Podcast

Credit unions are buying so many banks the Wall Street Journal refers to this as a “spree.”

Just in the first eight months of 2018 there were 21 transactions, compared to 12 in the prior five years, by the WSJ count.

What is going on here?

We put that question to John Weinkowitz, Head of Product Strategy, Community

Markets, Finastra, and himself an m and a expert.

Is this doing business with the devil?

Should this put into jeopardy the credit union tax exemption – as many bankers are insisting?

What drives the transactions? The need to grow, said Weinkowitz. FIs below a certain size find it more difficult to compete. So some put themselves up for sale.  And others go hunting for acquisition partners.

The allure for credit union execs is an immediate increase in members, deposits, and also – in many cases – branches.

But are they factoring in predictable attrition?

Do they have a strategy for employee retention – which may be critical to making an acquisition work?

Before buying a community bank listen to this podcast. You don’t want to ignore that advice.

The podcast is here.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available.

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

Carla Bienz is CEO of Partners 1st Credit Union in Fort Wayne IN – an institution where she has worked since she graduated from college and where she now is CEO.  And she has keen insights into the plight of smaller credit unions and what they need to do to survive and prosper.

Listen here

https://www.buzzsprout.com/268738/1934348-cu-2-0-podcast-episode-64-carla-bienz-partners-1st-cu-live-from-finastra-community-markets

There was a time when community financial institutions owned the home mortgage market. No more.  Fintechs dominate and mega banks aren’t far behind. Most credit unions are left to squabble over crumbs.

But just maybe there’s hope. At Finastra, Steve Hoke, Vice President, Product Management, Consumer and SME Lending, says the company’s Fusion Motgagebot Data Insights puts the power of data analytics in the hands of a community financial institution and the upshot is just maybe it can compete – successfully – against the fintechs and mega banks when it has data at its command.

Listen here

What percentage of your mortgages actually close? How does that compare with competitors? Don’t guess. Know. That’s the promise of this data.

Understand, the data is anonymized.  You cannot ask it to tell you how you fare against a specific competitor. But if you want to see how you do against others, it has the answer.

This is powerful stuff.  Hoke said Finastra is adding capabilities and hopes to extend it to more types of lending (auto loans for instance).

“We are giving community institutions insight into data that before they were flying blind about,” said Hoke.

This is one of a half dozen podcasts recorded at Finastra Community Markets in Chicago, October 2019.

What would it be like to go from being Head, Digital Customer Experience at Lloyds Bank in the United Kingdom – a trillion dollar institution – to being the VP for digital innovation at Colorado-based Canvas Credit Union, with assets around $2.5 billion?

Ask Lucy Donaldson, this week’s guest at the CU 2.0 Podcast. Listen here.

She made exactly that journey and she candidly talks about what a money center bank can do that a credit union usually can’t – but she also talks about the huge advantages a credit union has, from much better agility to strong, genuine community ties.  

She’s seen both sides and she says what she likes about credit unions.

A key point Donaldson makes in this podcast is that it’s time to stop talking about a credit union’s digital transformation – and time to accept that has become its business transformation. A credit union is its bits and bytes and knowing that makes the job of plotting institutional success that much easier.

Here’s a related podcast with Tanan Miles of ENT, Colorado’s biggest credit union.

This is one of a half dozen podcasts recorded at Finastra Community Markets in Chicago, October 2019.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available.

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

by Robert McGarvey

Name the single most important IT system in your credit union.

Spoiler alert: it’s not your core.  Not anymore.

Who says that? Mike Hatch, a VP and national sales manager at Finastra, and a core expert. Hatch knows the core is crucial but he also believes that it’s the institution’s digital orientation that will shape its future.

Core is part of that.

But it is not the end all.

Another question: is your core system holding your institution back? Can you easily – and inexpensively – integrate cool fintech technology into your core?

Say no and you are telling the truth.

But it’s the wrong answer. You want an open core that lets you deliver the tech your members want.

Credit unions are looking for ways to be different, says Hatch. An open core helps there.

Think cores are boring?  You won’t think this podcast is boring – and you just may find yourself wondering if now is the time to initiate a core conversion.

Scary? You bet. But going out of business is scarier.

Listen up here.

This is one of a half dozen podcasts recorded at Finastra Community Markets in Chicago, October 2019.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available.

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

Can your cybersecurity keep hackers at bay?

Can cybersecurity be used as a marketing tool by a credit union?

Can a banker in fact become a credit union executive?

For answers, listen to this podcast with Daniel Ford, CIO at Jovia, a $3+ billion credit union on Long Island that you probably know as NEFCU.  The rebranding occurred a month ago.

Ford joined NEFCU via First Source Bank in South Bend (IN), where he was  the chief information officer, responsible for infrastructure, cybersecurity, and application development.  We asked him bluntly: can a banker in fact fit into a credit union’s philosophy?  You can guess his answer but give it a full listen. He makes points to remember.

Podcasts in this series that explore bankers and credit unions include Jim Blaine, Bucky Sebastian, Gary Oakland, and Marc Schaefer. 

Ford also talks, at length, about what a CIO needs to do to stay on top of cybersecurity and also how to work with vendors.

As for using cybersecurity as a marketing tool, don’t be too quick to say no way. Ford offers a tactic that just might work. Of course you want to hear that.

