CUES Podcast

James Hunter, CCM, not only has deep knowledge of credit union lending best practices but also a passion for diversity, equity and inclusion. In fact, Hunter says in this episode of the CUES podcast that he strives to put the two together every day—to be an “equity injector” that helps all members of his credit union be more able to live their best financial lives.

“I want to be the equity injector,” Hunter says in the show. “I want to find ways that we can creatively come up with the resources and tools to help individuals get what they need so they can stop worrying, but also have peace of mind and live their best financial life.”

A CUES member, the CUES Emerge runner-up in 2020, and a CUES Emerge mastermind in 2021 and this year, Hunter is chief diversity officer for $243 million New Orleans Firemen's Federal Credit Union. He comes to that role having previously served as a credit union chief lending officer and a senior vice president of mortgage lending, as well as a board member for Inclusiv.

In the show, Hunter talks about the importance of listening to members as a way to learn how best to serve them.

“We talk to people at different grassroots organizations,” he says of his work at New Orleans Fireman’s FCU, and ask key and sometimes difficult questions, such as, “What's hindering you? What is this impeding you from being your best financial person, your best financial future?”

Even though these can be uncomfortable conversations, Hunter says, “We ask the questions readily, and we listen for the common ground, the common themes resonate from that. We go into religious organizations, and we ask questions about … what the members want. We take every opportunity we can to find out what it is that makes a person tick. If we understand what they value, if we understand what motivates them, we understand what they are trying to achieve, we can help because we listen.

“You know, diversity is the one thing that we all share,” Hunter says. “We need to celebrate it.”

The show also gets into:

• Hunter’s experiences both as a participant in and a mastermind for the CUES Emerge program
• Products and services offered by New Orleans Fireman’s Federal Credit Union in response to diverse member needs
• How credit unions can get started with looking at member service through a DEI lens—whether or not they have community development financial institution status or a low-income credit union designation
• How to connect with diverse members through community groups and nonprofit organizations in your market
• Hunter’s advice about how to start a DEI team at your credit union

Links for this show

•  Hunter's CUES Emerge presentation recording and slides
• Transcript of this show
• Diversity Insight: Addressing Racial Bias in the Home Appraisal Industry
• Diversity Insight: 3 Financial Challenges LGBTQ+ Community Members Face
• Secondary Capital Helps Boost Financial Well-Being for Credit Union Members, Communities       

Sponsored by Fiserv

Want to compete better with fintechs? Reduce friction. Want to make more loans? Reduce friction? Want to become more appealing to young people? Reduce friction.

The opportunity that lies in reducing friction across the credit union is a key theme in this episode of the CUES Podcast. Our guest is Bill Handel, general manager and chief economist at Raddon, a Fiserv company. Fiserv, based in Brookfield, Wisconsin, is a CUES supplier member and the sponsor of the show. 

“How do we build that relevancy within those younger generations?” he asks. “It's not just mortgages. It's everything.

“We have this historical mantra of 'Do business on my time, in my place and with my processes,'” he explains. “The older generation says, ‘Okay, the bank hours are here, and the bank locations are here, or credit union locations are here, and (I) have to go through these steps to get this process done. (The) younger generation says ‘no,’ and they want to do it differently. … And that's the thing that the credit unions need to spend more time on is how do we reduce friction?”

In the show, Handel lends his expertise in analytics and the economy to identify some specific areas in which credit unions might benefit most from reducing friction. The first is the purchase mortgage market. Another is home equity lines of credit, including hybrid HELOCs, which give consumers more choices about how they borrow.

Buy now, pay later is a great illustration of this notion of reducing friction, Handel adds. “… Merchants are willing to fund to BNPL because it makes people more likely to buy today as opposed to tomorrow, right? In some ways, it's very akin to indirect lending in the sense that if you create that incentive and put that incentive in front of the consumer, then they might buy it today as opposed to walking out and then maybe coming back tomorrow to buy. That's what indirect lending does. 

“I would argue that the hybrid lending, the hybrid HELOC, can potentially serve that same process here on the consumer lending side because what it does is it helps you to eliminate friction,” he explains. “The idea is that if you've got a home equity line of credit, which is essentially your way to buy everything, and then you can carve off pieces of that and treat them like that fixed-rate loan.

“This is not a new product, but it really has never taken off in significant ways,” he adds. “We do think that there's more opportunity in that space.”

The show also gets into the impact of the pandemic and the long tail of COVID, including:

• How Main Street has suffered
• Growth in the nonresidential real estate market
• The impact of hybrid work
• The Great Retirement
• Mobile deposit acceptance
• Branch network optimization

Links:

• Transcript
• Fiserv
• CUES Supplier membership
• How Future-Ready Technology Helps Credit Unions Pivot in a Changing Market
• Managing the Risk of Real-Time Fraud in Real-Time Payments
• The Strategic Cryptocurrency Opportunity 

When considering a core conversion, Tami Webb, who is VP/sales for CUES Supplier member United Solutions Company, Tallahassee, Florida, suggests first asking: 

Why do we want to change? What's the objective? What's driving all this work? 

