BankThink

Getting started in the social media arena is relatively easy, but the steps that need to be taken to protect your reputation, your members and your employees — and the reputation of new hires — is not.

Even if your CU has ID'd lending as its "driving force," you may also find yourself responding, "Hey, the force is not with us."

There are three things you can do to create fertile ground for imagination within your credit union: attend to your sources of vitality, springboard from your strengths, and ask questions in a positive way.

What is it exactly about advertisements featuring a photo of a duck and then some version of the expression, "If it walks like a duck...," that so many creatively-challenged advertisers find appealing?

As lawmakers on Capitol Hill have scorned financial institutions for lavish spending, now is not the time for credit union extravagance.

Online security is a serious problem in need of a serious solution, and credit unions have an opportunity to lead the charge in this situation and ensure a safe experience.

Regarding "Debit Revenue Under Fire, Rewards Need a Revamp": The merchants have forgotten the man power needed to process and deposit checks as well as the bank charges that are incurred. As issuers, we should "flip the switch" for a couple of days so that our customers HAD to write checks at these places. Maybe then, [the merchants] would remember the "days of old." The discount rate that merchants pay is a cost of doing business.

Commercial lending was once unfamiliar territory for most credit unions. No more. Now many CUs have established member business commercial lending units. This member benefit can be very profitable if the basic fundamentals are established early-and very costly if not.

As the "Greatest Generation" is gradually leaving us, we are faced with a loss of loyal members for reasons completely beyond our control. Credit unions must now position themselves to serve the specific segments of the population where there is future demand and need: baby boomers and Generation Y.

To paraphrase, they say if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. And so it was last week that credit unions found themselves in a piece that generally painted CUs as stodgy, old-fashioned, and well, boring. In this case, it was a compliment.