Ray Birch

Mobile devices are beginning to replace the check register as consumers use mobile banking most for quick, simple account transfers and balance checks.

At Freedom CU, adding a mobile platform is lowering the average age of the membership and raising profitability.

Better use of analytics to target delivery of mobile and product offerings, as well as leveraging the unique capabilities of mobile devices, should be included on FI's longer-range plans.

After seven years holding steady, credit unions changed their overdraft price this past year, moving closer to banks' pricing.

BECU staff are tackling a task critical to the future of the credit union-turning all the new members coming over from banks into profitable relationships.

Kenneth Palmer, owner of Black Hills Federal Credit Union, believes thinking like an entrepreneur is key to success.

Diane Johnson, manager of Bronco Federal Credit Union, couldn't be happier a credit union instead of a bank.

Renee Rebling knows all about the importance of standing out, as she manages a Community 1st Credit Union branch in a small town whose trademark is business diversity.

Dareck Caroway enjoys being a branch manager, but he does not like what the recession has done to his role.

Nicole Bonura, branch manager of a Long Island Municipal Credit Union, feels at home thanks to the bond she has with members.

Debra Greenlee has watched the financial industry grow and change while running the Madison office of Schools Financial CU, and she understands the importance of meeting the demand for financial guidance.

BRAUNFELS, Texas-After learning the ins and outs of effectively running a branch and becoming an accomplished branch manager for several years, Brandon Blanchard got a new lesson this year-understanding what it takes to get a new office off the ground.

If the branch can adjust to growing pains and learn to address some additional demands of becoming a shared branch, it's a good way to boost the CU's brand-and business-within the community.

Debra Tower is a proponent of members having a consistent experience when they visit their credit unions, which is why she believes a credit union must pay a great deal of attention to branch design.

Connie Trudgeon, VP of operations for CO-OP Financial Services, questions whether some credit unions are overlooking the human component when employing neural networks to detect threats.

Financial institutions got another nudge toward converting their card base to EMV, with MasterCard announcing a deadline for U.S. issuers to either make their ATMs EMV capable or accept fraud liabilities at the teller machine.

A new analysis shows overdraft volume at financial institutions continues to climb and credit unions are getting their share, enjoying their best 12-month period for OD revenue in their history.

Credit unions are opening up the purse strings a bit and paying more for staff, increasing the percentage paid on annual raises, reducing the number of wage freezes, and boosting incentive pay.

As the deadline approaches for credit unions to have in place a written policy and program on interest-rate risk management, questions have been raised about whether ALM teams have been paying enough attention to the deposit side of the analysis.

Pay them or lose them, says CUNA, which has identified several CU non-management positions that demand greater pay and rewards due to demand for their skills in the marketplace.