CU2.0 Podcast Episode 98 James Robert Lay on the Real Meaning of Digital Transformation

by Robert McGarvey

You want to read James Robert Lay’s Banking on Digital Growth.  It’s a book not about digital tools but rather about the transformation of community financial institutions, credit unions included, into organizations that can compete with and win against the mega banks.

Too small to do that? Nope, says Lay. That size can be a strength. It means a credit union can turn on a dime – if it chooses to.

It starts with recognizing that the traditional branch first marketing model is broken. Today’s consumer is digital first. And yet at most credit unions digital is simply a bolt on onto the old branch model.

Time for a refresh. Think digital first. Flip the business model and that’s the path to success.

Lay also believes that “Covid is a wake up call.” He is not trivializing the damage it is doing to the health of the nation, or the finances of many of us. What he is saying is that this is the time to look for new opportunities. Many credit unions will fail because of Covid. Many others will find new prosperity.

Why haven’t more credit unions seen the need for big changes? Precisely because they have had a good 12 year run since 2008. Why fix what ain’t broken?

But now breaks are showing.

Make the most of opportunities.

This podcast is about digital transformation but what you won’t hear is propellerhead talk. Lay is a marketer at heart and that’s what you will hear. And it’s what you need to embrace to get ahead in 2020, a year of immense challenges.

Hear the Lay podcast here.Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.comAnd like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It’s a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto