Improve Credit Union Board Meetings: 4 Tips

Written by

 

If you are a credit union leader or a member of a credit union board, chances are you’ve been to at least one board meeting and know how important it is for the board to have effective meetings. But how can you ensure that your board meetings are successful?

Effective board meetings are an important part of credit union management. They provide a forum for discussing important topics and making decisions that impact the entire organization. But in order to get the most out of these meetings, it’s important to make sure they’re organized and productive.

Let’s discuss some tips on how to have better credit union board meetings. We’ll look at things like setting clear agendas, encouraging participation, and more.

Tips for Improving Productivity to Facilitate Effective Board Meetings

Credit union board meetings are just as easily derailed as a daily or monthly project meeting, and Hales Property Management shared some great and targeted tips for staying on task:

  • Define the purpose of the meeting. This makes for more organized board meetings from the get-go.
  • Start and end your credit union board meetings on time – this helps keep your directors and attending staff engaged and on task so as not to waste their own – or anyone else’s – time.
  • Keep the discussion focused. Once a topic of discussion is brought forth, follow it through and keep notes on any other issues that come up within the conversation, rather than letting a tangential conversation derail your progress.
  • Encourage input from all attendees. It’s important that everyone feels heard.
  • Take breaks as needed. Sometimes a short break can help get you back on track faster than a lengthy (or heated) debate will.
  • Be mindful of body language. For those speaking and listening, it’s important to pay attention to your own body language as well as the body language of those around you.
  • Take notes. These meetings are often task-oriented, and keeping notes ensures that all of the issues that were discussed will find a successful conclusion.
  • Follow up after the meeting. Part of the note-taking should include the action items that each attendee (or committee) will be responsible for between now and the next board meeting.
  • Encourage feedback. Sometimes, sharing every opinion isn’t feasible, and certain ideas can get missed. It’s important to keep those lines of communication and trust open so that concerns and recommendations can be passed back and forth between meetings.

Meeting productivity also improves when you do a few things to help manage the attendees’ expectations. For example, you should always send out a credit union board agenda beforehand – and not just one day before the meeting. 

We’d recommend sending the meeting agenda at least one week in advance – this gives your board and guests time to include important items that may have been overlooked. It also creates expectations for the meeting topics – even if you have to include generic topic placeholders (like “Director A will discuss recent marketing efforts” or “Guest speaker will be Helen the CPA”).

Create Space for Questions and General Review

A board meeting shouldn’t feel like a punishment. While it’s not a party either, it’s important to create space for new and existing board members and meeting participants to share openly.

This means reserving time in the meeting for board members to share general news, interesting articles, personal achievements or events, and other non-discussion items.

This is a great way to keep your directors engaged without creating a feeling of having extra homework assigned. If a board member finds an interesting resource, they can simply share it with the room and those who are interested can follow up on the resource in their own time.

It also means creating space for questions. Every board is different, and each director has different skills and areas of expertise. It’s important to remember to always allow new members the opportunity to ask “beginner” questions, especially pertaining to things like budgets and financial information.

Be Clear about Renewal & Succession Planning

Choosing to simply wait until Directors on your board want to leave is not a strong succession plan. Credit unions are highly susceptible to changes in their CEO and directors lineup, and it’s important to prepare for these changes early.

It’s important to share guidelines that show exactly what the current board is responsible for when it comes to recruiting, developing, and retaining those in key positions. the credit union board agendas can shift as needed, but it’s easier to alter a plan than to go in without one.

In January 2022, the NCUA board approved a proposed rule on succession planning. The proposed rule requires the boards of directors at federal credit unions to “establish and adhere to processes for succession planning.” However, whether you are a federally-chartered or state-chartered credit union, it is wise to create these plans in order to maintain your board’s effectiveness during periods of transition.

Improve Board Meetings with Better Financial Conversations

An article entitled, “Better Board Financial Conversations” was featured in the fall 2022 issue of Credit Union Magazine.

In that article, writer Darla Dernovsek shared several ways to keep your next CU board meeting on track when it comes to tackling the hard financial discussions that will arise.

The first tip here is to keep past performance in mind, but don’t let it overtake the conversation – we can’t go back and fix things, we can only use the information we have to create better, more successful future initiatives.

The article also shares several poignant questions that may help to drive the conversation forward, rather than continuing to discuss things in a loop, creating identical conversations over the years and decades. Those questions include:

  • What do you want to get out of meetings?
  •  What type of discussion do you want to occur, and on which financial and strategic topics? (This one is important, as board meetings can often veer too far into the “big picture discussion” without making any incremental changes to help create and sustain some forward momentum.)
  • What engagement do you want to see in your meetings? You can help determine this by creating board meeting requirements for certain positions and attendees.
  • What problems are you trying to solve?

