By Frank J. Diekmann
If you listen carefully, you can hear it just below the kumbaya chorus in credit unions—it’s one of those very quiet things like the slow drip of water that with enough time can create a mighty stalagtite.
While there’s been more discussion and panels and blogs and chatter about small credit unions and cooperativism, I’ve been sensing some subtle little things that can be picked up in the attitudes and mindsets of many leaders within the CU community, particularly those who are newer and come out of banking and who think of credit unions more as an “industry” than a “movement.”
These are the folks for whom the idea of the 7 Cooperative Principles, for instance, is more of a museum piece than a principal differentiation, something to be tucked away in that mythical cigar box that was at the heart of every CU’s origin story. They give it lip service, but it’s really just a slow kiss goodbye. It’s more, ‘Hey, that was all well and good in it’s time, but…’ It’s no longer time, they say in any number of indirect ways.
Case in point was a small side comment I heard made by an executive with a very large credit union in California who came to the CU from a bank. During a discussion/debate about the value of using a CUSO and of keeping business inside the credit union family, this exec observed that at the end of the day, when it comes to choosing a vendor he has to decide “what is best for us.”
And by us, he meant his CU, not the larger CU “us.”
Wait, Don’t Change the Channel
Addressing the NACUSO Network meeting, the man widely considered the NFL’s greatest wide receiver of all time, Jerry Rice, said it was something of a fluke he ended up playing for the San Francisco 49ers and paired with a quarterback who would put the words “Montana to Rice—touchdown!” in the mouths of TV and radio announcers all over the country for more than a decade.
According to Rice, then 49ers Coach (and the equally legendary) Bill Walsh was flipping through TV channels one day when he came across a football game and first got to see Rice, then playing for Mississippi Valley State. That piqued Walsh’s interest, and the 49ers eventually traded up in the draft to get Rice in the first round.
“Without that, I probably wouldn’t have been a San Francisco 49er,” said Rice.
You can read everything Rice had to say about his career and more here.
OK, But How Do You Define It?
You hear the words “active member” often when credit unions are talking about their best (and most profitable) members. Which does seem to make sense. But during the NACUSO Network meeting, one person said it’s not so simple. “Define an active membership in a credit union?” this person challenged. “What does that mean? How many definitions do you have? Twelve? Fourteen?”
When The Big Trees Fall
During that same NACUSO Network meeting, former NCUA Chairman Dennis Dollar said there’s a reason the agency’s examiners are spending more time at the nation’s largest and most sophisticated credit unions. He noted there are 421 credit unions of a billion dollars in assets or larger that collectively hold about $1.63 trillion in deposits. The entire balance of the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund is about $20 billion to protect those deposits and all others in the event of a failure.
“You lose four or five of the largest credit unions and you could break the insurance fund and be on the front page of the Wall Street Journal,” he said. “NCUA is right to focus on the largest credit unions. But here’s the conundrum: the performance at the largest credit unions is much better than the smallest credit unions. Every (credit union peer group) below one $1 billion in assets had either flat or negative growth in membership and loans (in 2022).”
Thank You—50 Years Later
Among those in attendance at the recent retirement event for John Deese, the outgoing president/CEO of Guardians Credit Union in West Palm Beach, Fla., was Dan Mica, the one-time president and CEO of CUNA. Mica, who now lives in the Washington area, represented the West Palm Beach area when he served in Congress from 1979-89 (although Deese’s relationship with him was from when he served on the CUNA board). Prior to being elected, Mica was an assistant to Rep. Paul G. Rogers from 1968-78.
During the retirement party—and it was an impressive tribute with a big turnout that was indicative of the affect Deese has had on many—a man approached Mica and said he just wanted to thank him for his help in getting him his VA benefits—in 1968!
I happened to be sitting next to Dan who was pretty moved that he had been able to make a difference for someone and who remembered the gesture all these years later. Mica, it should be noted, also led the effort to get a VA hospital built in Palm Beach County while he was in Congress.
By the way, I just have to note that while Dan was CEO of CUNA I had lunch with him one day when he was in South Florida and while it was off the record, it was one of the most interesting discussions and exchanges I’ve had as he talked about serving in Congress, the changes he saw taking place and more.
Millions of People Say Mahalo
In a contest that never ends—and it shouldn’t--credit unions, and even more so, their vendors, are always attempting to top each other by boasting of how “member friendly” their digital offerings are. But one person said there is a huge number of Americans who don’t find many solutions friendly at all—those who are “neurodiverse,” according to Mahalo Banking.
During a presentation as part of the NACUSO Next Big Idea competition in Las Vegas, Mahalo’s Denny Howell noted he is color blind, and approximately 15%-25% of the country suffers from other various “neurodiverse” issues, including dyslexia, autism, ADD, ADHD, epilepsy, visual sensitivity and more. Few of those issues are ever taken into consideration when designing financial apps, he said. Until now.
In response, Mahalo Banking has developed a completely new version of its digital banking solution that can be used by everyone across the neurodiverse universe by adjusting the settings in the app to present data in a way that is more friendly to them.
The app even has a setting for left-handers--who also prefer to use their left thumbs--so the app adjusts how information is presented.
Mahalo banking finished second in the Next Big Idea Competition. You can read more about it here.
I Give Up. I’ll Just Go With the Chicken
During a session on building a Disney-like sales and service culture during the NACUSO Network meeting, Adam Pickett, founder and president of Accelergy, said his company worked with a financial institution that had a frustrating “Cheesecake Factory menu-like” guide for its employees that listed every one of its products and services and related details. He said the institution is hardly alone.
“Instead of being a great resource for team members, it overwhelmed them. They stopped talking about certain products because they didn’t understand them,” said Pickett.
He shared a personal example of the dilemma. “I go to Cheesecake Factory and tell myself I’m going to order something new. But then I get to that menu and give up and always order the same thing—the chicken piccata.”
Pickett, a sales and training expert who was formerly with Disney, shared his insights here.
Frank J. Diekmann is Cooperator in Chief of CUToday.info and can be reached at Frank@CUToday.info. Mr. Diekmann is also author of several new book, including the brand new “The Last Lyric,” a humorous satire about a murder investigation at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in which every line of dialogue is either a classic pop/rock song title or lyric. Available on Amazon, Apple iBook, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. Mr. Diekmann is also author of a non-fiction compilation of the very best & worst he has seen and heard in covering more than 500 CU meetings and conferences, “501 Name Tags: How Everything You Need to Know About Business Can Be Learned at a Conference & Forgotten in the Trade Show.” It is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Lulu, and Smashwords