VISTA, Calif.-While not going as far as to predict we'll see Jetsons-like flying cars in 2109, Hal Tilbury sees credit unions becoming highly advanced and technologically savvy, leveraging cloud computing and having members perform transactions from devices within their cars.
The Bluepoint Solutions CEO said these advances are necessary to improve efficiency so they can serve the unbanked and underbanked. "Credit unions will find ways to tap into the millions of unbanked people in the country," Tilbury predicted. "That's where there's huge growth potential because the banks are not interested in these people. But credit unions need to be very efficient and automated, because those things will allow them to afford to go down-market to this segment of the population."
A cashless society will help drive operational improvements, eliminating the need for branches and reducing staffing levels, according to Tilbury, who said CUs may have multiple locations that are "functional centric. Like loan or IT centers."
Additional savings will come from a sophisticated automated process that allows loan officers to quickly approve home loans without intervention from other staff members or support agencies, like appraisers. "They will use a nationwide database that will include every house in the country. The loan officer will just punch in the home address and all the information he needs on the home will pop up on his web browser," envisioned Tilbury.
CUs may also become much bigger players within the small business area. "Commerce between companies will continue and get much more intense, and international," he said.