These questions are great for getting your CU leaders to think about the core purpose of each meeting and your board’s engagement as a whole.

The future isn’t as easily read as it once was – in a post-pandemic world, it’s important to look past the numbers and projections to continue to offer your members the best experience based on their current desires and needs.

Your Credit Union Board Meetings Get Easier When Your UX Improves

We’re in a world full of short tempers, quick answers, and customer service issues. Because of that, your website is a great place to start creating good momentum for your next credit union board meetings.

Boost member numbers with IMSI’s online account opening, increase loan stats with our Web Loan Applications and enhance your Keystone core with our Corelation solutions. IMSI is your partner in fine-tuning your website for great things, both for members and for CU staff.

Contact us today with questions, requests, and more. We’d love to chat with you about how IMSI can help your credit union reach its goals this year.

Credit Union Community Outreach Trends & Tips

Written by

 

As people become increasingly aware of the importance of financial literacy, credit unions have stepped up to the plate with community outreach efforts. Credit unions are unique because they are not-for-profit organizations. This allows them to focus on offering their members better services and products than traditional banks.

It’s important to recognize that credit union community outreach goes beyond its members – it also serves to benefit the broader population.

Credit unions are a vital part of many people’s financial well-being. As the economy changes and evolves, credit union community outreach is becoming increasingly important. This article will explore current trends and offer tips for credit unions looking to expand their reach and engagement in their community. From partnering with local organizations to utilizing social media, there are many different avenues for credit unions to make an impact.

Why Do Credit Unions Do Community Outreach?

There are many benefits that come with running successful and impactful credit union community outreach programs. It strengthens your credit union’s brand, while also helping create positive change in the communities that you serve.

More and more, we’re seeing consumers look at brand transparency and advocacy when it comes to choosing which brands and institutions to give their money and resources to.

The goal of community outreach is to spur community engagement – and your credit union can do that in lots of ways. It can be as simple as offering budgeting and personal finance classes or as complex as running fundraisers, events, and other community-centered initiatives that run all year long.

Tips to Boost Credit Union Community Outreach Efforts

You can create opportunities for community outreach and engagement with your credit union’s resources and staff, and it all starts with a community engagement plan. Similar to any other business or marketing venture, it’s always best to start with your big goals and vision – this is your community charter. You can reach out to other community leaders and groups to help determine what items and events would best serve your community. You can also survey your current members to see what their unique needs are, especially those tied to their financial health.

From there, you’ll create a list of events, ideas, and resources that will help you reach those goals.

Here are some quick tips to help guide these discussions and planning sessions:

  • Lead with inclusivity: Most communities are made up of diverse groups. They may be diverse in their financial situations, races, sexualities, industries, and more. The more you cater to these niches, the more effective your credit union community outreach can become.
  • Leverage technology: every community has several (even hundreds) of social media groups dedicated to the diversity we mentioned above. You don’t have to sit in the town hall meeting to find out what the biggest opportunity zones are for your credit union to make a large impact.
  • Evolve as you learn: community outreach is a multi-faceted, evolving project. New issues are always replacing old ones, and some things that haven’t been an issue for years will come back into the fold. Your community outreach efforts should take these changes into account as you work with your members to create helpful solutions and resources.

Lead with a Sense of Purpose

Your credit union community outreach goals should be created with a core sense of purpose. For example, if there are many people in your community struggling to find work right now, that purpose could be financial education. You can offer free classes and workshops for budgeting and even partner with local libraries and tech centers to help those searching for jobs with access to devices they need for their search.

As you embed yourself and your credit union into the communities you serve, it’s often very easy to spot a few high-priority needs that aren’t being met, from housing to food, a shortage of childcare options, and more.

We’d recommend you begin with two tracks: one that has a goal related to financial security and/or education, and one that serves a need that is specific to the community your branch is located in. As another example, clean water is not an issue for every community, and there are different levels of need in each community for those that are unhoused. CUs around skid row, and other large cities, may have a large unhoused population – this is a great opportunity for community outreach initiatives based on housing and basic human needs. But if your credit union largely serves suburban populations, creating food banks for the unhoused isn’t going to have the same impact.

Once you’ve created your two purposes – one based on financial needs and another that targets specific needs in your community – you can start creating events, compiling resources, and researching effective ways to combat these issues. This will mean a lot more to your member base than a single canned food drive or ambiguous fundraiser.

Reach Out to Your Members – Early and Often

You also have a great resource that can help you measure the pulse of your CU’s community – your members! Every one of them is plugged into all the events, issues, and excitement that come with a new year, season, and month.

Instead of relying on your marketing or outreach team to come up with all the ideas, why not ask your members? You can get great insights into the community’s biggest needs, all from the teller desk as your members are depositing paychecks and doing their day-to-day banking.

