The CU2.0 Podcast

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Newsflash: ask the experts and they will tell credit union executives that a tidal wave of fraud very likely will be crashing into them and soon.

Why? For the past year criminals have been kept busy attempting to cash in on the various federal and state government pandemic related relief programs such as PPP loans.  That money is drying up so they are casting their eyes in search of new targets and you just may have a bullseye on your back.

That’s why you need to hear this wide ranging conversation with two Jack Henry fraud and financial crimes experts, Rene Perez and Nat Southern.

This is a conversation about crime trends and also about crime trends that remain largely ignored.

A big trend for instance is that as financial institutions, especially the big ones, have toughed their perimeter defenses, criminals have shifted focus and are eyeing credit union members for vulnerabilities - which they very often will find.

Perez says a trigger for this is that many financial institutions have simply gotten very sophisticated, often in response to prodding from regulators.

But he adds that he talks with maybe 10 small financial institutions a week that are still doing a lot of their fraud work on paper, with humans doing the reporting.,

That increasingly is just not adequate, not when smart criminals enter the battle.

You will also hear a phrase - “willful blindness.” That’s a term regulators are using to describe an institution’s failure to detect fraud perpetrated by insiders or perhaps by friends or community leaders.  

This is not a technical conversation.  It is more in the nature of cops and robbers and what you need to know about the robbers who want to steal your credit union’s money.

Listen up.

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Welcome to the CU2.0 doubleheader podcast where you will hear two perspectives on DEI and the industry. 

"We are stronger together." That is what Emma Norman, director of learning and development at Local Government Federal Credit Union and also chief diversity officer at the African American Credit Union Coalition, has to say when asked why LGFCU is all in when it comes to supporting the Credit Union DEI Collective.

She adds that what she tells credit unions is that "DEI has to be part of your strategy."

Think on that.  DEI - diversity, equity and inclusion, a movement that gained force in the past year as evidence multiplied that the United States is a country with deep, lingering racial divides - just maybe is a whole lot more than a nice to do.

"DEI is a business imperative," said Lynn Heckler, chief talent officer at PSCU. Her point: the credit unions and allied companies that want longterm success will be very sure they look much like their communities and across America those communities are increasingly diverse,

This is a wide ranging podcast, with two very different voices and perspectives but the two women agree on this: DEI is a real, important concern.

Local Government FCU of course is a powerhouse. Its assets exceed $3 billion.

PSCU is the nation's leading payments CUSO - it supports 1500 credit unions and their many billions of payments annually.

These are two important institutions - and that is why it matters that they are saying DEI is real and it is real  for any business.

Listen up.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email [email protected]

And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

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 You know Renee Sattiewhite. She's CEO of the African American Credit Union Coalition (AACUC), has been a past guest on this podcast (episode 101), she is a co-star in DCUC's Tony Hernandez's recent podcast (155) and she is the person to see if you want to know how African Americans are faring in credit union c-suites, in boardrooms, and as they stand in teller lines.

But, lately. in the DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) universe, her interests are broadening and she is pondering how many minorities (Latinos and women for instance) are succeeding in credit unions.

DEI, she says, is not a minute, it's a movement.  Indeed.  Started amid the despair of last summer - George Floyd RIP - a year into it and the question has to be, what's been accomplished.  Sattiewhite tells her opinion in this podcast.

Know that progress is getting made. But this is hard, continuing work.

A recent project is CCEP - cross-cultural exchange program - where credit union people are pared with another, typically of a different race, possibly a different gender - for a 90 day dialog.   

A talk with Sattiewhite is lively. She laughs.  She mentions people you should know (Pete Crear, Victor Corro -- both past CU 2.0 podcast guests by the way).  

She also expresses fundamental optimism because, she says, talk with young people (Millennials and Gen X) and "they are not playing around."  These young people want change and are unprepared to accept less.  For them real racial and gender equality is non negotiable.

Listen up.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email [email protected]

And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

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 Now don't you wish you had a magic decoder ring?

There's an alphabet soup in the podcast title. Let me decipher.

DCUC - Defense Credit Union Council, the trade group for some 181 military themed credit unions (and many are behemoths - Navy Fed, Pen Fed, you get the picture).

Tony Hernandez is the DCUC CEO, after logging 25 years in the Air Force where he finished as a colonel.

AACUC is the African American Credit Union Coalition.  You know AACUC because last year the CEO Renee Sattiewhite was a guest on the show.  Remember that name because you will hear it frequently in this podcast.

As for CCEP that's a new AACUC initiative that has paired people of different backgrounds and often different races for a 90 day interaction.

Hernandez is on the steering committee, and he has authored CUInsight blogs explaining the why of CCEP.  

The first CCEP round comes to a close in July, but the hunt already is on for participants in a new round.  

