CINCINNATI-This year, credit unions have enjoyed a boon in deposits thanks to banks, and CUs should plan to leverage that momentum in 2010.
Arp Trivedi, VP-strategic planning at DEI, placed building market share at the top of CUs' strategic planning lists due to that success. Pointing out that credit unions have lost a significant amount of market share to banks from 2003 through 2008, Trivedi said that trend has turned around. "Credit union deposits have rebounded in the first quarter of 2009 by nearly $50 billion, taking deposit market share from 7.2% to almost 7.7%. That's quite a bit and represents and enormous amount of momentum."
Lending is up, as well, Trivedi said, with credit unions at 7% today, up from 6.92% at year end 2008.
Business lending can raise those numbers next year, Trivedi said, saying that the opportunity is ripe for credit unions due to banks pulling back on business lending. "Even though many businesses may not have a lot of business going on this year, it is a good time to begin conversations."
Other opportunities include streamlining the organization with a focus on membership. "When we work with credit unions, we often see elements of member service that are misplaced throughout the organization, which leads to inefficiencies and things that get in the way of member service," Trivedi explained. "They are in the wrong department or silo and should be aligned along one continuum that runs from sales through servicing."
CUs also need to examine alignment and coordination between IT and business, and make sure succession planning has not been placed on hold due to distractions from the economy, Trivedi added.
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