The credit union share of auto loans fell sharply in 2023, down almost 5% from 2022 numbers tracked by Experian.   Does this augur a grim future for credit unions when it comes to financing cars? Or was it a blip on the screen? On the show is Will Ely, a solutions architect at Earnix, where he consults with clients seeking more effective auto lending strategies. According to Ely, data is king of this mountain.  In particular he points to pricing analytics as the key to unlocking more...

Welcome to the CU 2.0 Podcast Greatest Hits show. There are over 300 shows in the library and yet a reality in the podcast business is that few of us ever even look at more than maybe the half dozen most recent shows. That’s why we are going to resurface some of the best and most popular shows as Greatest Hits. This is show #6 Matthew Butler on Charitable Donation Accounts and, no, I hadn’t heard of it either until I talked with Butler. I like it when people bring me something I hadn’t...

The answers you need are in the data. Of course you know that. But do you know - really know - how to mine the data you have, and you have a lot, and drill down to the information you need today? On the show is  Anurag Mukherjee, the Head of the Analytics practice for Credit Unions & Community Banks at EXL, a large global analytics and digital solutions consulting firm headquartered in New York. What sold me on doing this show was when I poked around the EXL website and landed on a...

Imagine this: you and your spouse go to Appleby’s for a Valentine’s Day dinner. You pay the check with your credit union debit card and, shazam, you get 10% cashback. An impossible story? Not according to Joel Richard,  chief experience officer at Interra Credit Union in Indiana.   That cashback came to him because he was using a card linked to Cashback+ which delivers cashback to members who use their debit card at participating merchants and the merchant list is an all star collection...

Can you pick out the bad apple? There are lots of retirement vehicles aimed at credit union c-suite executives but the fact is they aren’t created equal. Some simply are better than others. Back on the show today is Kirk Kordeleski, onetime CEO at Bethpage Federal Credit Union and now a leading expert on credit union SERPs (supplemental executive retirement plan), and he offers tips on what to look for in a steady SERP…and keep in mind it has to hold up usually for several decades after...

Your mother dies or maybe it’s your spouse and you’re a named beneficiary in the will so surely it’s a matter of presenting a few papers and some ID at the relative’s credit union and then you’ll walk out with a check. Dream  on. When Saeid Kian’s father died from pancreatic cancer - meaning there had been time to get his financial papers in order - Saeid assumed it would be straightforward to gain access to his dad’s accounts.  He assumed incorrectly. Months went by as he dealt with...

Welcome to the CU 2.0 Podcast Greatest Hits show. There are over 300 shows in the library and yet a reality in the podcast business is that few of us ever even look at more than maybe the half dozen most recent shows. That’s why we are going to resurface some of the best and most popular shows as Greatest Hits. This is show #5 - San Francisco Fire Credit Union exec Josephine Chew tells about how the institution created its we want to be your side bank campaign and she also exudes humor,...

It’s a war out there for deposits. You know it.  But what you might not know is how to actually get more deposits, especially from new members. Psst. Here’s the secret: digital account opening. That’s what Apiture’s Jennifer Dimenna is here to tell us -but first there is this mind numbing statistic: about half of all credit unions do not have the capability to offer digital account opening. And yet this is 2024. How many potential new members simply log out when they realize they’d...

SELCO, at $2.7 billion in assets, is a big Oregon credit union.  It has had an active community relations - and giving - portfolio.  And then an idea took hold: SELCO decided to organize its activities and out of this has grown SELCO Steps Up where the credit union reimagines, expands, and organized its community relations portfolio. Every credit union should be looking at doing something similar.  This is the path towards getting the most for the community out of the credit union’s talent...

It was two years ago when we kicked off the first Kirk Kordeleski Money Talks podcast where the onetime Bethpage Federal Credit Union CEO talked about the rising importance and adoption of SERP retirement plans for c-suite credit union execs but also about the massive changes that are transforming the credit union industry. There’s a monthly show, an hour of prime listening for those working in the credit union industry and also those who want to sell into it. That means there are...

This is a show about Happy Money. Of course you have to smile at that. You’ll smile more knowing it’s the name of a company that is in the business of helping consumers with personal loans that in turn are issued by participating credit unions and of course the consumer is memberized along the way. So it’s also a member acquisition tool. The key Happy Money loan is the Payoff Loan - $5000 to $40,000 - that helps a consumer pay off credit cards. Rates are as low as 12.45%. Credit...

Welcome to the CU 2.0 Podcast Greatest Hits show. There are over 300 shows in the library and yet a reality in the podcast business is that few of us ever even look at more than maybe the half dozen most recent shows. That’s why we are going to resurface some of the best and most popular shows as Greatest Hits. This is show #3 - a reissue of CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 239 David Metz CEO of Prizeout and Darlene Johnson, EVP of Suncoast Credit Union, on Value Upping Gift Cards It’s a show with...

