FACEBOOK.com -
Many of the participating executives already had their own Facebook profiles, demonstrating how the social networking tool has gone beyond the surface of popular culture to infiltrate the way business professionals connect online.
Hence, the sixth annual Credit Union Journal Technology Wish List followed them to Facebook and invited them to share their technology projects and philosophies for 2008.
Many of those new to Facebook took the Technology Wish List as an opportunity to create their own profile, helping to build the consensus that social networking is here to stay–and that mobile banking is on the way.
In fact, participants frequently suggested that mobile banking will be the “hottest” technology for the CU industry in the coming year (see related item, page 8).
“Mobile banking seems to be what people are talking about,” posted Jackie Buchanan, VP-IT at $600-million T & C Federal Credit Union in Bloomfield Hill, Mich. The service offers members the ability to view account balances, transfer funds, pay bills and send messages from PDAs and cell phones.
However, very few credit unions said they’ve actually got mobile banking projects on the docket, according to the more than 30 postings. A number of the executives longed for expanded vision within the CU technology community.
“It is our wish that credit unions dedicate resources to some technologies that will improve or create a new experience for the membership,” posted Doug True, SVP-Technovation at $1-billion FORUM Credit Union in Indianapolis, Ind., and president of its CUSO, FORUM Solutions. “Credit unions know their members, have smart and passionate employees to figure this stuff out, and should be nimble enough to leverage technology to create a new or improved member experience.”
Too often, technology is aimed at making life better for credit union employees, True added.
Life isn’t necessarily better for employees, commented Dan McGowan, CFO at $190-million Envision CU in Tallahassee, Fla.
Technology hasn’t reduced manual labor for employees, it has simply changed the type of “busy work,” said McGowan. “We’re all still too busy getting data into and out of various unrelated systems.”
McGowan would like to see systems “working in harmony, speaking to each other toward our goals, without having to cajole anything to perform as it should.” He wishes credit unions could “rely on computers to perform manual, repetitive, ‘busy work,’” and simultaneously create “a workforce capable of higher-order, value-added contributions to the organization.
Check 21 technologies won’t be taking a back seat next year. Alliant CU in Chicago, Spokane Teachers CU in Washington, CAMC FCU in Charleston, W.V., and Saint Alphonsus Medical CU in Boise, Idaho, all have check imaging and remote deposit capture planned.
“We are implementing a system that will capture the image of the check at the point of presentment” at both ATMs and teller windows, posted Jim Morrell, CIO at iQ CU in Vancouver, Wash.
Credit unions should be wishing to get a foot in the door of the payments industry, which is quickly being dominated by the likes of Google and mobile tech, warned Butch Leonardson, VP-IT at $7.8-billion BECU in Seattle.
“Credit unions need to work together on all forms of wireless payment devices, or we risk becoming irrelevant,” he posted. “For example, some retail websites are now accepting PayPal, which helps the merchants avoid the typical MC and Visa fees.”
Websites will get makeovers next year, if these credit unions get their way. The website for North Shore CU in North Vancouver, British Columbia, will become more “persuasive,” according to Scott Baldwin, manager, web services at the $1.9-billion CU.
“We’re continually working on changes to make our site the best in the credit union system and really drive sales and insights,” Baldwin explained.
The website for Vantage CU in Bridgeton, Mo., will host “self-service functions that integrate with our CRM system,” said Eric Acree, executive vice president at the $500-million CU, while online members at Employees CU in Dallas will be able to get the low-down on debit card purchases that aren’t yet cleared, according to Vonda Burkhart, CFO at the $48-million CU.
A “major facelift” to the Power Financial CU site of Pembroke Pines, Fla., will make it easier for end users to find what they’re looking for, said Brian Warfel, svp-sales and service at the $465-million CU. “The ultimate goal is to convert more visitors to members!”
For a complete view of the Tech Wish List 2008 dialogue, which also revolves around disaster recovery, rewards checking, in-house email and AJAX technologies, search “CUJ Tech Wish List” at Facebook.com.
FOR MORE RESOURCES
See Technology Wish Lists from years past at cujournal.com and search the following bolded terms in the archive:
2007: All IT Wants For Christmas...
2006: Making Their Lists, Spellchecking It Twice
2005: Making An IT List, Checking It Twice
For info on this story:
* CUJ Tech Wish List 2008 at Facebook, www.facebook.com/ board.php?uid=5530214985
* www.alliantcu.com
* www.becu.org
* www.camcfcu.org
* www.ecudallas.org
* www.envisioncu.com
* www.forumcu.com
* www.iqcu.com
* www.nscu.com
* www.powerfi.org
* www.samcu.org
* www.sfcuonline.org
* www.tcfcu.org
* www.vcu.com
