LAKE BLUFF, Ill.-The credit union of the future will not be measured by the size of its deposits and assets. It will be judged more by how it serves members.
That's the outlook that was shared with Credit Union Journal by Mike Moebs, CEO of Moebs $ervices, who predicted that in 2109 CUs will promptly provide, and in much greater detail, information on account activity so members can manage their finances more effectively.
As credit unions continue to evolve they will be part of a sophisticated communications network that will link the credit union closely with the lives of its members.
"If the credit union has three locations today, in 100 years it may have 10 satellite locations that are tied into neighborhoods, towns, or small cities that feed into the credit union," Moebs offered. "The credit union will have more employees, and those employees will be much more productive so the credit union can give out more information."
For instance, as soon as an account is overdrawn, members will know about it within minutes. "The key is that we will have much better systems to have complete transparency of everything they do," Moebs said. "Ultimately, what is a credit union? It is information in motion. We will provide the finest employees, with the finest operating systems, and provide the finest amount of transparency. The credit union movement will not only never die, it will be at the forefront of what financial institutions should be forever."
Consumers will demand that level of attention, insisted Moebs, who said credit unions already have a significant leg up on banks in service and delivery channels.
But to get where they need to be 100 years from today, credit unions will have to stop thinking "traditionally. They will stop thinking that if someone makes an error with a share draft account that they should be penalized. That is second-millennium thinking. On the credit union information superhighway of the future, we can't have toll booths, stop signs, or stop lights. We need more information flowing. We might have to have speed limits for safety purposes."
Throughout all of the change, Moebs said that if the credit union focus is always on the consumer, that the "collaborative movement will be bigger and stronger than it is today."
But credit unions will have to include small business in its definition of a consumer.
"They will, and they will have to, make small business a much bigger part of their business," stated Moebs. "Doing so will provide greater diversification. But more importantly, by supporting small business credit unions will help provide more jobs to this country."
Moebs said he also hoped that the country's "too big to fail and too small to save mentality — that got the U.S. in financial trouble today" — will come to an end, ushering in a new era of responsible financial stewardship.
"If we still believe there are some institutions that are too big to fail, we will have problems and outfits like Navy Federal. Today it is considered too big to fail and I believe they are managing from that perspective. And that sort of thinking contributed to the problems that got us into all the trouble with the corporates."
