How the Study was done?
Our goal was to rank credit unions in a way that was supported by facts. We did not want to be subjective, and we did not want to form a committee to review web sites. We wanted to see who offers the most e-services. Period. We wanted data from a third party that we did not collect or control. We wanted to see which credit unions had the most penetration of members using their e-services and who was offering the most e-services to their members. This data was available from the NCUA.gov web site. The NCUA offers a terrific web site, and without the data they make available, this project could not have been done.
There are two basic categories for the study in the book.
1) Number of E-services offered per credit union.
2) Percentage of members using E-services.
There is a top 100 for 7 different asset classifications, and 2 different categories.
There are 7 different asset ranges in the study. The Top 100 in each asset range in listed in the book.
$0-2 Million in Assets
$2-5 Million in Assets
$5-10 Million in Assets
$10 -25 million in Assets
$25 - 50 million in Assets
$50 - 150 million in Assets
$150 million and over in assets
The 5300 call report data is now collected and reported by all credit unions. Not that all are happy to supply it to the NCUA, but they do. We took that data, sorted and analyzed it. The 5300 call report became the foundation of our research. If any data in this book is inaccurate, data on the 5300 call report is inaccurate.
As a disclaimer we do not certify that all data is accurate. We did find times when data was entered in the 5300 call report incorrectly. For example, one credit union reported that they had 100% of their members using their e-services. We knew it was possible but highly improbable, so we called and verified the data and made appropriate corrections.
All data for this book is drawn from the June 30, 2002 call reports.
We also wanted to see how credit unions accomplished the task of being a Top 100 Credit Union, and we wanted to see what they were going to offer in the future. What e-service were they planning to offer next? From the NCUA data and from interviews with over 60 credit unions we have a glimpse of the future of e-services with credit unions: The top performing credit unions will continue to use their member service focus and strong capital position to offer new and enhanced electronic services in ways that continue to strengthen member loyalty and value in financial services. These credit unions will be leaders among their competitors in their own communities, and in electively serving members that are widely dispersed geographically, “One click” loan acceptance, up to the minute electronic statements available through multiple devices and relationship management solutions that allow the entire credit union to truly know each member will, characterize these leaders. Not only large credit unions will be part of this pioneering future. Smaller credit unions, some with less than $5 million in assets, will also find innovative ways to offer a full-spectrum of modern e-services.
While the specifics of the future will always be difficult to predict, we can assert that credit unions with the vision, drive and commitment to do all in their power to meet current and future member service demands, electronic and otherwise, will be among the leaders in successfully offering consumers the best in financial services.
