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This podcast explores contemporary, critical thinking and issues impacting the nation's credit unions. What do they need to be doing to not just survive but prosper?
469 Episodes
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Send us a text Tansley Stearns had been working in a credit union for maybe five years when a big idea grabbed her: she decided she wanted to be a CEO of a credit union. For a young woman who had grown up on a farm in southern Michigan that was a very big idea. Three years ago she made it happen, when she was named CEO at Community Financial Credit Union, a Plymouth MI headquartered institution. How is she liking the job? Is sitting in the CEO seat what it’s cracked up to be? ‘I...
Send us a text Whew, credit unions dodged the threat of loss of their tax exemption - but don’t think all is smooth sailing for credit unions in today’s turbulent Washington DC. Lots is happening that may impact credit unions, large and small. On the show is repeat guest Elizabeth Eurgubian, a lobbyist - with the Defence Credit Union Council among her clients - who also has served as NCUA Director of the Office of External Affairs and Communications and Policy Advisor to Chairman Harp...
Send us a text You might know it as the dismal science, but a conversation with Bill Handel, Chief Economist of Raddon, a Fiserv company, is anything but dismal. It in fact is an enlightening romp through the complexities and confusions of today’s global economy. In the show Handel makes a prediction about the future of interest rates - and, no, don’t expect an imminent return of 4% 30 year fixed rate mortgages. He also talks about how young adults are adjusting their financi...
Send us a text I am not going to explain to you in any detail what TrustGrid does and that is because in the show Joe Gleinsner, a co-founder of the Austin TX company, does a much better job of explaining than I could. But here’s the fact: TrustGrid’s tools - which enable secure connections of fintech apps with banking systems - are on the job at a couple thousand US credit unions, says Gleinser. Why haven’t you heard of it? That’s because TrustGrid does not sell to credit un...
Send us a text AI - is it real or a mirage? What is certain is that today AI is on the lips on just about everyone in credit union land. What also is real is a recent MIT finding that 95% of large companies with AI initiatives are getting zilch out of them. Ouch. That does not have to be the reality for credit unions. On the show today is Kirk Drake, CEO of CU 2.0, author of FINANCIAL, a 2020 book that envisions the rise of AI in our lives and in credit unions, and he also is hostin...
Send us a text Now for a feel good show. Lee Silber has put together a book, The Credit Union Way, that he says is inspired by the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and right away that tells you this is a feel good book. How did it come together? On the show Silber tells how he put together the stories - each of which relates a special credit union moment. In the episode Silber reads a chapter from the book - entitled Frank’s Fund - that was written by Anne Legg who happens to be a...
Send us a text In a year about 500 members of First City Credit Union in Pasadena die. It’s a credit union with 57,000 members. And what happened after the member’s death? On the show is Saeid Kian, CEO and co-founder of Ribbon, a fintech that has developed a tool kit to help credit unions speed up the process of settling a member’s estate and also - this is huge - helping the credit union retain some of those assets on its books. Also on the show is Nav Khanna, CEO of the $900 mi...
Send us a text This is a CU 2.0 Podcast first. Never before, in almost 500 episodes, have we done this. On the show is Crystal Zarse, a member of Interra Credit Union, a $1.7 billion Indiana based institution, and she is here to tell about her experience using the Prizeout Cashback+ debit card which rewards users with cashback often around 10% of purchase price, sometimes much more. Focus on that. Here’s a member who has taken time out of her to tell what benefits she gets by usin...
Send us a text Call this a week of different kinds of shows. Today we are doing something we have never done before. The guest - the only guest - is Lisa Weinstein, VP of Member Relations at Virginia Credit Union and a 33 year veteran of the credit union industry. There is no Eltropy employee also on the show. Weinstein is here to talk about Eltropy’s Collections 2.0, an AI powered tool kit designed to combat delinquencies and increase collections. How is it working at $7 bil...