Webb is our guest for this episode of the CUES Podcast. She has helped about 30 credit unions convert to a hosted core or remote data processing system. At USC, Webb works with clients to convert and use XP2 or DataSafe. She also has experience working with other Fiserv core solutions as well as Jack Henry’s Symitar Episys and Ease solutions. 

No matter what core system you are converting to, the first step is building the right conversion team, she says, starting with the project lead who will serve as the liaison between the internal team and the vendor. 

In addition to the project lead, the core conversion team should include an IT lead and subject matter experts for each area of the credit union. 

Take care to select the right SMEs for this project, someone who can rally their coworkers to be excited about the change. “I call them like a cheerleader, or the go-getter person,” says Webb. They are frequently someone who “doesn't mind change and that wants to be in that leader role. [They] can help encourage the team and get them to be excited about what's going to be happening.” 

When deciding on the project lead, someone who knows the system intimately will be better able to guide the team and stay organized, says Webb, as long as they have the full confidence and support of the top leadership team. 

“I truly believe by building the right conversion team and being prepared and working closely with a new core provider, credit unions can't help but have a successful conversion,” she says.

Links for this show:

Transcript

United Solutions Company

When G&F Financial and Aldergrove Credit Union merged, they started with a cultural assessment to see if the combination was a right fit. And they followed up with “roots and wings” sessions designed to honor the history of both credit unions and to create alignment around their joint future.

“We did some reads to see exactly where individual employees were at, what were their values, what was important to them, and try to align what they liked about their previous organizations and what they hoped for the new organization,” explains CUES member Bill Kiss, CCD, co-CEO of G&F Financial, a $5 billion credit union in Burnaby, British Columbia, and a guest on the show. “So that was a fascinating exercise to go through. And after the merger, we went into ‘roots and wings’ sessions. So those were, from the root side, you’re honoring your past. You’re recognizing the great things where you’ve come from, and all of the accomplishments of the organization. And then the wing side is the future about where you can go, what you can benefit from doing together.”

This process aligns with the professional mantra of CUES member Jeff Shewfelt, CCD, co-CEO of G&F Financial, who says in the show that his organization strives to do things for and with people, not to them.

The show gets into more depth about how G&F Financial and Aldergrove determined a merger would be a good thing for the members of both organizations, insight into how to handle the “merger” of two boards and how the 2021 flooding in British Columbia gave the continuing credit union, G&F Financial, an opportunity to show it really does take care of its members and its communities.

Tune in and you’ll also get to hear Shewfelt discuss the four lenses through which he views every merger and Kiss talk about how consumer needs are speeding up in ways that impact credit union member service. 

Links for this show:

Transcript

Canadian CUs Think Big About Collaboration

Podcast: Merge for the Right Reasons

Mergers Shouldn’t Be Your Organization’s Primary Tool for Growth

Six Steps for Evaluating Merger Opportunities Early On

During this episode of the CUES Podcast, Matthew Bidwell, Ph.D., talks about the employee engagement at NASA leading up to the lunar landing. 

If you asked an employee who was sweeping the floor what they were doing, they would have said, “I’m putting a man on the moon,” notes Bidwell, associate professor of management at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and a speaker at TalentNEXT in May in Austin, Texas. 

Sharing the vision and how each job played into larger organizational achievement was clearly successful at NASA during that time. And it can be a useful tool to leaders working to boost or sustain employee engagement today. 

During the episode, Bidwell talks not only about what employee engagement is, but also some do’s and don’ts for creating and sustaining it. He also talks about the importance of keeping people at the forefront of business efforts. 

“If we're going to be very process-centric, how do we engage people in actually creating these processes rather than having them as something alien that comes from outside that's imposed on people?” he says in the show.  

Some organizations say, “We'll make the most profit by driving our payroll costs down the furthest in terms of how we schedule people, in terms of how much we pay them, and so on” while other organizations say, “We’re going to pay more, and we’re going to expect more of our people in return,” Bidwell explains. “I tend to think that latter strategy tends to drive much higher engagement.” 

Bidwell also shares insights into how leaders can impact their teams’ engagement, as well as what they can do to boost their own engagement.  

