The World Council of Credit Unions has launched a mobile application that aims to connect credit union professionals from all over the globe through a social network specifically for CUs.
"What we've wanted to do for a long time was to have a place where credit union folks can go and see what's going on in credit union land," explained Victor Corro, WOCCU's VP of member services, explaining that until now there hasn't been a way for CU supporters – members and professionals – to come together virtually to share the struggles and successes of the movement.
"We find credit unions are very interested in sharing their success stories with their peers, and we're in the midst of that," he said. "If folks in Costa Rica want to know what's going on in the U.S. in terms of cybersecurity, the app is a good place to start. It's part of WOCCU's desire to be a bridge and a communicator."
The app was launched at WOCCU's annual conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland, earlier this year and has been steadily gaining users since then. WOCCU has long used an app specifically for its conferences, but the social networking component was set up as a way to better connect the movement and get more use out of the app than just once per year at conferences.
While credit union professionals are well represented across a wide variety of social networking platforms, Corro pointed out that there are cultural differences that prevent large-scale collaboration and networking that way, since certain nations tend to use some social applications more than others. WOCCU got around that by incorporating LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to the app, allowing users to connect to the WOCCU app and then link their profile to other social networking sites within the app. Users can also post directly to the app and then share to those sites, similar to the way Instagram users can simultaneously cross-post to other social sites.
Building on the industry-wide theme of collaboration, Corro said one of the main goals for the app is to crowdsource solutions for credit unions across the globe. As such, there are a variety of specific channels within the app – focused on topics such as payments, growth, the regulatory burden and more – where users can post questions and join discussions. "You have the global credit union industry potentially responding to you about how they've tackled that specific challenge," said Corro. "Or just tooting your own horn and saying 'We did this great thing today on membership outreach for millennials and you can adopt this.'"
The app was underwritten by Vancouver-based Vancity CU, which developed it in partnership with WOCCU. Vancity representatives did not respond to CU Journal's interview requests.
Niche Audience?
Despite the potentially large audience for the app, one social media professional expressed some skepticism over whether WOCCU will be able to break through the crowded app marketplace and lure users already busy with Facebook, Twitter and other social platforms.
According to Meredith Olmstead, founding partner of Social Stairway, a consulting firm that regularly works with CUs, it may be unrealistic to expect wide adoption by credit union professionals already connected across a variety of other social media outlets.
"It's great that they're trying to connect people," she said of WOCCU, praising the trade group for using its "globalized perspective on credit unions" as a way to "help people in more developing nations or where they're just trying to get connected with credit union professionals in other areas where they have a really strong market."
Still, credit union professionals – and CU supporters with an in-depth interest in the movement's inner workings – may be enough of a niche audience that WOCCU struggles to find adopters, said Olmstead.
"When connections are made at in-person events," such as WOCCU's annual conference, she added, "if you can get people to start meaningful discussions going on an app that can be revisited once an event is over, that can be really useful for people."
Corro said that a few other industries have their own social networking apps – airlines, for example, he said – but that WOCCU didn't look at what others were doing when designing the project.'
"We just thought maybe this will be an aggregator of content and a place where people can post questions," he said.
Corro and WOCCU are confident, however, that the global credit union community is more than big enough – and deeply engaged enough – to make the app a success. Ultimately at least 60% of the app's users are expected to come from outside of the United States, and Corro said that the app has seen frequent downloads in the Caribbean, South America, the Philippines and the United States.
"People say 'Credit unions are the best-kept secret ever,'" noted Corro. "With the app, because you have it on your phone and you take it everywhere, you can have the global credit union movement in your pocket."
To download the app, visit the iTunes store or Google Play and search for "WOCCU."
