NEW YORK—Credit unions do not need their own digital wallet, according to one person here, as it’s more promising for CUs to focus elsewhere.
During a breakout session titled Digital Payments: Making the Climb to the Top of the Digital Wallet” at PSCU’s MoPRO meeting, Cindy McGinness of PSCU said the company is working to develop a “payment strategy that helps us to know what is important to us and what should we do next.”
Digital payments are no longer about just Millennials, added McGinness, noting that all consumer segments have quickly adopted the technology. Indeed, she said that for most of its lifespan consumers haven’t been able to envision what mobile payments are. But “people can touch and feel it with Apple Pay, and we think it’s going to skyrocket.”
That said, in a market with not just PayPal. Visa Checkout, Google Wallet, Apple Pay, LoopPay, CurrentC, and others, the question grows ever day of “how do I play in this?”
McGinness said PSCU does not believe credit unions need their own branded digital wallet. “Our focus and our message is that we need to focus on the transaction,” she said. “The transaction is key. This is where your revenue comes from. Transactions on the credit side can represent up to 30% of your income.”
Credit unions need to recognize what’s at stake in not becoming a digital player, McGinness said, including inability to attract and retain members, and watching the card transaction portfolio wither.
“If your cards aren’t in the digital wallet, your members are going to use someone else’s,” cautioned McGinness. “It’s time to get into the game. You might be standing on one side of the line and not sure what to do, but you need to cross that line and get into the game of digital payments.”