Listen to the show for more on: 

• The PERMA acronym for factors affecting employee engagement 
• Do’s and don’ts of employee engagement 
• How “job crafting” may help leaders when they apply it to their own work, but be detrimental if leaders apply it to the work of the people they supervise 

Links for this show: 

• Transcript of the audio
• TalentNEXT, a gathering for teams of credit union talent strategy leaders in May in Austin, Texas 
• CEO Institute I: Strategic Planning is held at Wharton, University of Pennsylvania 
• CUES Consulting for talent development solutions including improving organizational alignment, fostering stronger leadership and creating more cohesive teams 

“Learn and earn” has proven to be a great strategy for getting the attention of Gen Z, according to Bolun Li, CEO of the financial education app Zogo. 

In this episode, Li describes the incredible growth his company has seen from creating hundreds of bite-sized financial education modules, getting them out to Gen Z on an app for their phones, and then rewarding them with pineapple points that are redeemable for gift cards and donations to charity.

According to Li, this “learn and earn” strategy has taken Zogo from launch to half a million users in just two years. 

In this latest episode of the CUES Podcast, Li describes the company’s growth and how credit unions can get Zogo in the works for their members. He also gives some very practical advice about how to better understand Gen Z—and how to reach them.

A member of Gen Z himself, Li suggests that working with parents to become their children’s first financial institution is a great way in. He also recommends becoming active on college campuses.

The show also gets into:

• How Li and Zogo define “Gen Z” and the characteristics of members of this generation
• Li's belief that credit unions and Gen Z can "grow together"
• How cryptocurrency is Zogo’s newest “reward” and Gen Z’s response to that
• The most popular bite-sized learning modules in the app

Links for this show:

• Zogo
• Podcast 110 with Bolun Li: Personal Finance App’s ‘Pineapple Points’ Connect Credit Unions to Gen Z
• Here’s How to Bring Gen Z Into the Credit Union Movement
• Three Actionable Ideas From Gen Zers on How to Reach Their Peers

In the latest episode of the CUES Podcast, Kimberly Wright says she feels like she has made it past the proverbial glass ceiling that’s long been a metaphor for a system that holds women back from rising to top leadership roles.

Senior vice president and executive director of the American Heart Association in Atlanta, Wright says, “I feel like I have busted through the glass ceiling in my current position. And I will say that I have opened it up for others.”

But all is not rosy.

“Now, whether or not they patch up the ceiling again afterwards? I don't know. They might,” Wright adds. “They may not like my style of kicking through or busting through the glass ceiling. But I think I have. Hopefully, it stays open.”

Wright and a second guest on the show, Andrea Brown, share the stories of how they have become top Black female leaders and what helped them along the way. Brown is executive director of the Black Mental Health Alliance for Education and Consultation in Baltimore.

Both women say that while they have arrived, the playing field at the top is far from level.

“Whether that's on our boards, whether that's in our board rooms, whether that's in our cubicles, some of what we see (is unfair), and so no, the playing field has not been leveled,” Brown says. Plus, Black women face racism as well as sexism, Wright and Brown point out. Both say they have to be two or three times as good as their white male counterparts.

Brown and Wright also say the time is now to take action to keep opportunities open for female leaders of color and to work on leveling the playing field. Their suggestions include having a think tank to make recommendations and setting up great coaching programs.

“We’ve got to move with intentionality, and we’ve got to be quick,” Brown says.

The two say things have improved for Black female leaders who aspire to top roles, but still have a way eye on the situation.

“I just hope that I don't end up being the token and this isn't a fad or a phase,” Wright says.

Links for this show:

• Black Girls Lead
• Building Bold, Effective Black Leadership at PSCU
• Simply Increasing Staff Diversity Doesn’t Equal More Top Black Leaders
• When You’re the ‘First’ or the ‘Only' at the Leadership Table

Marvin York was watching videos with his granddaughter when a clip came on of graduation ceremonies at historically Black colleges and universities. 

“And I saw all of these professionals getting ready to launch,” says York, VP, contact center member engagement for CUESolutions provider PSCU, a credit union service organization based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The video York and his granddaughter watched showed Black engineers, doctors, lawyers and others celebrating the completion of their degrees and getting ready to enter the world of work. 

“And I said, ‘Wow, that is impressive,” York recalls. “And what struck me was in this industry..., it was always told to me we just cannot find people of color to be in these leadership roles, in these key positions. And I'm watching this video and I said, ‘We got to do better.’”  

From this experience, PSCU Bold, Effective Leadership, a CUES Strategic Leadership Development Program, was born. 

In this episode of the CUES Podcast, York describes how the program went from idea to action, the experience of the 12 participants and the impact it has had. 

York says in the show that the PSCU-CUES partnership worked well because CUES was listening to PSCU participants’ needs with an aim for meeting them. He notes that the eCornell and Harvard ManageMentor courses that were part of the program were exceptional, as were the opportunities afforded to program participants to interact with top PSCU leadership. 

