MADISON, Wis.-CUNA Mutual Group sees great opportunities for credit unions in the mobile banking channel, but there are significant obstacles to overcome.
"As I look at mobile and how it's developed in other countries outside of the U.S., that's where...[there] could be a real challenge to us," said CUNA Mutual CEO Jeff Post. "Mobile represents about 13% of the space here, but there are countries where you can't even use a credit card anymore because it's all mobile."
Post, who said he is not particularly tech savvy, spoke to a handful of reporters last week via a Google+ "hangout" in which he and other CUNA Mutual executives were joined by reporters in a web-cam chat session.
CUNA Mutual introduced an iPhone app late last June, and since then, about 600 credit unions have signed up to use it, Post related. "We have had a significant number of loan applications filed through this channel," he said. "A member can get a loan on his smart phone while he's at the dealer looking at a car. That's a powerful tool, considering how many loans credit unions lose to dealerships, despite the use of indirect lending programs.
"You can take a picture of a VIN on the car lot, and it will tell you about similar cars within a certain radius, approximately how much you should pay, and if you've got the password and everything, it will populate a loan app and send it to the credit union," Post added.
Another area of technology that CUNA Mutual Group is exploring is the use of QR codes, which have been dropped into some of the direct mail marketing put out by the firm.
Making the most of technology is even more important when there are so many other challenges facing credit unions right now, he said.
"It's not just the economy, it's that so many services that credit unions offer are under fire right now. Fee income is under fire; the whole question around taxation-there are lots of challenges swirling around out there," Post observed. "You've got to understand your membership and understand your differentiators and then focus on driving those services in a cost-efficient manner."
And sometimes that means making tough choices. At CUNA Mutual, that meant getting out of the mortgage business, a move it made before the meltdown occurred, leading some to question why the firm wanted to get out. "When we sold that business, it was worth $70 million. Today it would be worth zero," Post related.
But even with all of the negatives, Post said there are a lot of positives for credit unions right now. "The trust credit unions have from their members, that's a huge advantage," he said. "We can all point to Bank Transfer Day as a win-win for credit unions and consumers. Credit unions are tying to make loans right now, and most banks aren't."
The key, Post suggested, is in leveraging those positives. "You leverage them by continuing to bang the drum that we're successful, we're still here, and we're still doing the job," he offered.