This includes your online community, too. And you can help foster discussion by rewarding those who speak out and actively engage with your polls, questions, surveys, and discussion threads. There are lots of ways to reward active members, including giving them moderator access, offering free merchandise, discounts on classes, and gift cards to local restaurants or other businesses, the list is endless.

An Updated Website Is Perfect for Documenting and Spurring Community Outreach

One of the biggest hurdles credit unions face is the lack of online presence and innovation. Across industries, we can see how easy it is for high-quality events and outreach initiatives to get glossed over or even forgotten, simply because you didn’t have the information available on your website and social media accounts.

Your members (especially the younger, digitally native ones) expect a certain quality of UX (user experience) on the websites of the brands they purchase from. Your credit union is no different. Website upgrades and app integrations should be a priority in 2023.

The easier you make it for your members to find credit union community outreach initiatives and signups, the more they will see how invested you are in creating a cohesive and supportive experience for your member and the communities in which they work and live.

IMSI offers targeted and professional services that can help you make the most of your credit union’s web presence. Whether you are looking for custom web development or assistance with UI scripting and batch scripting, we can help create a more cohesive website that serves your members, and your communities, better.

3 Credit Union Marketing Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Written by

 

Credit union marketing mistakes are easy to make. You have a monthly newsletter, and you recently added social media and other marketing channels like email promotions or app communication to your marketing mix. But things aren’t progressing the way you want – what are you doing wrong?

Let’s talk about some of the top credit union marketing mistakes, and how you can fix them to boost your engagement, your member numbers, and your brand reputation.

Mistake #1: Not Setting Clear Measurable Goals for Your Marketing Efforts

If you are increasing your number of weekly social media posts simply because a marketing blog told you that 5-7 posts per week is optimal, you likely won’t see the results you’re hoping for with those marketing efforts.

Credit union marketing mistakes often start with a failure to create measurable and targeted goals and objectives.

Let’s stick with the social media example – what’s your goal with those platforms? The goals can be specific to the platform or to your credit union’s yearly goals for member or loan growth, community outreach, or even staffing.

Common goals include growing your audience, increasing traffic to your website or apps, and overall conversions. But it’s important to remember that social media marketing is a specialty, and you can’t just copy and paste your monthly credit union newsletter into small Facebook or Instagram posts.

No matter what platform or medium you are using for your marketing efforts, it’s important to analyze the effectiveness of your marketing vehicles against the goals you have for your credit union marketing efforts.

Mistake #2: Thinking of Your Programs as Individual Marketing Assets

Your credit union’s brand voice and reputation should be cohesive. But another one of the top credit union marketing mistakes that we see often is a sort of piecemeal implementation of trendy or short-term programs that don’t really enforce your brand or help your members.

For example, many banks and credit unions are seeing the benefit of removing fee structures. This includes things like transaction fees, overdraft penalties, and more. They are finding that the revenue they lose by doing this is more than made up for in new and more engaged member communities.

Business leaders are often talking about “the big picture,” but that big picture isn’t measured solely by your profit margins. If your credit union is in a more rural or agricultural area, the big picture will look different than one that is located in a low-income community within a larger city. And that’s a good thing.

When you are thinking about using your marketing efforts to promote new services, it’s often helpful to take some time and look at how those new services are going to be beneficial to your members. What are their goals? Do you work within a specific industry? Are there ways to cater to your different member segments with new programs that fit your overall structure as a credit union?

Your credit union marketing efforts should be based on your audience and their specific problems. And don’t be afraid to think outside the box a little. If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that some credit union marketing mistakes can turn into amazing opportunities.

Mistake #3: Not Personalizing Your Marketing Efforts

Personalization often makes people think of adding a First Name to an email subject – and while, yes, this is a type of personalization, there are so many other ways to incorporate unique and specific perspectives into your marketing efforts.

As you look through your credit union marketing mistakes, it’s easy to get lost in the many channels you can use to get your message out, but it’s important to also stop and analyze what your members are doing and how you can help them do it, using your products, services, and assistance.

For example, CUInsight just shared a great article about how credit unions could be missing great marketing and sales opportunities by simply facilitating members as they are operating, rather than offering to use your services to optimize their financial experiences.

The article recounts a discussion about how staff members can use member lending data to create opportunities for your credit union instead. Essentially, if you know your members have auto or other loans through third-party vendors, why not compare those loan details to what you can offer and see if you can’t offer them a way to save some money by working with you instead?

Personalization and market segmentation are all about following the stories of your members and finding solutions and helpful programs they could enroll in at your credit union instead of going elsewhere.