Listen to the Ford podcast here.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available.

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

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Will your superior teller experiences guarantee your future?

Believe that and – probably – you won’t want to hear this podcast on the rise of the digital first member.  That member may occasionally step into a branch but usually they are unhappy. They would rather interact online.

And their numbers are growing.

Smart institutions know this.  A Chase – in its heart – is now a technology company.  Are you?

In this podcast, Jeff Bender – vice president, digital solutions at Diebold Nixdorf – tells about the future of banking as he sees it. And he sees a lot of digital.

Word of advice: bet now on cardless ATM access. That, says Bender, is the next must offer.

Bender also warns about offering a generic, off the peg digital experience. Do all your competitors offer the same mobile banking app as you? Think again if that’s true.  “Find ways to personalize, to differentiate,” says Bender.

And keep thinking digitally. It is the future and it is now.

Listen to Bender here.

This podcast Bender mentions Partners FCU and its digital journey. For my take on Partners FCU, read this.

This podcast is one of a group of four recorded on site at the Diebold Nixdorf DN Intersect conference in Las Vegas, September 2019.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available.

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

One site to rule them all.

This is the banking version of the Tolkien quest for the one ring that rules them all.

Call this open banking and remember that phrase. It’s about to get much buzzier and louder over the next year as open banking transforms how US financial institutions interact.

Scott Anderson, brand evangelist at Diebold Nixdorf, sat down at the company’s DN Intersect event to tell us why open banking – a big issue in Europe – is heading your way.  

Imagine one site where your member sees everything financial. Inside the credit union and outside.  Imagine a site where the consumer can decide what to use to pay for this purchase in this moment.

How cool is that?

It’s also potentially frightening to financial institutions.  The institution ceases to be a walled garden and becomes instead an open transit point. Won’t consumers flee?

Why should they? If their needs are getting served.

In many ways Anderson is optimistic about the impacts of open banking – which definitely is coming our way – on smaller FIs such as credit unions.  

One hitch however. How do credit unions get enough data to play meaningfully in this universe?  Anderson sees credit unions working in alliances with fintechs – CUSOs perhaps – to create an even playing field with big banks when it comes to open banking.

Just maybe it’s the biggest FIs that have the most to lose in an open banking universe.

Listen here

Think on that and think about how to win your institution’s share.

This podcast is one of a group of four recorded on site at the Diebold Nixdorf DN Intersect conference in Las Vegas, September 2019.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available.

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

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Richard Crone is a longtime payments geek and when it comes to Libra, he has a particular spin.  It boils down to this: forget the talk about crypto currency. Libra fundamentally is a pre-paid account and because it is a Facebook effort, it has reach into some 2.1 billion daily users of Facebook tools (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.).

“It’s a prepaid network with global reach – there are also 90 million businesses on Facebook properties,” said Crone.

His blunt message: every credit union needs a Libra strategy and you need it now.

Understand this: Facebook may not be looking to profit off Libra per se. Its strategy seems instead to be to use Libra to drive traffic to Facebook sites and thereby increase advertising revenues.

Which may make Libra yet more attractive to financial institutions.

The conversation includes Heidi Liebenguth, managing partner at Crone Consulting, and it took place in a public space at Caesars Palace, where Crone and Liebenguth were speakers at DN Intersect, the Diebold Nixdorf meeting. There’s minor ambient noise but audio quality of the podcast is good.

Crone finds it “bizarre” that not one FDIC insured institution joined in the launch of Libra.

He also is not deterred by the regulatory scrutiny Libra has won.  In fact he sees it as a competitive advantage because it may deter competitors from plunging in with their own similar products.

Listen to this podcast and you definitely will want to dig into Libra and reach the decisions that are right for your credit union. Inaction is not a strategy.

Don’t miss a related podcast with Diebold Nixdorf executive Douglas Hartung, also on Libra.  

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available.

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

Listen here https://www.buzzsprout.com/268738/1767961-cu2-0-podcast-episode-54-douglas-hartung-on-libra-live-from-dn-intersect

Buckle up for big, explosive ideas.  That’s what Douglas Hartung – senior director, business development & alliances at Diebold Nixdorf – specializes in and in this podcast he discusses Libra, bringing financial services to the globe’s underbanked and unbanked, and the exciting idea that just maybe all a person needs to send money anywhere on the planet is a smart phone.

How cool is that?

Know that just may be Libra’s promise.

While some scoff at the prospects of Libra – the Facebook backed new-style currency – Hartung believes that the sheer magnitude of the Facebook family of properties user base makes this a financial play that demands attention.

He also likes the idea of in-app payments – so in Facebook, for instance, what if you can without friction send $10 to a friend in Bali. With just a click. Without leaving the Facebook app.

Is Libra just another Bitcoin variant? Hartung says nope.  He tells why in the podcast.

A bottomline here is: pay attention to Libra.  You may regret it if you don’t.

Incidentally you will hear some taps interspersed throughout the podcast. That’s Hartung animatedly tapping on a table to emphasize his point. Get into his spirit, let the taps animate you too.

This podcast is one of a group of four recorded on site at the Diebold Nixdorf DN Intersect conference in Las Vegas, September 2019.

Don’t miss a related podcast with industry analyst Richard Crone, also on Libra. 

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available.

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