7 Trends CUs Must Jump On or Lose Essential Opportunities
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a heightened need to transform business models
As we look ahead to 2022 and beyond, we see headwinds and tailwinds for credit unions.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a heightened need to transform business models, while at the same time it hasn’t impacted results for leading organizations. Last year, we saw many organizations halt digital transformation projects while increasing loan loss reserves. The expected losses haven’t materialized and therefore many organizations are reviving their digital projects.
With all of this in mind, we defined seven important trends that should be top of mind for credit unions: three that are “bad news” and four that are “good news.” On the bad news side of the ledger, we note:
- Member satisfaction must be re-examined, as surveys show that credit unions are no longer the leaders in customer service.
- Member growth is lagging for many credit unions, particularly when compared to new entrants and community banks.
- Digital transformation is no longer a nice-to-have. The pandemic has increased adoption of digital channels. Credit unions can no longer have “me too” strategies.
For the good news:
- Member-centricity, which has been the banner of credit unions, is still the secret sauce that CUs can leverage.
- Managing member experience, once the focus of branches and in-person delivery, is a must. Credit unions can easily use their member obsession to drive better member experiences throughout.
- CUs’ strategic planning horizon is an advantage versus public community banks that focus on the next quarter.
- Partnerships, common in the credit union movement, can be leveraged like never before.
To read more about each of these trends, read this article we wrote for The Financial Brand.