TechSolutions4CUs

It's easy to fool ourselves into thinking the whole world has gone digital. That means it's easy to lose sight of the tremendous impact check and document fraud can have on your credit union. The truth is, check fraud is on the rise. That means credit unions must be more vigilant than ever and deploy technology more wisely than ever to fight this seemingly never-ending battle.

In this episode, host John San Filippo and Parascript's Vice President of Business Development Ati Azemoun discuss the problem of check fraud and document alterations, as well as areas that credit unions should consider for loss prevention, member protection and process improvements.

If you're trying to boost your GenAI smarts, this is a must-listen episode. First, host John San Filippo and Hapax's Kevin Green take a deep dive into the Hapax platform, a SaaS-based GenAI tool designed to organize any and all information your employees may need to do their jobs. Green claims this can save hours of research time per week per employee, compared to forcing your employees to struggle through a legacy knowledgebase system. Green walks you through a number of compelling use cases and explains the impact this can all have on member experience.

At about the 25:35 mark, the discussion expands into a broad look at the AI industry, with expert advice from Green on what credit unions should and shouldn't be doing.

Finally, at the 44:30 mark, you can find out about the Hapax offer of a completely free 90-day, no-risk pilot of the Hapax platform. Great infromation all the way through.

For at least a couple of decades, credit unions have been told about the treasure trove of data they’re sitting on. Yet, many still struggle with how to make that data actionable. Now there are more and more rumblings about mixing so-called alternative data into the recipe. That may seem a little scary to some.

On a seemingly separate track, there’s never been more emphasis on financial inclusion than there is today.

Finally, we can’t forget the artificial intelligence elephant in the room. AI is everywhere. Does your credit union have an AI strategy? Do you even need an AI strategy? Or will AI slowly get baked into all the technology products you’re already using 

At no more important a point do these three topics converge than with loan decisioning and risk management. How can your credit union grasp all the data it has at its disposal, apply advanced AI technology, and use the results to serve more members.

On this episode of TechSolutions4CUs, host John San Filippo talks with Tom Tobin, CEO of Modelshop, about his company’s new white paper Innovation & Inclusion in AI Credit Risk Models. In the process, the two provide credit unions with some important and enlightening information.

It’s been estimated that as many as 30% of what appear to be standard retail member accounts are in fact small business accounts in disguise. That’s an amazing figure and it represents only portion of the potential small business opportunity that awaits savvy credit unions.

It only makes sense that the more business services you provide, the more business members you can attract and, in turn, the better you can serve your community. Of course, the trickiest part of serving small businesses is the lending piece.

 Fortunately, we have on this episode of TechSoloutios4CUs Mr. Will Tumulty, who leads a business lending company called Rapid Finance. Will is truly an expert in the field of commercial lending and will enlighten us on these and many related topics.

 We’re very excited to share this conversation with you.

Some are old enough to remember when a personalized banking experience was chatting with your favorite MSR as you deposited your paycheck every Friday afternoon. Today, fewer and fewer members are visiting a branch, instead opting for all-digital banking. So how do you create a personalized experience for those digital members? Amy McGraw, Tropical Financial Credit Union's Chief Experience Officer, has the answer. She uses OneClick Financial from Reseda Group to achieve truly personalized digital member engagement. Listen to this podcast and you'll discover exactly how she does it.

Jack Henry recently published its sixth annual Strategy Benchmark, a survey of bank and credit union CEOs whose institutions run one of Jack Henry's core processing platforms. TechSolutions4CUs host John San Filippo had the opportunity to speak with Jack Henry's Senior Director of Corporate Strategy Lee Wetherington prior to publication of the Benchmark results to preview some of its findings. However, the Benchmark served more as a jumping-off point for the conversation, which explored generative AI, small language models, automation strategies, the difference in priorities between credit unions and banks, why credit unions continue to struggle with data, and more. This episode runs long, but it's worth every minute.

In the early days of credit union marketing, it was all "spray and pray." Send the same message to everybody and hope for the best. Then we took a giant step forward with target marketing, which allows credit unions to segment their members into smaller groups, and thus target them with more relevant messages. However, in 2024, consumers expect every experience to be personalized. Some might even say hyper-personalized. That's where a company called Pulsate comes in. They've created an engagement platform that's built into your credit union's mobile app and allows your credit union to engage with individual members based on behavior, timing and location. Pulsate CEO Sarah Martin joined host John San Filippo to tell the TechSolutions4CUs audience more about this very interesting platform.

If you look at the evolution of payments, it's always been about faster and cheaper. This past July, payments got a lot faster and a lot cheaper when the Fed introduced its FedNow instant payment service. Unlike Zelle, FedNow transactions settle instantly. And unlike RTP, the FedNow service is intended for institutions of all sizes, not just the mega banks.

The question is: Where and how does your credit union get started on its FedNow journey?

To help credit unions sort it all out, our friends at Samaha and Associates just published a white paper called "FedNow: The Future of Real-Time Payments. Why Credit Unions Can’t Be Fast Followers." In this episode of TechSolutions4CUs, listeners will get a sneak peek at that white paper. That’s because we’re fortunate to have with us from Samaha and Associates Nubia Valenzuela and Sabeh Samaha to share their thoughts and expertise.

Over the past three years, Reseda Group has established itself if the premier fintech investment CUSO. Reseda portfolio companies benefit not only from the financial resources the CUSO provides; they enjoy the invaluable experience of seeing their product tested and deployed at Michigan State Federal Credit Union.

In this episode, host John San Filippo speaks with Sara Dolan, MSUFCU's CFO, and Ben Maxim, Reseda Group's COO, about how the CUSO evaluates the technology, the finances and the cultural fit of any potential investment. The two offer practical advice for any credit union considering a fintech investment strategy.

Growing your credit union has long been an exercise in thinking big. Offer as many products and services as possible. Get as big a charter as possible. Cast as wide a net as possible.

Today, however, more and more credit unions are growing by thinking smaller, launching all-digital sub-brands targeted to very specific market segments.

Our guest  today is Michael Duncan, CEO of digital banking provider Bankjoy. The topic is creating niche digital sub-brands and how Bankjoy can help your credit union do just that.