WASHINGTON-As a CUSO, CU24 is looking for ways to both make money and save money for its credit unions.
"We're listening to our credit unions, and what we're hearing that they are very, very concerned," said CEO Jim Park. "They haven't gotten all their answers [on the corporate stabilization plan], and it will be some time before they get the answers they need."
In the meantime, he said, CU24 is looking for ways to help credit unions financially. "One way is by increasing income to credit unions through POS [point of sale transactions]," he offered. "Measured over the last quarter of 2008, we were able to deliver 20% more revenue to credit unions. Last year we passed back more than $3 million in patronage dividends and equity income."
And POS is something CUs will want to keep pushing because it can help reduce the need for additional ATMs, Park suggested. "Credit unions haven't been as good as the banks at deploying ATMs," he said. "If members use POS for cash, that can mean a significant savings to the credit union [by not having to put up an ATM] as well as interchange income."
