By Frank J. Diekmann
After two weeks of attempting to keep up with all the events at the Paris Olympics—of both admiring the extraordinary athleticism of gymnastics and being mystified by the subjectivity in its judging, of trying to figure out the rules of team handball, contemplating how the training must work in artistic swimming, and getting to understand what it must feel like to be a Warriors fan, here are some more random items (although not as random as some Olympic sports) from the notebook:
Overvaluing the Proposition
In what were almost sacrosanct comments, one person recently challenged a fundamental assumption (God-given right?) within credit unions.
Speaking to the THINK conference, Peter Sheahan, a thought-leader and consultant to numerous organizations, fittingly offered something to think about when he said he believes credit unions “over-index” the values they represent in people’s lives, believing it’s enough “even if we create a subpar experience.”
“One of the things I’ve heard most in working with credit unions is this belief (CUs) have a monopoly on member intimacy. I think we’ve got work to do here,” he said. “My understanding is only about 25% of credit unions in North American have exceeded two products per member. Most independent experts on financial wellbeing say the average person or family needs about 6.8 products to manage their lies well. And we have half of those products. Truly meeting the member needs means making sure they have all the products they need. It means we might need to create cultures that promote cross-selling for the betterment of the people we serve.
Burning Ambition
Sheahan urged credit union leaders to think about the areas in which they are making assumptions that are worthy of more objective exploration.
“Put tension on your own organization,” he advised. “Are you capable of escaping the gravity of your own success? Choose a burning ambition over a burning platform.
You can read more of what he had to say, including provocative challenges around what really causes value-loss in CUs and where there is a problem with boards, here.
Putting the Credit in Credit Union
There is a sentence that unfortunately appears far too often in our reporting: “Terms of the deal were not released.” When it comes to so many credit unions’ sports team partnerships, college NIL deals, naming rights agreements and more, too many CUs decline to reveal how much of the members’ money they are spending.
The member-owners have a right to know.
But that isn’t true of every credit union so I want to give credit where credit (union) is due.
- In Massachusetts, DCU has reached an agreement to extend the naming rights partnership of the DCU Center arena and convention center through the end of June 2027. The credit union announced it is spending $1.8 million on the agreement.
- In Jackson, Mich. American 1 Credit Union announced that it has signed a $200,000 naming rights agreement for the Michigan Theatre of Jackson.
Kudos to both for being transparent.
Some Candor from Kander
Some interesting observations from Diana Kander before America’s Credit Unions’ CFO Council meeting in Orlando:
- “You’ve heard think outside the box. Where did the box come from? It came from everything we’ve done already.
- “How well is your human/digital team positioned to answer questions about loans? What about deposits? How many feel a little nauseous about how your team is answering those questions?”
- “How do you anticipate their question, stop them from leaving, and/or get them back?
For more of Kander’s observations around three rules to follow to reignite innovation and kill zombie projects, go here.
A Throwback Story With a Modern Twist
It sounds like the kind of story that have then names of the U.S. CU pioneers of another era in it, names like Roy Bergengren and Louise Herring from the days when folks met in living rooms and talked about chartering this thing called a credit union.
But it just happened in 2024.
In McBride, B.C., a representative of a local credit union here has pitched the CU as a viable option for customers of a Scotiabank branch that is closing.
The other option for the bank’s customers: drive two to three hours too Prince George, B.C. for in-person banking services.
Scotiabank said it will be closing the branch that serves residents of McBride and Dunster, two small towns along the Yellowhead River in eastern British Columbia, north of Jasper National Park.
To share with residents another option, Dan Wingham, manager of strategic partnerships at Integris Credit Union, talked about what the credit union offers before some 50 residents of McBride and Dunster who had gathered over a potluck lunch.
You can find out more about that here.
The Very Definition of Wearing Multiple Hats
The asset range from the smallest credit unions to the largest has never been greater, with leaders of the largest operations leading sprawling operations involving thousands of employees, sophisticated loan operations and investments in fintech. In many cases, the CEOs of the biggest credit unions (sadly) rarely interact with actual members or ever spend any time in a branch.
It can make one forget just how much simpler (and yet paradoxically more demanding) the jobs at smaller CUs can be. Case in point: Monmouth County Postal Employees Credit Union, which was recently looking for a new CEO. The CEO’s co-job function? Branch manager.
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.