ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.-The continuing influx of members from banks to credit unions-and what CUs can do with those new members to increase their bottom lines-is the most compelling trend of the second half of 2012, according to Fredda McDonald.
McDonald, EVP of Credit Union Experience for PSCU Financial Services, told Credit Union Journal the "surge" in membership seen by many credit unions started on Bank Transfer Day and has continued, "and it has to be reckoned with."
"The biggest challenge for credit unions is to establish relevance for these new members," she said. "They have to supply the same technology as can be found at any financial institution, and they have to be relevant."
In the fourth quarter people thought Bank Transfer Day was an event, McDonald said, adding, "but since then every day has become Bank Transfer Day."
"It has been a phenomenal surge of people recognizing the value of the cooperative business model," she declared. "Moving toward, credit unions must focus on the member experience and understanding the difference in what they have to provide for someone walking in the door with a deposit versus someone looking for a loan."
Particularly with Generation Y and other younger members, McDonald said the expectation of new members is their financial experience will be mobile-enabled. They are not as oriented to the branch experience, which means credit unions will have to provide an experience that is different from what many are used to.
'Why Did I Join?'
"Credit unions will have to answer the question: why did I join a credit union? To get that answer, they have to determine what improvement the consumer is seeking by leaving a bank and joining a credit union. The credit union needs to see it as keeping the member happy and being able to engage in ways that are meaningful to the member. The point of interaction must be technology-enabled."
McDonald said PSCU also is seeing an increased velocity in offerings, including payment solutions, from both traditional and non-traditional sources.
"This is an opportunity for credit unions as we are seeing greater willingness to adopt new payments systems and more technology in general, and our role at PSCU is to meet this challenge," she said. "PSCU is focused on being a payments leader that is supporting our credit unions to meet this challenge."
