Fintech

No one affiliated with the Isis mobile payment initiative is saying exactly when the first testing in Salt Lake City and Austin, Texas will begin, but the venture is steadily tying its remaining loose ends.

WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department awarded more than $17 million in grants to 25 credit unions and credit union organizations this afternoon under the 2012 round of the Community Development Financial Institutions Program.

Ben Psillas, president of Allpoint Network, noted that not only can a seamless integration help CUs reduce vendor costs and become more efficient, but also puts the institution in a better position to handle declining volumes of branch transactions.

Barb Kachelski, COO at the Credit Union Executives Society, said while CUs in recent years have focused internally on expense ratios and meeting the demands of regulators, now is the time to turn the focus outward.

"Many, many, many credit unions we talk to are concerned with the overall subject of 'replacement members,' and that means the younger generation," said Jerry Verdi, VP of market intelligence at Diebold.

With credit unions seemingly having little control over growing earnings pressures and shrinking margins, it's time the industry takes a systematic approach to product pricing.

Stan Hollen, CEO of CO-OP Financial Services, told Credit Union Journal that the recent recession has taught CUs that the organization must be nimble to react to the unexpected.

Mobile and P2P should be high, if not at the top, of this year's strategic planning topics, asserts Jim Park, CEO of Credit Union 24.

Fredda McDonald, EVP for the credit union experience at PSCU, says, "The time is now to invest, grow and prosper with solutions that will attract, engage and retain members."

"A discontinuance of interest on overnight funds will cause significant problems for many credit unions who currently hold extremely large investment portfolios and cash reserves," said Tony Ferris, managing partner for Rochdale Group