By Frank J. Diekmann
It’s a new year. (Some will also say it’s a new decade, but for the record, that doesn’t actually begin until 2021.) Now, allow me to be approximately the 2,714,892nd to say it’s time for 2020 vision and a new focus.
With all that out of the way, here are some news items, observations and nuggets to be giving some thought as you do plan for 2020 and the ideally Re-Roaring 2020s:
Follow-Up Calls Followed by Follow-Up Calls
Here’s what credit unions are up against in both consumer expectations and the relentlessness of other providers. It will only become more aggressive this year.
One news report on lending during 2019 featured a 24-year-old marketing manager in New Jersey named Andrew who was in the process of buying a two-bedroom condo. To finance the purchase, he plugged his information into LendingTree.com, and Quicken Loans, the largest non-bank mortgage lender by loans originated, called him almost immediately.
“I’m not even exaggerating,” he said. “I think they called me like 10 or 15 seconds after my information was in there.”
How quickly does your credit union follow up with loan applicants, including those who drop out of the process after starting an app online? Is it faster than it took you to read that previous sentence? Because other lenders are already calling.
Is There a Bias In Your Data (Staff)?
The recognition there are inherent and often subtle biases built into data analytics isn’t new. But what about the subconscious biases against those who might be hired to perform data analytics—or even get into the field in the first place.
While “scientist,” as in “data scientist” doesn’t imply a gender, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, observed that the word often brings to mind a male image, and that the majority of prominent scientific speakers and panelists have been men (leading to mocking monikers such as “manference,” “himposium,” “manel”).
Dr. Collins, who led the Human Genome Project and has been N.I.H. director for a decade, said he will no longer speak at conferences that do not show a strong commitment to diversifying.
Now think about the people who most often present at CU conferences and who are hired by credit unions to do their own data science work. It’s most often a man. Something to think about as you move forward, not to mention a challenge for credit union trade groups as they put together their own speaker agendas and panels.
The More Things Change…
Speaking of conferences, here’s one thing I expect won’t change in 2020 or any year thereafter—you just will never please everyone.
While I’ve witnessed a few exceptions, for the most part conference organizers work very hard to put together educational programs and speakers that bring value to their paying attendees. I know when CUToday.info hosted its CUTomorrow Conference, for instance, we went to lengths to assemble 15 or so speakers who could speak to specific, field-tested growth strategies.
But conference organizers know something else: no matter how hard you work, for many attendees’ their impression of the value of the meeting has nothing to do with the program. The room is too cold. The weather too hot. Didn’t like the chairs. Or, as I recently heard the person sitting next to me at a CUNA-sponsored event say to the person next to him, “Last year was better. I’ve never seen so much crab and shrimp in my life.”
It’s Not Ride Sharing, It’s Life Sharing
If you’re the CEO or a C-suite exec in a credit union, it can be difficult to hear stories straight from members that aren’t run through the filters of every person in the chain below you. It’s the old-fashioned game of telephone, where the single word that starts at one end is garbled when it arrives at the other.
So, if you’re seeking to pull back the curtain for a straight view of what life is like for the working stiffs whom credit unions were formed to serve, might I suggest talking to your Uber or Lyft driver.
More often than not, you’ll find gig economy workers who feel they’re the ones being gigged, or, if you listen carefully, folks who have gigged themselves through some bad decisions. Nearly every driver has a reason they are driving your butt around town, and it very seldom has anything to do with a fondness for getting behind the wheel.
In the last year I’ve spoken to a guy who had a new car he had just turned in so as to get an even newer one; now he’s upside down in it and will be for many new model years to come. I heard from a woman who shared terrible story of husband who had left her with three young children and no child support or alimony (when I suggested she get a lawyer she told me she had faith God would provide “ultimate retribution”). Instead, she said she was working 16 hours a day, which is not what you want to hear from the person driving your car. It was sad and touching story of one person’s struggles, although it was also slightly offset by the fact her Uber car was a Mercedes C class sedan. So maybe double-check her loan app.
I’ve sat in the cars of relatively recent immigrants as they shared their stories, including two from Africa and one from Nepal, and none of them had ever heard of a credit union. And that’s too bad, since Uber is all-too-happy to roll out its own financial services offers for drivers.
By the way, when I recently asked an Uber driver in Spokane who had arrived from Afghanistan whether the country was better or worse since the U.S. arrived, he immediately snapped “It’s worse!” So maybe don’t ask about that.
Left, Right, What’s the Difference?
Speaking of Uber experiences that weren’t exactly uber-experiences, here’s an actual conversation during a recent trip from Reagan National Airport in D.C., as we were sitting at a red light and the person behind us kept hitting their horn:
Uber Driver, Looking in Rear-View Mirror: What is this guy’s problem? We can’t turn left on red. There’s even a sign.
Me: Umm, aren’t we turning right?
Uber Driver: Uh, yeah.
We turned right. And those are the people we entrust our lives with each day.
A Threat Coming to Credit Unions
With 2020 here, credit unions, CUSOs and their vendors continue to invest in biometrics as a means of defeating cyberthieves, But one recent crime demonstrates just how difficult the challenge is going to be.
According to investigators, criminals were able to use artificial intelligence-based software to impersonate a chief executive’s voice and demand a fraudulent transfer of €220,000 ($243,000).
The CEO of a U.K.-based energy firm thought he was speaking on the phone with his boss, the chief executive of the firm’s German parent company, who asked him to send the funds to a Hungarian supplier. The “boss” said the request was urgent, directing the executive to pay within an hour, according to the company’s insurance firm, Euler Hermes Group SA.
Whoever was behind this incident appears to have used AI-based software to successfully mimic the German executive’s voice by phone. The U.K. CEO recognized his boss’ slight German accent and the melody of his voice on the phone, said Rüdiger Kirsch, a fraud expert at Euler Hermes.
Several officials said the voice-spoofing attack in Europe is the first cybercrime they have heard of in which criminals clearly drew on AI. And it wasn’t as sophisticated a scheme as you might believe: authorities believe the hackers used commercial voice-generating software to carry out the attack.
Just think about that the next time you call a member to “verify” the authenticity of a transfer or other transaction.
Now, all that said, best wishes for a relentlessly lending, unbiased, safe Uber-riding, authentic voice, happy new year. May your crab and shrimp plate always be full.
Frank J. Diekmann is Cooperator in Chief at CUToday.info and can be reached at Frank@CUToday.info or @FrankCUToday.