Read the shownotes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com

Nobody is buying bad technology on purpose. Credit unions are doing the best they can with cores that weren't built for the world they're operating in today, and the gap between what modern software promises and what actually plugs into your infrastructure is nobody's fault and everybody's problem. So how many more systems are you willing to add before you admit the foundation is the problem?

In this episode:

• Whether credit unions are preparing their people for AI
• Why nearly half of CEOs report feeling lonely
• What's really causing technology rollouts to stall at credit unions

Host: Joshua Barclay Co-host: Becky Reed Guest: Michael Goad, President and CEO of Dow Credit Union

A huge thanks to our sponsor, Pure IT

For nearly 10 years, Pure IT has helped credit unions modernize technology, strengthen cybersecurity, and build mission-aligned roadmaps. They meet you where you are, prioritize strategy, and reduce complexity. With deep cloud, security, and planning expertise, Pure IT helps credit unions operate securely and confidently. Learn more at pureitcuso.com today.

Read the shownotes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com The NCUA says deregulation is coming. Small credit union leaders say it's about time. But when the real burden isn't the rules on the books, it's the people enforcing them, does any of it matter?

In this episode host Joshua Barclay and co-host Becky Reed welcome Doug Wadsworth, President and CEO of Tri-CU Credit Union, to discuss these three topics:

• Is the NCUA's deregulation push solving the right problems?
• Why aren't businesses seeing a return on AI?
• Is it really getting harder to lead a credit union?

Host: Joshua Barclay

Co-host: Becky Reed

Guest: Doug Wadsworth, President and CEO of Tri-CU Credit Union. Get his book: Keep it Simple, CEO

A huge thanks to our sponsor, Pure IT

For nearly 10 years, Pure IT has helped credit unions modernize technology, strengthen cybersecurity, and build mission-aligned roadmaps. They meet you where you are, prioritize strategy, and reduce complexity. With deep cloud, security, and planning expertise, Pure IT helps credit unions operate securely and confidently. Learn more at pureitcuso.com today.

Read the shownotes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com There's nothing wrong with using AI to speed up your work. But when you start relying on it to do your job, well, your peers start to notice. "AI workslop" forces your colleagues to interpret, correct, and redo the work you were supposed to finish and they definitely resent you for it.

This episode was recorded LIVE from CU Intersect 2026 in New Orleans.

In this episode:

• How AI workslop wastes two hours per incident and erodes trust
• Who's responsible when AI vendors mess up
• Why 56% of leaders burned out last year
• Whether traditional branches are still necessary
• Questions from the audience on technology and AI education

Host: Joshua Barclay Co-host: Elizabeth Osborne, COO at Great Lakes Credit Union Sponsored Guest: Jack Smith, CEO and Co-founder of Pure IT

A huge thanks to our sponsor, Pure IT

For nearly 10 years, Pure IT has helped credit unions modernize technology, strengthen cybersecurity, and build mission-aligned roadmaps. They meet you where you are, prioritize strategy, and reduce complexity. With deep cloud, security, and planning expertise, Pure IT helps credit unions operate securely and confidently. Learn more at pureitcuso.com today.

Read the shownotes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com

Your board thinks $100,000 is too much for a CEO because they never made more than $40,000 on the factory line. Your C-suite wants the credit union of old. And your employees? They're leaving, not for better pay, but because you're offering them a 1995 compensation package in 2026.

In this episode:

• What age is your leadership thinking in?
• Why somewhere you lost your ability to be creative
• Why they don't want pizza they want a path to your chair
• Why you can't keep absorbing benefit increases every year

Host: Joshua Barclay Guest Co-host: James McBride, SVP of Credit Union Relationships at CU Benefit Guest: David Simms, Creator of CU Benefit

A huge thanks to our sponsor, CU Benefit

Stop absorbing annual benefit cost increases of 20-40%. CU Benefit is a strategic CUSO partner designed to help Credit Unions pre-fund up to 100% of employee benefits and unlock balance sheet potential. Generate investment returns 4-5 times higher than traditional bonds. Strengthen employee retention and increase net income by as much as 50%. Visit CUBenefit.com to learn more.

Read the shownotes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com

We all think it: "If I just work longer, I'll get more done." But when one of your high performers starts operating this way, you need to step in immediately. Because they're not going to tell you they're burning out. So how do you catch it before they quit?

In this episode:

• Why AI isn't making you dumber
• Why working 70 hours isn't making you more productive
• Why better due diligence won't prevent vendor breaches

Host: Joshua Barclay Co-host: Becky Reed Guest: Ray Ragan, CIO at Securityplus Federal Credit Union

A huge thanks to our sponsor, CU Benefit

Stop absorbing annual benefit cost increases of 20-40%. CU Benefit is a strategic CUSO partner designed to help Credit Unions pre-fund up to 100% of employee benefits and unlock balance sheet potential. Generate investment returns 4-5 times higher than traditional bonds. Strengthen employee retention and increase net income by as much as 50%.

Watch this video or visit CUBenefit.com to learn more.

