NORTH CANTON, Ohio-This year will continue a trend one person sees exacerbating the growth divide in credit unions: the ability of larger CUs to attract better strategists.
"One thing we've seen is the number of very, very savvy and experienced people in the larger credit unions," said Jerry Verdi, VP-market intelligence with Diebold. "The quality of the people in the branches and in management is quite impressive. I don't think the smaller credit unions can attract the way the larger, more progressive credit unions can, and that shows up in their strategy, market presence, how they're speaking to members, how they're hiring for their branches, and how they're developing relationships with members and retaining those members."
Verdi noted that because small credit unions often have such close relationships with their members, they may be better positioned than the banks to capitalize on effectively utilizing a smaller branch footprint.
One Small CU Advantage
"We've been in lots of examples of these kinds of (bank branches) where customers ignore the technology or ignore the design that was created, whereas the credit unions are thinking more precise, thinking smaller, thinking about the technology that will be used and that allows them to really, really rethink their staff."
Meanwhile, technology and branch design will be continue to be key factors for CUs in 2013 said Verdi. He said that pushing non-location-based channels will be crucial if credit unions hope to attract younger members in 2013, but that must also be coupled with developing and correctly marketing relevant products and services for members at all cycles of their lives.
"I think that we'll see continuous emphasis on remote deposit capture," said Verdi. "Even though the penetration is very, very good, there's still a little ways to go."
Verdi acknowledged that small to mid-size CUs may struggle to keep up with members' technology demands, but the pinch on resources goes beyond just keeping up with the latest in e-services.
