Findings of the Top 100 Credit Unions
From the research of our site we found a great number of credit unions were offering several e-services to their members. In these top credit unions the members and the management teams were delighted by the results of their e-service initiatives. In many cases CEOs were initially skeptical about e-services projects. But once they began to see the results these once unconvinced CEOs were singing the praises of offering e-services to their members.
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The ability to be competitive and to offer a wide variety of services to their members was a very important component of the strategic plans of the Top 100 Credit Unions. None of the Top 100 said, “You know we were just doing our job, and wow, ended up on the Top 100 list.” It is no mistake they are listed here. They chose to be among of the best providers of e-services. They wanted to keep their members loyal to their credit union. Their leaders are not characterized by complaints about members not being loyal, they are constantly looking for ways to enhance and strengthen the loyalty of their members.
Another important finding of the study was that there are some credit unions in the USA that are not providing any e-services; none, zero, nada. These credit unions are doomed. If they do not provide e-services soon, they will be gone. Why? There are a number of reasons:
1) Many credit unions report that they are getting more online transactions than they are getting in walk in traffic at their best branch. Many credit unions believe the online transactions have replaced a branch, and many referred to their online initiatives as their “e-branch.”
2) CEOs asked for this report’s data in number of innovative ways. Number one, they were interested in the top credit unions, but some CEOs were interested in the complete list spanning all levels of e-service adoption, so they could see the potential merger partners of tomorrow. These credit union leaders have a different vision of the future, and they know credit unions that don’t offer e-services will be doomed. It changed the way we look at the future of credit unions. It changed the way we see the data. There will be more mergers, and it won’t be driven by a lack of financial strength, but from a lack of service strength. Many of the mergers of tomorrow will be driven by a lack of services, electronic and otherwise, and not from financial risk.
3) Almost all the credit unions reported that their members demand online services. Those who are providing online service are credit unions that are growing. A CU is either green and growing or rip and rotting. The Top 100 Credit Unions chose to grow.
4) Contrary to expectations, it was often not that expensive to offer the e-services. Some credit unions did conversions to new core data processing systems and found that it was less expensive to offer the e-services than to not offer the e-services.
They said that a “great partnership” with their data processing vendors was key. If the vendor was not willing to be forward thinking, and provide a menu filled with a variety of e-services, they were not going to work with that vendor. Vendor relationships were key to the success of an e-service strategy. Many of the CEOs did not refer to their core data processor as a processor, but as a business partner. That is a much different way to look at the world of e-services.
Among the credit unions at the top of the list, all said they had a great board of directors. This was a key finding of the book that was not expected. It became clear that in the Top 100 Credit Unions the boards were proponents of growth and of offering a wide variety of services to their members. All of the Top 100 Credit Unions said their boards were progressive and forward thinking. These credit unions are not the average performers; they were the tops of their e-game. And they were lead by the board of directors, or by a CEO that had a vision that they offered to the board. The progressiveness of a board and the leadership of a credit union’s management team determines the future of the credit union. This is both refreshing and frightening. Among all credit unions, we don’t always hear from CEOs in private conversations that they have a great board. CEOs sometimes tell us the board needs to “lead, follow or get out of the way.”
The Top 100 Credit Unions were focused on growth and how their credit union could be better equipped to handle a highly competitive future. The Top 100 Credit Unions clearly see a future that includes e-services. And they have the mind set to see that their members have all the e-services that they are likely to demand
