By Ray Birch
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.—Credit unions have long prided themselves on building trust with members, but that’s simply no longer enough to keep them in the fold—especially when more than half of young consumers have expressed an openness to making a move, says Suzette Kent.
Speaking to CO-OP Financial Services’ latest virtual Think Event, Kent, CEO of Kent Advisory Services and former chief information officer for the United States from January of 2018 to July of 2020, told attendees they need to strengthen relationships by offering greater payments convenience and to do that they must leverage data to get to know their members even better.
“What I learned working in government and higher education, food services and transportation, I saw that financial services really do operate at the highest of standards,” said Kent. “And in this time of increasing identity theft and information breaches and new fraud schemes every day, having a lead here with member trust is a head start. And you can capitalize on that in the payments space, and in overall relationships with your members, by linking member understanding and greater convenience with that trust equation.”
A Strategic Fight
Kent emphasized that with members trusting the credit union it is easier to take that next step to deliver greater convenience in the world of payments.
“When credit unions are battling for share of their members’ wallets, it's the convenience and the cost equation that's at the center of your members’ decision making,” she explained. “This is a battle that has to be fought strategically and led with personalization. And leveraging that trust equation to reach greater personalization in your offerings is essential.”
Kent said credit unions must take every bit of member insight they can bring to bear and incorporate that into how, when and where they bring products and services to members.
“You leverage data to understand how they consume and use financial services, and you then meet them with the products and services that align with their needs at a point in their lives,” she said, echoing a theme CO-OP has been stressing in much of its communications, too.
‘Let That Sink in for a Minute’
Just how important is it for CUs to leverage greater understanding of their members to deliver greater convenience? Kent pointed to Oracle’s latest digital banking survey, which found 54% of young consumers would change their financial institution if cost or convenience were perceived to be greater elsewhere.
“Think about that and let that sink in for a minute,” said Kent. “As we think about that payment relationship more broadly…Expectations across the entire financial relationship hinges on what's appropriate to someone’s experience.”
Kent said payments transactions are the credit union’s daily opportunity to exceed member expectations, and that cooperatives must ensure their payments solutions are not only easy to use but also priced well.
“Payments are the one specific area where customers interact with us every day,” Kent said. “Every day they make payment choices—how am I going to pay for this? So, every day we have the ability to exceed member expectations, and incorporated with the trust factor, expand the relationship.
“I love this quote about payments being the tip of the spear,” continued Kent. “They are the tip of the spear for someone's lifestyle, the cycle of their life, and can even give indicators about their values—who do they donate to? Where do they eat? What are their savings habits. Payments are barometers of behaviors and values that ultimately provide the intelligence about not only what members need but what long-term opportunities there may be. Investment in payments keeps members engaged.”
The Other Engagement
As credit unions work to get closer to their members they cannot overlook getting closer with their own teams, Kent said—making sure staff understand how new products and product changes not only work but how those things facilitate greater member convenience.
“Let's talk about how we can operate in a continuously changing environment,” said Kent. “If you're listening to members and evolving offerings in a digital world that is constantly changing—and in many areas financial services companies are evolving from legacy platforms and moving to cloud-based solutions—every one of these changes puts how your employees serve your members at risk. This is all part of the whole puzzle, part of this fluid operational model. Therefore, it's important to ensure that your entire organization feels connected and that they understand how changes actually connect to the members’ experience.”