Send loan program emails to members who have expressed interest in revamping their lending options. Create and share surveys and questionnaires that help your members dig into what areas of their personal or business finances could use some adjustments. Everyone who comes into your credit union and opens an account has already trusted you with their money, and they’ll feel great knowing that you can help them “hack” their finances to optimize their savings, grow their investments, and reach their goals.

Marketing Tip: Focus on Member-Facing Web Solutions with IMSI

IMSI’s services are helping credit unions optimize their member experience. Great member experience can create its own marketing opportunities in business partnerships, positive reviews, referrals, etc.

IMS Integration is here to help you implement elegant, member-facing web solutions, including:

  • Make a Statement: communicate more efficiently with your members using eStatements, eNotices, and more.
  • Online Courtesy Pay+: an online solution for electronic, opt-in enrollment that is quick, easy, and seamlessly integrates with existing intranets and other online platforms.
  • Online Self Service Forms: increase member autonomy and agency with dozens of customized self-service forms that include things like Add Joint Owner, Check Reorder, Email Change, Express Services, and more.
  • Trial Balance+: a versatile tool that allows users to access and export member account information from any branch with single log-on.

Harness the Power of Credit Union Transparency

Written by

 

Credit unions are, in many ways, the antithesis of big bank operations. The goal of most credit unions is to integrate with the communities they operate in and help serve and educate their members in a bid to be more accessible than larger, corporate-feeling financial institutions.

At the heart of that differentiation is the transparency credit unions choose to have with their members. There’s no need to hide the “secret formula” from the world – a credit union’s job is to share the ins and outs of the financial industry with everyone who has a willingness to learn.

Here are some of our favorite ways you can harness the power of credit union transparency.

Why Credit Union Transparency Is So Important

Many professionals make the mistake of thinking that transparency within their business just means being overly honest – you share even the most mundane details about your operations with your members. But that’s not it.

When you think of credit union transparency, imagine showing your membership base all of your mission, vision, and values, as well as a demonstrable list of how your credit union is consistently working to meet those goals and embody those core tenants. So, how do you create that transparency and make it authentic and valuable for your members?

Share Your CU’s Unique Traits

Credit unions are far more transparent with their business practices than any big bank or other financial institution by virtue of the publication of your credit union’s general information. From business plans to quarterly performance and investment success or failure, credit unions are beholden to their members because the business is almost always owned by those members.

Since everyone is given a stake in the credit union and its success, you’ve already got a great framework for legitimate business transparency.

From there, you can share other unique aspects of your credit union. Do you serve a specific community or industry? Are there other programs that allow your credit union to stand out among the crowd? Lean into these aspects and use them to create a transparent communication line between you and your members.

Financial Education is Key

We are all intrigued when an expert in their field asks something like “Do you want to know my secret?”

Credit unions are the first ones to share their insider expertise with members, and that transparency is one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal.

Cultivating a financial education program (or multiple programs) boost your business transparency while also showing member and non-members alike that you aren’t gatekeeping your financial planning knowledge, you are willing and able to share it.

Lending Trust is Waning

Because of predatory student loan practices and payday lending, many of today’s borrowers and potential borrowers are very skeptical about the loan process.

Because so many people have seen the negative effect a bad loan can have on someone’s livelihood for years or even decades, it’s more important than ever to focus your credit union transparency on sharing helpful information about the lending process.

There are many reputable credit unions sourcing and creating loan programs ethically and in a way that benefits both the credit union and the borrower. It’s your job to prove to your prospects and your members that you aren’t taking part in less-than-reputable lending practices.

Faster and Clearer Transactions

Big words and complicated programs aren’t what your members are looking for. They want helpful insights given to them in ways they can understand, and they want to be able to manage their finances quickly and easily.

Impressive technology isn’t about creating a complex and intricate solution – it’s about creating real change or momentum with as little effort and friction as possible. This is why your communication efforts with your members are so important.

You have hundreds or thousands of people using your services every day. Chances are, they can give you some great insight into what’s working and what’s not. Make sure those lines of communication are open and easy to access.

Boost Your Credit Union Transparency with Elegant, Member-Facing Solutions

The more you can show your members what you do, the easier it is for them to believe your statements about being transparent. IMS Integration has several member-facing solutions that can boost your credit union transparency, including Online Self Service Forms, Online Courtesy Pay, and Make a Statement.

Communication is a key component of transparency, and IMSI can help you share insights and offer vital resources to your members anytime, anywhere.

CXO: Why Your Credit Union Needs a Chief Experience Officer

Written by

 

There are c-level positions that are popular over the decades like CEO, CFO, and COO – but there are also ones that evolve or even come and go as the market, economy, and workplace change.

One great example of this is the CXO – right now, the Chief Experience Officer is a role that is becoming more and more crucial to a business’s success.