Experts debate when the US will become minority majority, meaning whites will no longer be in the majority, but one fact is certain: that day is coming and now is the time to focus on efforts to produce more harmonious race relations,  And a big part of that just is talking with people not like us.  (Whatever we are.)

Along the way in this Hernandez podcast you will hear a great deal about why defense credit unions matter, why they have an ideal membership mix, and how a 25 year Air Force veteran transitioned into the credit union world.

Hernandez' personal story is something you didn't expect, from how his wife was instrumental in his getting the DCUC job (never sneer at being a plus one!) to musings about the difficulties in ascending the military ranks ladder.

Listen up.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email [email protected]

And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

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 An elderly member contacts you.  He/she has a stack of medical bills, little in savings, but substantial equity in a home.  What are the options? How can you help?

Two obvious choices are a HELOC and a reverse mortgage but there are significant problems with both. When there are no other options, well, maybe....

But now there is a third way and today's podcast guest, Joe Cianciolo, CEO of HomePace, is here to tell us about what amounts to co-investing in single family homes (sorry condo owners, HomePace presently is not investing in them. It also is not interested in rental property or vacation homes).

What HomePace does is buy an option to purchase up to 17.5% of a home.  It pays for that ownership now, But it does not collect until the home is sold, or in rare cases the owner buys out their position.  That means HomePace is in for the longterm.

HomePace is a passive investor. It has no right to force a sale.

HomePace's investment is not debt. It has no impact on the homeowner's FICO score.

Another HomePace play is co-investing in a new home purchase.  Say a buyer is cash short and can come up with only 10% of the purchase price for a downpayment.  HomePace may match that 10%, qualifying the buyer for more favorable loan terms.

In such cases, HomePace envisions the credit union as the mortgage originator - and that's a plus in a time when credit union mortgage market share continues to slip.  A new tool in a credit union's lending tool set just may help close more deals.

Note: HomePace requires its owners to have a minimum 10% equity in a home.  It will not invest in a no down or 3% down purchase.  Lenders who portfolio mortgages generally will accept the HomePace participation.

In this podcast, Cianciolo tells how HomePace works, what it looks for in a deal, what states it operates in (and one state where it believes it unlikely it ever will do business), and why it especially likes credit unions as partners.

A number of players now are in this co-investing market but a HomePace distinction it that it already is working with one credit union on its deals, it believes it will announce several more shortly, and it is actively seeing additional credit union partners.

There are many cases where a co-investor is an obvious advantage in a deal.  Check out HomePace and this co-investing universe.  There just may be advantages for members in need.

Listen up.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email [email protected]

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

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 Jon Voorhees has spent his work life optimizing branch performance. He has headed initiatives where an institution added hundreds of branches and he has headed initiatives where hundreds of branches were closed.  His last job at a financial services company - he now is a consultant based in Washington State - was as a senior vice president at Bank of America and you can guess how many challenges he faced at that bank.

But he knows credit unions too and in recent years has worked with a number on a simple question: how to optimize the branch strategy.  The question is easy to ask but hard to answer, especially since so much that impacts branching, from the pandemic to financial technology, keeps changing.

One thing Voorhees is adamant about: branches aren't going way.

Another thing: branches make for remarkably effective billboards for financial institutions.  Maybe you cannot afford a sizable ad daily in your local newspaper, but a properly positioned branch, with the right kind of signage. just may succeed in reminding your community that you are still thriving, still ready to help with their financial services needs. 

This is a wide ranging conversation, something of a primer on branch optimization,

Along the way you will find out where in supermarket branches make sense (or not), what could possibly go wrong with a branch that featured a Starbucks, and exactly where a branch needs to be in a shopping center.

Personally, I went into this podcast thinking, close'em all.  I had come to think that branches had served their purpose and were done. After giving Voorhees a listen, I now believe there is indeed a valuable place for branches in the credit union system - but only when they are smartly sited, tweaked for today's times, and wear the right, eye-catching signage. And many institutions just aren't getting that right.

The fixes are in this podcast.

Listen up.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email [email protected]

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

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 You know the headline - in fact you could write the story on the explosion in digital banking transactions during the last pandemic year.  

But do you know this: there has also been an explosion in the use of digital self-service information gathering and problem solving.

That's the surprising news in a report from TimeTrade SilverCloud, a provider of customer engagement solutions.  

In this podcast Bill Clark, CEO of TimeTrade SilverCloud offers the specifics - and prepared to be surprised.   Everybody knew members have been using digital to check account balances and pay bills but who knew members were making strong use of digital to investigate everything from PPP loans to how to get contactless debit cards.

By TimeTrade SilverCloud's data,  "Usage of online self-service increased 38% from March to April 2020 and has sustained a level 69% greater even a year later – demonstrating a shift in customer behavior to leverage self-service options before reaching out for live support."

