You might have heard: The CO-OP Shared Branch network recently reached another new milestone, surpassing mega-bank Chase to become the country’s second largest branch network among commercial financial institutions. Not only that: From machine learning to mobile banking apps, APIs and digital wallets, our community’s combined resources and collective intelligence continue to drive innovation. But as important as these advancements are, it is ultimately our “people helping people” mission that sets the credit unions apart – that, and a culture of sharing that is very much in step with today’s consumer. Here are the other important stories of the week: You will hear a lot about platforms in the future. Here's a good explainer. "‘Platform businesses bring together producers and consumers in high-value exchanges. Their chief assets are information and interactions, which together are also the source of the value they create and their competitive advantage.’" And another post "From Pipeline to Platform Organizations" Sad but true: Consumers have no clue about credit unions. "Many consumers still think you have to belong to a labor union to become a member. They assume credit unions have limited products and services. They believe credit unions are technologically inferior to banks, and that banks have better security. While credit unions have always had a big awareness problem, these research findings show how much work they have to do." Advanced Analytics and the Future of Digital Lending. This new study discusses how onboarding new customers is your first opportunity to win them over and set the stage for the entire relationship going forward. Your onboarding process needs to be as fast, seamless and painless as possible. Customers who feel your initial onboarding and activation is too difficult or time-consuming are likely to walk away. Tip of the day: Turn off your notifications. All of them. "For all the good that phones do, their grip on our eyes, ears, and thoughts creates real and serious problems. "I know when I take [technology] away from my kids what happens,” Tony Fadell, a former senior VP at Apple who helped invent both the iPod and the iPhone, said in a recent interview. “They literally feel like you’re tearing a piece of their person away from them. They get emotional about it, very emotional. They go through withdrawal for two to three days.”