TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The points of pain have many CUs turning to point of sale.
Jim Gowan, EVP and COO for CU24, reminded that the additional pressure to find revenue sources should generate strong demand for CU24 partnerships in the remainder of 2009. "POS is really important to credit unions these days because of the interchange income," Gowan said. "I think credit unions are more focused on how to maximize their interchange income than they have ever been because of the corporate assessment and the economy."
Due to the economy, Gowan expects the trend for an increasing number of CUs to come on board will continue into next year. "We expect that 2010 is going to be another tough year for the economy. We're hoping it will turn around by 2011. But all this talk that the recession is coming to an end - I'm not buying it."
CU24 has signed 14 new credit unions this year and renewed many contracts, Gowan said. One reason for the success, Gowan asserted, is that CU24 has been working closely with credit unions to help them weather the economy.
"We constantly look at our pricing and we have made some very significant changes over the last couple years that have increased interchange income and reduced some of our expenses to credit unions. I think that's the value of having a credit-union-owned point-of-sale network. Our board is made up of credit union executives and they are constantly looking for ways to maximize the benefits to credit unions. Whereas, all of our competitors are looking at ways to maximize their return to stockholders. In the fourth quarter of last year, on average, our credit unions received over a 20% increase in interchange income."
