THE 'tude

Earlier this year, I asked whether in today’s credit union environment CUs are better off taking a build or buy approach to acquiring the products and services they need to compete.

A credit union branch without tellers? The premise almost contradicts itself, but it’s exactly the idea behind Coastal Federal Credit Union’s (Coastal) innovative and successful credit union branch concept.

While financial technology (fintech) disrupters and innovators were perceived initially as threats to credit unions’ business models (think Dwolla, PayPal and Starbucks), it is worth considering instead the opportunities they present for credit unions to compete more effectively and win in their markets.