A Chief Experience Officer, or CXO, whose primary job is to ensure a business is generating positive interactions with its customers. Credit unions and other organizations may have this same goal as a company, but not all of them have a c-level executive whose sole purpose is to keep their finger on the pulse of all member interactions.

So, what does that mean for your credit union? Here are our top reasons why your CU needs a CXO.

You Can Collect Data, But You Can’t Quantify Your Member Experience

Just as CFOs and CEOs are tasked with looking at the big picture, your CXO is looking at the whole of your members’ experiences and using data, tools, and member-facing conversations to create that picture.

Your credit union has a staff with varying degrees of experience with your member base. And your loan-specific roles will likely be experiencing something very different than your drive-thru or online banking associates are encountering.

The Chief Experience Officer is the aggregator of all of these experiences and many more. Your digital insights into your members and their banking habits are just the tip of the iceberg. There could be long-standing, institutional pain points that you have been missing with a more granular approach. A CXO offers a comprehensive review and strategy for the whole of the member experience, not just specific services or products.

The CXO Facilitates Internal Integration

By creating and hiring for a role that must talk to all departments and specialties within your credit union, the CXO is primed to create more opportunities for meaningful integration.

While it’s often easy to understand when an outside consultant tells you that you have a single high-level area that needs work, it’s hard to see that for yourself when you and each of your employees are a piece of a puzzle that you are trying to put together.

The CXO coordinates cumulatively with all areas of your credit union – both internally and externally. In fact, many CXOs have found that the same parts of a process that frustrates employees is also not working optimally for members. But if those frustrations aren’t being discussed because the employees with the issues and the unsatisfied members are never directly interacting or even aware of one another, that pain point sticks around.

But by implementing a CXO role into your operations, your credit union will see an uptick in cross-department collaboration.

CXO Has Oversight of the Entire Member Journey

No matter where you work in a credit union, your interaction with the member experience is tied to that specialty. From IT to customer service to marketing, your view of the member’s journey is truncated.

For a Chief Experience Officer, however, it’s truly about the entire journey. Your CXO can see the member’s journey from start to finish. There aren’t any blind spots that leave out the member’s experiences with online lending or account opening – this eagle-eye view can really highlight some of the biggest and most impactful member trends that are helping (and hurting) your business.

By monitoring member interactions as part of a whole member journey, CXOs aren’t just optimizing one product journey. They’re studying the complete life cycle of your members.

CXO Is the Member’s Highest Advocate

By working closely with the member’s experience, rather than using member data as a template to create marketing or revenue growth, your CXO becomes the person at the executive table who represents your members’ voices.

In a rapidly more personalized business world, your members don’t want c-suite executives pitting their needs against the bottom line – they need someone who truly understands how each member is using your credit union’s services.

The CXO is the role that is tailored to searching out members’ concerns, big and small, and finding solutions that quite often please the member and simultaneously satisfy other business operations-minded initiatives.

Strong member relationships will weather storms and disappointing experiences. But no matter how great your products and services are, you can’t out-tech or out-market a bad member experience. If there is no trust built throughout the onboarding and member experience, you can’t expect those members to rely on you when they are in need of financial counseling, loan options, or other banking services.

Enhance Your Member Experience with IMS Integration

The CXO position was created to help businesses meet their members and customers where they are. The same is true with IMS Integration.

We offer digital services and solutions that were curated by credit union experts. Whether you are a CXO liking for ways to digitize your loan application process, or you just want to expand your online self service forms offerings, IMS Integration shares your goals and wants to help you and your credit union achieve greatness.

Check out our elegant, member-facing web solutions today or request a consultation and let us answer your questions!

Credit Unions & the Great Resignation

Written by

 

The Great Resignation has not been easy for credit unions. And much like the rest of the country, your credit union must be looking for some explanations and solutions to the problems caused by the Great Resignation.

Your credit union staff is quite often part of the “face” of your CU’s brand. And as the Great Resignation and its effects linger, it can reflect poorly on that brand if you are unable to keep your branches staffed well. As inflation and cost of living expenses rise, it is less likely that your credit union is a “bad employer” and more likely that you aren’t marketing your positions in an optimal way, among other things.

Let’s talk about what the Great Resignation is and how to create targeted solutions to keep credit union staff issues to a minimum.

The Great Resignation: What It Is and What It Taught Us

In 2021, nearly 50 million people left their jobs voluntarily. This number is 12 million higher than the previous year.

What caused this mass exodus? Here are some of the top reasons cited by those who quit:

  • Burnout (40%)
  • Organizational changes (34%)
  • Lack of flexibility (20%)
  • Instances of discrimination (20%)
  • Contributions and ideas not being valued (20%)
  • Insufficient benefits (19%)

The stress from the pandemic – including many companies calling their staff back from remote work to in-office, loss of employees due to COVID, increased responsibilities, etc. – are all contributors to the burnout that many people are feeling in their workplace.