Kirk Kordeleski, onetime CEO at Bethpage Federal Credit Union, said it and his endorsement in a Credit Union Times article was so glowing that I knew I had to talk with Austin Wentzlaff, CEO of startup Nook.  said Kordeleski: “I firmly believe that Nook is at the forefront of something truly exceptional for the credit union industry. Drawing from my experience as a former credit union CEO, I can attest that every credit union grapples with similar challenges related to member loyalty and...

The Callahan report on credit union financial performance in 2023 exploded like a bomb.  Credit Union Times shrieked: “Credit Union Earnings Fell to Record Low in 2023, Callahan Data Shows.”  The publication added a kick with its subhead: “But CU results are even worse when the most recent three months are extracted for earnings and originations.” Had the sky in fact fallen? Then I saw a post on LinkedIn by Kirk Kordeleski, the onetime CEO of Bethpage Federal Credit Union, where he...

Maybe 15 to 20 percent of your members have a neurodiverse condition - anything from dyslexia to color blindness - and, surprise, that means they will face big challenges everytime they log into a mobile banking app because that technology just isn’t designed with such conditions in mind.   Enter Mahalo with its Thoughtful Banking mobile app which features a neurodiversity module. Mahalo elaborated on what this means: “Among the platform's new features are left and right-hand use modes,...

Do we still need to pay attention to a credit union’s core system? You bet you do. On the show today is Shanon McLachlan, president of Credit Union Solutions at Jack Henry and - honestly - he draws a picture of core systems that are genuinely exciting, that will grow with a credit union as its tech needs grow. Regular listeners know that usually when I mention core systems it’s wrapped in what some call sneer quotes. Mclachlan is determined to prove I’m wrong, that cores can and...

You’re a credit union, therefore you want more business members. Business members bring a lot of revenue into an institution.  Many credit unions in recent years have made a push for more small business members.  Many have fallen well short of their goals. There are many reasons why but there also is a big reality: most credit unions need outside help to achieve those goals. They need to work with outsiders who truly get what building relationships with small businesses is all...

Welcome to the CU 2.0 Podcast Greatest Hits Show, episode the second. This show is with Peter Duffy on credit union - credit union mergers, show #274. Consider it a bookend with the first Great Hits show with Michael Bell on credit union - bank mergers. The reality is that mergers just are in the 2024 air as more credit unions face up to the reality that they need to bulk up to compete. Meantime, other credit unions are struggling in today’s tougher banking environment where it’s just...

There’s no charge to you or to your member - and yet both will get money out of the deal. In one case a member bought a $1000 CVS gift card and got an extra $80 in cash back.  How cool is that. Of course you want to hear more. On the show today is David Metz, CEO of Prizeout and a past guest on the show.  (Stay tuned: that episode will soon post as Greatest Hits # 3.) Today Metz is talking about Cashback+, a white label tool that puts money back in a member’s pocket with a debit card...

Hero or villain? It’s your choice.  When a member writes a check, or swipes a debit card, but lacks the funds for the transaction a credit union has a choice: it can play the part of the villain and slap a big fee on the member or the credit union could use the patented toolset from DoubleCheck to resolve the situation in ways that can benefit both the member and the credit union. Face facts: you may not have long to decide what to do.  The two dozen biggest credit unions - ones with assets...

What’s your mother’s maiden name? Your first car’s make? Your zip code? Face facts: it’s tedious at best to positively identify members who contact the credit union and, worse, scammers know the protocols and in some cases have masqueraded as credit union employees and gotten the answers from members so they could impersonate them. Nobody like the way this is now done at most FIs, except maybe a few scammers. There has to be a better way and there is: IDgo which uses biometrics to...

Welcome to the CU 2.0 Podcast Greatest Hits show. There are over 300 shows in the library and yet a reality in the podcast business is that few of us ever even look at more than maybe the half dozen most recent shows. That’s why we are going to resurface some of the best and most popular shows as Greatest Hits, The first Greatest Hit - originally #277 - is with Michael Bell, the attorney who has been key in credit union - bank mergers. You probably are much more familiar with credit...

Credit unions and their members are givers - that’s just a fact but that fact also is central to the self identity of credit unions and how they see their role in their communities. Enter Givio, an entirely different kind of fintech.  Over the years of this show we’ve poked into all manner of fintechs but Givio is different, it’s something we haven’t seen before and it is exciting because Givio (as the name hints) is a new take on giving. I became acquainted with Givio when a longtime...

Exactly what is the path to becoming a credit union CEO?  In this show, Kirk Kordeleski, onetime CEO at Bethpage Federal Credit Union, tells the route to take to get there - and it’s a must listen for the ambitious. Kordeleski also talks about the stresses that come with the job and asks if you are really ready for them.  Be honest. There’s no shame in stopping the climb at CFO or likewise and the stresses at that level are much lower than in the CEO’s big chair. Are you aware that -...