecurity and resilience include:
* Cybersecurity Assessments
* Information Security Risk Assessment and Program Development
* Strategic Technology Planning
* Education for Staff, Senior Management and Board of Directors
* Ongoing Cybersecurity Compliance Management
* Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning
For info: http://www.cuanswers.com/wp-content/uploads/Cybersecurity_grant_flyer.pdf.
Element Federal's Linda Bodie Recognized
Meanwhile, during its Leadership Conference on June 17th, CU*Answers recognized Element Federal CU in Charleston, West Virginia, and its CEO, Linda Bodie, as the winner of the 5th annual “Spirit of CU*Answers” award for the credit union’s aggressive efforts to expand the online retail experience for its members.
“I seldom see a ‘start today’ attitude like what I see when I talk to Linda Bodie,” said CU*Answers CEO Randy Karnes as he announced the award to the nearly 200 assembled credit union professionals. “Element specializes in ‘get-to-market-now’ to build a future, then invest more when that future seems positive,” Karnes said. “Where some might see low-tech, I see go-tech: priced properly, and with the intent to prove it first and then grow based on a right-sized analysis.”
The Spirit of CU*Answers award, established in 2011, recognizes a client credit union for excellence in a variety of areas. In addition to the focus on collaboration and cooperation exemplified by this year’s winner, the award also allows the CUSO to recognize credit unions who have strong volunteer programs, who’ve demonstrated particularly strong execution and performance or a high level of adoption of CU*Answers tools, who have found new ways to demonstrate commitment to the 7 Cooperative Principles, or who’ve started new businesses in the network.