Ray is organizing the Banking on AI Conference in Atlanta. Credit union professionals and banking professionals will discuss new and novel uses of AI throughout the industry. Learn more at bankingonai.info

Read the shownotes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com

Credit unions are out there chasing new members—spending on billboards, opening branches, crafting the perfect rate specials. Meanwhile, 80% of your existing members have one product with you and you haven't called them once. Maybe the new members you're looking for are actually the members you already have.

In this episode of Grow Your Credit Union, host Joshua Barclay and co-host Becky Reed welcome Elizabeth Osborne, COO at Great Lakes Credit Union, to talk about:

• Everyone's measuring trust wrong
• The growth obsession is backwards
• You're tracking the wrong economic data

Plus we play a BRAND NEW GAME that we hope you really enjoy.

A huge thanks to our sponsor, CU Benefit

Stop absorbing annual benefit cost increases of 20-40%. CU Benefit is a strategic CUSO partner designed to help Credit Unions pre-fund up to 100% of employee benefits and unlock balance sheet potential. Generate investment returns 4-5 times higher than traditional bonds. Strengthen employee retention and increase net income by as much as 50%.

Watch this video or visit CUBenefit.com to learn more.

Read the shownotes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com Deepfake technology has become so accessible that threat actors need only 10 to 30 seconds of audio and a $5 monthly subscription to convincingly impersonate executives, bypass authentication, and trick employees into catastrophic decisions. Credit unions face record ransomware attacks while most lack AI governance policies to address emerging threats.

In this episode of Grow Your Credit Union, host Joshua Barclay welcomes sponsored guest Brian Hinze, President & CEO at NCU-ISAO, along with co-host Oto Ricardo, Director of Information Security and Cyber Risk at Advia Credit Union, to explore:

• Why ransomware attacks hit record levels despite preparedness efforts
• How credit unions approach AI governance policies
• What deepfake threats mean for credit union security
• How NCU-ISAO supports credit unions through community and collaboration

A huge thanks to our sponsor, NCU-ISAO

Cybersecurity threats are evolving faster than ever, and credit unions are increasingly in the crosshairs. NCU-ISAO is the only organization fully dedicated to protecting credit unions through real-time threat intelligence, actionable alerts, expert-led analysis, and a community of security-minded professionals. Strengthen your defenses with collaboration. Learn more at NCUISAO.org/GYCU.

Read the shownotes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com

A huge thanks to our sponsor, NCU-ISAO — Visit ncuisao.org/gycu to learn more.

Credit unions added 3 million new members last year, but 64% never made a single deposit or showed real activity. The problem isn't just about engagement strategy or welcome emails—it's that credit unions may just be making the fundamental act of depositing money unreasonably difficult.

In this episode of Grow Your Credit Union, host Joshua Barclay and co-host Becky Reed welcome Mike McWethy, Executive Vice President at Texans Credit Union, to hit on these three topics:

• Why two-thirds of new members never make a deposit
• Show me what your roadmap was two years ago
• What credit unions should solve for in housing affordability

CU Intersect is a dedicated cybersecurity, technology, and organizational resilience conference built specifically for credit unions. A collaboration between NCU-ISAO and Pure IT, the conference brings together security leaders, technology professionals, and risk management experts from across the credit union industry. Watch this video to learn more

Read the shownotes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com

A huge thanks to our sponsor, NCU-ISAO — Watch this video or visit ncuisao.org/gycu to learn more.

Credit unions invest heavily in stadium naming rights and campus partnerships to reach younger members, but those partnerships fall flat when the mobile app experience disappoints. Gen Z has been Wescom Financial's fastest growing segment since 2023 because they treat digital experience as strategy, not an IT checkbox.

In this episode of Grow Your Credit Union, host Joshua Barclay and co-host Becky Reed welcome Ashley White, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Wescom Financial, to talk about:

• How sports and university partnerships build awareness with Gen Z
• Why Wescom's mobile app ratings outperform most credit unions
• How removing student financial barriers translates to member growth

Wescom Financial's success with Gen Z isn't about bigger budgets or better partnerships—it's about treating digital experience as foundational strategy while meeting younger members where they already are.

Read the shownotes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com

Credit unions face steep member acquisition costs while losing 15% of their membership annually. But the institutions treating acquisition costs as the primary metric are missing what actually drives member loyalty, referable experiences, and long-term value that can't be calculated on spreadsheets.

In this episode of Grow Your Credit Union, host Joshua Barclay welcomes Ray Ragan, CIO at Securityplus Federal Credit Union, as guest co-host, along with Kathy Day Shelton, SVP and Chief Operating Officer at MECU Credit Union, to explore:

• Why measuring members by dollars misses the point
• How referable experiences create compounding growth
• Finding strategic thinking time in an age of constant distraction
• The one pain point every credit union executive wants to eliminate
• Why core system limitations constrain innovation more than anything else

A huge thanks to our sponsor, PFP Services.

If you want to learn more about PFP Services, watch this video or visit their site.