Can credit cards put the glue in your member relationships?

Visa reported on February 8 that credit card usage rose 10 percent in the first quarter of 2012 – a possible sign that the economy is warming, along with consumer interest in spending with plastic.

Better yet, credit cards are profitable. Just ask Visa: They reported a 16 percent increase in profits to go along with the boost in card usage. Credit cards are among the most profitable products that credit unions offer. Yet, profits may not be the best reason to reconsider building (or rebuilding) your card portfolio. Continue reading →

…and still sleep at night?

As car sales appear to be heating up in 2012, credit unions face a key service challenge. Car buyers and dealers demand on-the-spot decisions on financing, and most of those decisions need to take place after normal business hours.

Increasingly, stopgap measures aren’t getting the job done. “In early 2009, I instituted Saturday hours for our loan officers, “says Roger Douville, Vice President of Credit/Business Lending at A+ Federal Credit Union in Austin, Texas. “But, because our credit union hours were limited, we were losing out on a lot of indirect auto loan business. In the automotive dealer world, if you’re not handing over a quick loan decision to dealers, you’re pretty much losing the deal.” Continue reading →

As 2012 begins, will the greatest constant continue to be change? During the past year it sometimes seemed as though everything was changing for credit unions:

• The Durbin Amendment, though not a direct hit against most credit unions, fundamentally altered the interchange landscape.
• Regulations made lending a continuing challenge, as credit unions struggled to make the loans that make money.
• A steadily unsteady economy made risk an ongoing issue.
• Consumer anger – and even outright revolt­ – gave rise to opportunity.
• At the same time, the changes that banks instituted (or attempted to institute) threw old systems into the wind. Free checking? Reward programs? Everything was up for grabs.
• The need for new technology only intensified, as everything from mobile banking to beefed-up security and round-the-clock accessibility became the new normal.

What didn’t change in 2011? The need to conduct business intelligently, ethically, responsibly and profitably. With all the consideration of new opportunity, regulation, market forces and change there is an intensifying need to evaluate profitability. Continue reading →

As consumer spending rises, so does the need for credit cards.

It’s not just the holidays that have consumers spending more these days. According to this report on NPR, both spending and the debt that goes with it have been on the rise for several months now. This may spell opportunity for credit unions looking to expand member relationships and increase revenue via credit card accounts. Continue reading →

The digital age is changing more than technology: It’s changing us.

In his most recent book, “We Are All Weird,” marketing blogger Seth Godin makes a startling point: Thanks to iTunes, each of us is now likely to possess a unique musical playlist, unduplicated anywhere in the world. This applies even to your decidedly uncool brother, who once owned nothing but Top 40. We are also less likely to watch network television and more likely to consult Yelp. Do you like knitting with yak fiber or collecting vintage bar coasters? In the digital age, you can find your own tribe.

Continue reading →

Shared branching is moving to the next level with the merger of CO-OP and FSCC

Shared branching is putting participating credit unions within shouting distance of big bank branch access. CO-OP Financial Services and Financial Service Centers Cooperative (FSCC) are merging to provide a credit union shared branching service under one management roof with more than 4,400 physical branches and 2,200 Vcom kiosk locations nationwide. Continue reading →