“You got employees that want to shine. They want to help. They want to be a part of the difference, to actually broaden their horizon, their education, their knowledge and grow,” York says in the show. “And if they can do that, then guess what? The company grows. 

“And having that mindset of ‘I can help the company and the company helps me grow,’ … it's a win-win. It's amazing.” 

Links for this show: 

• PSCU 
• CUES Consulting 
• CUESolutions
• Transcript

CUES member Steve Bugg is very clear that the diversity, equity and inclusion journey that his credit union is on makes his organization stand out in the competitive financial services market and for talent as well. 

“We know today everybody says they deliver great member service or customer service, have to have competitive products or services, and have to have a great technology plan,” says Bugg, president/CEO of $1 billion Great Lakes Credit Union in Illinois, which was recently named the first-ever CUES DEI: Catalyst for Change Award winner. “But if everybody else can say the same thing, and a lot of institutions that we compete against ... can outspend us, what’s the one thing that makes us unique and different? This is what it is: It’s our initiatives and our efforts under DEI.

“We all know there’s a war for talent right now as well,” Bugg adds in this episode of the CUES Podcast. “And where we sit in the suburbs of Chicago … our employees can look at ... other financial institutions or other companies. … So we’ve got to tie what we do into a cause. … And if we can then appeal to those that are out there looking for opportunities ... and can see the greater good, they’re going to be more loyal employees, because they have that in their heart.”

While the formal business reasons for embarking on a DEI journey are clear, Bugg says it’s actually the DEI lens’ positive impact on his CU's members and communities that most motivates him. 

“So certainly we’ve helped a lot of individuals and small businesses throughout GLCUs field of membership gain access to additional products and services, education, and in some cases, even basic resources through COVID," he says in the show. "We really helped with the three most vulnerable needs that we were seeing our community, which were housing relief, food relief, and then also support of minority-owned businesses. 

“And an initiative that percolated out of that was an opportunity to work on an incubator project ...  We were the only financial institution that came to the table ... to help in this incubator project. ... Now those business owners are up and running. … Even though bringing all these initiatives together is recent for us at Great Lakes, we can already see the impact that that’s made in a very short time.”

In the show, Bugg also suggests that starting your DEI journey may not be so scary as you think. Many CUs have a long history of serving a variety of members well. Bugg says GLCU has been doing its best to meet the unique needs of each of its members for the eight decades since its founding. Its current DEI journey simply formalizes and centralizes something that already existed. 

Another interesting outcome of the DEI journey for GLCU has been its new view of partnerships. The CU now asks about a company's commitment to DEI to see if it aligns well with the CU's. It also has established mutually beneficial partnerships with community organizations.

Learn more about all this, plus hear about the great tie Bugg wore when accepting the award when you tune in to the show.

Links for this show:

• Subscribe to CUES’ DEI e-newsletter
• CUES 2021 Member Appreciation and Awards Event
• CUES Recognition Programs
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Cornell Certificate Program
• Transcript

Innovation is that flash of an idea—and it’s happening all the time. Disruption, on the other hand, might stem from innovation, slowly making changes in a marketplace until the whole landscape is different, according to Steve Hewins, senior vice president of CU Members Mortgage, a CUESolutions Bronze provider based in Texas. 

“A disruptor eliminates something that’s in the market today,” Hewins explains on this episode of the CUES Podcast. “And it normally comes in a phase. 

“Typically, it'll start off with initial disruption,” he continues. “And then you'll have very quickly some rapid or sequential evolution of that. And then … everything kind of starts coming together because people recognize it; they try to copy it; the status quo tries to adapt. And then basically, the status quo typically doesn’t adapt and then gets replaced with the ‘new normal’.

“And so disruption does have innovation in it,” he adds. “But it’s more about the market dynamics of how it impacts the rest of the market.”

During the episode, Hewins walks through each step of the mortgage lending process, talking about shifts in the marketplace that are happening right now—plus what credit unions might be able to do to compete with them—or to join them! 

Importantly, he emphasizes that credit unions should think about more strategically hiring lending staff going forward—that they should look to hire people who are natural innovators and ready to be part of marketplace changes.

Currently, credit unions aren’t hiring for lending innovation or disruption, he notes. “We don't have credit unions that are out there hiring disruptors. … if you start hiring those people, you have to have a culture in the organization to retain them.”

The show also gets into:

• Changes in home buying and how they are affecting mortgage lending
• Changes in how appraisals are done
• Changes in the closing process
• Changes in the post-closing phase of mortgage lending

Links for this show

• CU Members Mortgage
• Transcript of this show
• The New Normal of Mortgage Lending by Steve Hewins
• More content by Steve Hewins
• Become a CUESolutions provider
• Sponsor the CUES Podcast
• Plansmith