Given the present macroeconomic issues, many credit unions are wary of digital innovation.
PSCU President and CEO Chuck Fagan, NAFCU CEO Dan Berger, and Suncoast Credit Union SVP of Digital Strategy Jana Manley all told Karen Webster that the most effective method for improving technology — and hence member experiences — can be boiled down to a single concept:
Do not pursue the sparkling squirrel.
According to study, 38% of CUs consider themselves to be technology laggards, up from 29% the previous year. The increase is due in part to a decrease in technological investment, but it also represents a reconsideration of what true innovation is.
But, as Berger pointed out, “it is up to each individual institution to choose if members desire these innovations or if it fits within the CU’s economic model.”
“There’s been a long, historic pattern in the business where innovation has come in the shape of new goods and new services,” Suncoast’s Manley explained, and in pursuing the shiny object (or squirrel, as Berger puts it) — the diversion that’s drawn attention, money, and time.
“You just bolt on a product — and if you build it, they will come,” she remarked, referring to a long-standing slogan. There had been little time spent investigating how the bolt-on affected the entire consumer experience.