And credit unions are not exempt from these things. Like many businesses, most CUs can’t support 100% of their workforce going full-time remote, and it’s up to individual institutions to decide how to handle cost of living hikes and inflation issues.

However, when you look at the list of reasons why people are leaving in droves, a lot of it comes down to employees not feeling supported by the businesses they work for and support.

And while this information may seem negative, it’s also worth noting that the financial services sector actually experienced the Great Resignation less significantly than other industries. However, the number of resignations is still outweighing the number of new hires, even now, though that trend seems to be slowing the further we get into 2022.

Hiring & Recruiting: Jumpstart Your CU’s Search

If you are looking to increase your credit union staff numbers, or you have vacant positions to fill, we’ve got some tips.

Right now, posting your open positions on your website and your favorite job boards isn’t enough to attract the candidates you’ll want. Your hiring approach has to be more active.

You can use those same job boards to seek out specific people or to search for individuals who may be gainfully employed but looking for other opportunities. For example, LinkedIn lets people note on their profile if they are open to other job opportunities, even if they aren’t actively looking to change jobs.

You also need to expand your search. Though each position may have preferred skills, it’s important to seek out and evaluate potential candidates who don’t fit all the criteria on your list.

When you think about the ideal person you’d like to fill a specific position, what sort of attributes are most important? Do they need to be personable? Should they have high problem-solving capabilities or be great at written communication? Many of these attributes are tantamount to, say, their experience working in the financial sector, but they are often overlooked until after the interview process has already begun.

Offering sign-on bonuses or other perks including higher wages that are consistent with or better than your area competitors is helpful, too. But these things are only so important to prospects, especially for businesses with staffing issues based on workload, company culture, or other more systemic problems.

Evaluate Your Expenses

Much of the effect of the Great Resignation for credit union staff was seen in the resignation of frontline workers including tellers and other employees who work directly with your members. And while this can be frustrating, it also offers a great opportunity for your credit union to see what improvements can be made to ease the burden on front-facing roles by implementing new processes or investing in new technology.

The Great Resignation is also a great opportunity for your branches to evaluate other expenses. There are likely ways to reduce costs without reducing your staff. For example, IMSI has a host of credit union solutions that take some of the more repetitive or preliminary member-facing tasks and creates online solutions that you can build directly into your CU’s website or app offerings.

Web Solutions for Busy CU Leaders

When you are having staffing issues, the last thing you want to do is make things harder for yourself or your current credit union staff. That’s why IMSI concentrates on bringing you customized, high-quality solutions for your online forms.

Our online self-service forms can collect information for you and even enable member-led self-service request fulfillment. IMSI can build dozens of forms that can ease the burden on your staff and place some of the power back into your member’s hands.

Are you interested in learning more about IMSI’s self-service forms? Reach out to us today and request a consultation.

Preparing Credit Union Employees for the Holiday Season

Written by

 

Like last year, 2021’s holiday season is going to present some unique challenges, many of which are – at least in part – caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Labor shortages and supply chain disruptions are going to make for some challenging interactions, and your credit union will not be immune. Here are some ideas for preparing your credit union employees for the holiday season.

Upgrade Your Tech Game

The 2020 holiday season was a record-breaker in terms of tech use. More people than ever turned to online solutions to shop for gifts, check in with family members, and so much more.

IMS Integration is dedicated to creating top-of-the-line tech-based solutions to help keep your credit union ahead of the curve. With items like web loan applications, online account opening, and Skip a Pay, your members can manage their funds at their convenience and adjust their financial plans to accommodate holiday spending and income changes. Our new Infuzion offering is an extremely powerful tool, developed to streamline complex functions without needing to develop scripts or build Java.

What does all this mean? Your employees will have more time to help with other member needs during the holiday season.

Acknowledge Changing Trends in Member Habits

According to PCSU, there are several trends to be aware of so you can meet or exceed holiday goals. These are great initiatives you will want to make sure your employees are aware of and working to educate your member base about.

The first is that October and November are great months for credit line increases, providing members with more flexibility and larger scope and volume of purchases, including lines of credit with the purpose of finishing

The second pertains to top-of-wallet behaviors. November and December are good months to run promotions and campaigns that bring certain cards and programs back as top priorities.

And the third trend is more geared toward the first of the year. In January and February, your employees should turn their attention and focus to offering balance transfers and convenience checks, helping members to find and take advantage of lower rates once the holidays have ended.

Plan Ahead

Many sources across industry disciplines are reporting that the “holiday season,” rather than being contained to November and December, is actually becoming a 3-4 month endeavor that starts just as August ends.