Send us a text You probably have forgotten about the role of credit unions in the country’s marijuana business - estimated to be north of $40 billion. I know I had. It’s been years since we did a show on this topic. But on the show today is Kevin Hart, CEO of Green Check Verified, a business that provides tools to financial institutions that serve the country’s many marijuana businesses. As Hart says in the show, narijuana may not be legal in federal law - it is legal in 39 states f...
Send us a text What exactly does a credit union’s chief strategy officer do? On the show today is Bill Snider, the Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer at Clearview Federal Credit Union, a credit union with around $2 billion in assets that serves 10 counties around Pittsburgh. Longtime listeners will recall that I have expressed skepticism about strategies at many credit unions, also their commitment to innovation. Snider is here to show that in fact a credit union indeed can ...
Send us a text Could shared services be the cure that puts a halt to the epidemic of mergers among credit unions? Could shared services help credit unions increase their efficiencies and dramatically lower their costs so that they can better compete against big banks and fintechs? On the show today are Vin Anand, CEO of Member Support Services (MSS), and an evangelist for shared support services at credit unions. To spread this word Anand has brought in Gene Foley, former CEO of Harvard...
Send us a text What’s in your credit union’s name? Shakespeare told us a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But credit union leaders are busy renaming their institutions, often for solid, fundamental reasons. How to do this right is the topic of this Greatest Hits #28 where Phil Davis from branding company Tungsten tells the how to of smart renaming. Listen up.
Send us a text About 55% of outstanding US home mortgages have interest rates below 4% and a byproduct is that those homeowners are deeply reluctant to move because it would usually mean taking out a new mortgage at 6% or more. Enter Takara which says it has a way to resolve what it calls the mortgage lock in effect. On the show is Takara CEO Jonathan Arad who says the solution is to use a Danish-style mortgage payoff model to the U.S. market.This gives credit unions a way to offer princi...
Send us a text Suddenly youth banking is back in the conversation and that’s because this time there is real optimism that it’s a product that’s emerging at the right time. Case in point of the optimism is a recent Finovate article headlined “Why Youth Banking Is Set to Surge In 2025.” Better news is that this market isn’t solely for the big banks and fintechs. Now on the scene is Incent with its youth digital banking tools and it’s launched a CUSO that right now has one ...
Send us a text Talking about credit/debit card disputes and chargebacks. Probably you don’t want to. For good reason. One estimate is that there were $62.5 billion in chargebacks in 2023. And at most credit unions every chargeback or dispute involves a lot of staff time. It’s an expensive matter and it is often profoundly irritating to members - at least some of whom decide to change FIs as a result. More worrisome is that increasing numbers of Americans file disputes,...
Send us a text Risk. For years I have said that to a credit union senior executive the foulest four letter word is risk. It’s a risk averse industry and that’s a paradox because a credit union makes money by taking risks. Then too we are now in a universe of unprecedented risk: there are wars, threats of a recession, threats of uncontrolled inflation, and of course there now is so much competition - neo banks, non banks and more. Risk is everywhere. Enter Ed Vincent CEO of SRA Watch...
Send us a text Want to know the secret about how to better target a new member acquisition campaign? Of course you do. Just about every credit union in the country is scrambling to gain new members - but could the campaigns be more efficient and effective? In many, many cases the answer is a loud yes. Enter Vertices Which is blending data and AI to give credit unions tool to enable more precise targeting strategies and tactics. On the show is Mitch Rutledge, CEO of Vert...
Send us a text Are you ready to grapple with the new NCUA requirement that every credit union have an up to date succession plan that covers both senior executives and board members? The good news: you’re not required to have a written plan until January 1, 2026. The bad news: if you don’t have a plan by then, or if your plan falls far short of NCUA’s expectations, the credit union can be written up by an examiner. On the show is Jeff Paille, partner in The Bonadio Group’s Assurance Div...
Send us a text Some 4.18 million Americans will turn 65 in 2025 and many of them will have to make difficult and crucial decisions about their Medicare coverage. Credit unions can play a crucial role in this process and in this episode from May 2023 Rock Carter tells exactly how credit unions can get involved. And if you think Medicare has to be easy, well, get ready to hear the complexities. Listen up.
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