To help your employees have the tools and resources they need to succeed through these busy months, it’s important to plan ahead.

Auditing past years’ activities, brainstorming new and modified ways to handle the increased demand for products and services, and even hiring seasonal help can be beneficial as you prepare credit union employees for the holiday season.

Don’t Dismiss Team Morale Checks

The holidays, while often touted as the most wonderful time of the year, are often harder for many people, especially those who deal with customers face-to-face (or screen-to-screen). While it’s important to prepare your credit union employees for the holiday season by giving them the professional tools and insights they need, you also need to be aware of the state of team morale and mental health.

While it’s important to celebrate with your team, it’s also a good idea to check in with your teams. If someone isn’t feeling particularly cheery, allow them to take the space they need, even if it means they won’t be attending the company Christmas lunch or holiday dinner. You can even move the celebration to after the new year, so your staff can enjoy the festivities outside of the stress that comes with the frenzy of holiday activity many industries are affected by.

Give Your CU a Great Gift, Too

IMS Integration has a range of professional services that are customized to you. UI and Batch Scripting in Keystone, custom web development, and custom electronic forms are a great gift to give your credit union for the new year. Let our expertise make things easier for you and your employees in future holiday seasons. Request a consultation today for more information about our credit union solutions.

5 Benefits of Finance Automation

Written by

 

Finance automation technology can be scaled – it can be all-encompassing, or it can help your credit union increase the efficiency in some processes so your employees can spend more time serving your members. Let’s talk about the five benefits of financial automation.

Fewer Errors

When automation is done right, it creates fewer errors than manual data entry or calculation performance. But rather than replacing your staff with automation, most finance automation is meant to be guided by individuals, keeping that human touch, and then set free to perform as it should, in the background.

Higher Consistency

Every employee is different, and no matter how hard you try, each individual will handle situations and complete tasks in the way that best suits them. This is great for inclusivity, but not so great for processes that should be standardized. With finance automation, you can create greater consistency through standardization.

Increases Information Utility

When you have automated real-time data collection, you can increase information utility. This allows you and your teams to recognize patterns and address issues much sooner than if you had your employees trying to collect and aggregate this data by themselves.

Decreases Fraud Risks

We all want to believe the best in people, but even innocent mistakes can have a devastating impact on your credit union.

Fraud risks, especially those tied to online and electronic activities, are continuing to increase. And certain innocuous employee habits can leave gaps in security big enough for fraudsters and cybercriminals to take advantage of.

Finance automation, by creating greater consistency and reducing the potential for errors all while minimizing human contact with the mechanics of a standardized process, can help decrease fraud risks by limiting the number of people and the time they are involved in a process.

Saves Time

As with most automation, finance automation saves time. It saves your employees and members time when it comes to running the programs and collecting the data. It saves you and your managers time because you don’t waste so much time trying to identify what went wrong, and where, and who.  

Great Examples of Places to Implement Finance Automation

Spend Journal recently shared some finance automation opportunities, and we wanted to list a few here:

  • Payroll: If you think no one cares about a small mistake, try missing someone’s payroll check.  Automated payments, both internally and from member to credit union, are a perfect place to implement finance automation, and payroll is a great place to start. 
  • Banking Statements: IMSI’s Make a Statement service can help you with that. Create e-statements and e-notices, and even consolidate multiple statements to the same vendor automatically.

IMS Integration Wants to Help Lower Fintech Friction

IMS Integration is here to assist you so you can better serve your members. With technology solutions tailored specifically to credit unions, IMSI can offer great services that your members will love, like Skip a Pay. You can set it up for member use, for staff use, and it is fully integrated with your core system.

Request a consultation today for more information about our credit union solutions.

Ways Credit Unions Support Members

Written by

 

Credit unions are unique in that their business model is half bank, half non-profit. Sometimes, the best marketing angle is the most direct one. Here is a list of ways credit unions support members.

Best Financial Rates and Opportunities

Credit unions as non-profits typically offer better interest rates on loans, savings accounts, CDs and have better options when it comes to checking accounts. For-profit banks can’t compete on that front, but they use their marketing power to draw attention to the other products and services they offer.

Skip a Payment

As the pandemic ramped up, many financial institutions tried to help their customers by offering loan forbearance, waiving fees, and allowing struggling individuals to skip a payment. Credit unions were some of the first financial institutions to do so, in order to better support members.  

Credit unions have always been quick to waive fees for members who were struggling and Skip a Pay has been a CU-led program from the beginning.

Small Business Credit Champions

Because credit unions often serve specific geographic locations (a town, county, or rural area), they are uniquely positioned to offer support to members who run their own small businesses.

One of the many ways credit unions do this is through personal and signature loans. Potential small business owners can count on credit unions to do a more broad financial check (increasing the chances of getting the loan approved) and offer lower rates for members to get the credit they need to start or run their business.

They also offer short-term loans in ways that are much less predatory in nature than big banks and especially payday lenders.

Credit Unions are Member-Owned

The idea of being a stakeholder in something like a financial institution seems out of reach for many, but credit unions provide that opportunity to more diverse communities than any other financial institution.

As a “publicly owned” company, credit unions are more attentive to the changing needs of their community. With big banks, uniformity is often the goal. They want you to get the exact same experience whether you enter a branch in Oklahoma or in downtown New York City.

This is not so with CUs. Sure, the core values of a credit union don’t change, but the manner in which they serve their communities changes with the community’s shifts in financial literacy, tech-savviness, and so much more. Diversity doesn’t just come from the people who are the cornerstone of every credit union, it also comes in the approaches that are taken to achieve more member satisfaction.

Focus on Education

The worst feeling any customer can have is when you go into a potential transaction knowing you are vastly undereducated compared to the experts you are trying to work with. With the surge in popularity of life hacks and other “did you know” style education that people are sharing on social media to help others keep from getting scammed or duped, credit unions fit right in!

Credit unions have never wanted to hold the keys to the kingdom, they want to share them. Financial education is arguably one of the most impactful ways they support members. And now, more than ever, people are looking for helpful ways to achieve better financial health to recover what was lost in 2020.

And because education is a part of a successful member experience, credit union staff members are much more likely to take the time with their clients to help guide and educate them about their choices, rather than approaching every sales opportunity with an “upsell” mindset.

The Best Tech Solutions for Your Members

IMS Integration has many credit union solutions that can move your CU operations into the future. IMSI’s member-facing web solutions like Make a Statement, Online Courtesy Pay, Online Self Service forms, and Trial Balance are perfect for reaching new members and updating your processes.

Request a consultation today for more information about our credit union solutions.

Credit Union Leadership & Innovation in 2021 and Beyond

Written by

 

Innovation is often seen through the lens of cutting-edge technology, but the cornerstone of anything innovative is the creativity to start or improve existing ideas and processes. And credit unions across the U.S. were able to grow their membership by 2.8% between year-end 2019 and September 2020. Far from the perception of antiquity that seems to stick to them, credit union leadership and innovation are paving the way to a bright future.

Fostering Creativity through Leadership

If innovation stems from creativity, you need creative leaders in your credit union. The role of a leader is said to account for 67% of the influence in determining if the organization will be creative.

But how does a leader foster creativity? In short, you foster an environment where creativity can thrive. Your leaders should be trained in creativity methods – prioritize the idea of showing your teams that creative ideas are more than just encouraged, they are tested and executed. Creating a space that allows for feedback and testing on new ideas shows your managers and employees that they have the power to affect change on every level. And once your staff feels like they can be vocal, they’ll continue to contribute to those conversations.

Spearhead a Competition

Sometimes, you can find creativity when you think outside the box. Many companies, large corporations with even larger social media followings, often run contests to drum up creative taglines or content ideas. You can do that within your own teams, too.

Rather than simply relying on your marketing team to shoulder all creative burdens, invite other departments and create a friendly competition out of creating a new logo, tagline, or advertising campaign. Idea-based competitions can take many forms and garner surprising results.

Don’t Give Up

This embracing of creative ideas requires a fair amount of buy-in, as well. When you take on these new ideas, you have to keep them in place. Most new programs need time to be implemented, and then understood and accepted. This is especially true if your new process also involves your members.

Investing in innovative ideas means investing in the time it takes to see if the change will net a positive outcome.

Creative Problem-Solving Process

Practice makes perfect, and CUManagement offers a 4-step creative problem-solving process:

  1. Clarify the problem
  2. Generate ideas. The more, the better.
  3. Develop solutions from the best of your ideas.
  4. Plan for action.

Once you’ve created a process that works for you and your teams, you can build on these 4 steps and tailor it to give you the best outcomes.

Embrace Failure

Some of your innovative ideas will fail. It’s inevitable. And how you and your team leaders handle that is paramount to fostering a culture of innovation.

When those failures come, it’s important to practice humility and forward-thinking. According to Meistertask, when team members consider their boss a humble leader, this creates “psychological capital,” which increases feelings of hope, optimism, and resilience.

Like any team effort, focusing on solutions and adjustments over blaming or apologizing allows for growth and continued momentum.

Professional Services for Innovative Credit Unions

IMS Integration knows credit unions from the ground up. We have a range of professional services that are customized to you and your credit union. From custom web development, to UI and batch scripting, to custom electronic forms, IMSI can help you implement innovative solutions that will better serve your members and create opportunities for your business.

Request a consultation today for more information about our credit union solutions.