Another factoid: Usage of knowledge based in mobile banking apps is up 82% year on year.

A third blockbuster number: "Chatbot usage on bank and credit union websites and mobile apps increased 272% year-over-year."

A last fact: Credit unions saw a 107% increase in year over year in pre-scheduling in branch appointments from Q1 2020 to Q1 2021.

The numbers tell the story: Something big has happened in regard to how we do our financial services.

This is a brisk podcast.  Listen up.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email [email protected]

And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It’s a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto.

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 Consider this podcast everything you wanted to know about credit unions and their social media channels but were afraid to ask.  Or maybe you just didn't know to ask.

But the reality today is that social media have emerged as a crucial communications outlet - and for some generations they may be the most important way to communicate.

And yet the channels are so new.  Twitter started in 2006.  Facebook dates back to 2004.  Instagram was launched in 2010.  LinkedIn dates back 2003.

But for most credit unions it is safe to say their significant involvement in social media dates back maybe a handful of years.

And the media themselves evolve and change.  

That's why you want to hear from Michelle Asher,  a marketing manager with a specific focus on social media at ENT, the nation's 25th largest credit union with assets of $6.7 billion.

Asher is the first fulltime manager for social media at ENT but she came to the job with 25 years of experience in public relations and communications.

In the podcast she talks about the learning curve involved in joining the credit union industry - not so hard at ENT, she says, because there are many knowledgeable, helpful staff.  She also talks about when and how legal and compliance weigh in on her content.

Along the way, Asher talks about a social media policy for employees - and know that there are times and places where an employee post can bring risks to a credit inion, even when the post is on an employee's personal account.  If you haven't thought about that issue, now is the time.

We also find out how the various social media channels differ - and what works on Facebook might fail on both LinkedIn and Twitter.  That's why professionals do not post the same content on multiple channels.  Who knew?

Of course new channels keep emerging - think Tik Tok and ENT is not presently on it.  Asher tells why.

This is an approachable conversation - but it has plenty of content both for credit unions with well oiled social media programs and those that are just dabbling in it.

Listen up.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email [email protected]

And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It’s a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto.

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File this under trends that will rock the ground beneath your feet.  The next wave in financial services will be self-direction, says Vince Bezemer, head of strategy at Backbase, whom you know from CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 110 (and the companion, 111, with Wildfire Credit Union, a Backbase customer).

Now Bezemer is back with a big message: members no longer want you to tell them how to do what they want to do.  You can't offer 90% account origination online but in the last mile insist a branch visit is key.

In a similar vein, the money centers banks no longer will be able to bully customers into using digital solutions when what they want is high touch analog.

There's a revolution coming, warns Bezemer, and the FIs that thrive will be the ones that get the message that today's member calls the shots.

And for the FIs that resist this, there's the reality that at least some FIs already have heard this message and are charging ahead.

For credit unions, Bezemer's message is that it's not enough the digitize, say, 25% of your products and tell members that for the rest, come to the branch.,

It's something of a different challenge from that facing the mega banks, where cost cutting and branch closures are accelerating a drive to push digital.

Wherever you are on the digital-analog continuum, there are warnings to be had in this podcast - and action steps to take.  But this isn't a stern lecture, it's a breezy, fast, fun talk about what financial services need to look like soon, like tomorrow.

Listen up.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email [email protected]

And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It’s a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto.

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It was the members' personal stories that hooked Samira Rajan early in her employment at what then was known as the Bushwick Cooperative and now is the Brooklyn Cooperative. When she started there it was in 2001 as a volunteer via AmeriCorp Vista  the recently founded credit union had assets of $299,000, four employees (including her), and a membership of under 1000.

Rajan has been there ever since. Today it has assets of $50 million, 16 employees, and two branches (one in Bushwick, the other in Bedford-Stuyvesant).

As for those stories, Rajan spent her early years at the institution as the loan officer and the stories she heard was from this member as to why she needed a $10,000 loan for her business, or from that member on why he needed a $5000 home improvement loan. These are stories about hopes and dreams and Rajan found it exciting to think about making dreams come true and also protecting the credit union's solvency.

As for how she wound up at the credit union in the first place, listen to the podcast. You need to hear the story from her but I will tell you it involves a bachelor's degree at Bryn Mawr where she doubled majored in economics and Spanish (and the Spanish matters in Bushwick where over half the residents are Latino). She then worked as an economist at the Federal Reserve in New York. But she got restless, she wanted to see if financial services could in fact help address economic inequalities. So she went to Harvard and earned a master's degree in public policy at the Kennedy School.

Flashback to 2001 when she earned that degree and she was back home in New York, the economy was sluggish, New York City was still recovering from 9/11, and she heard about this start up credit union in Bushwick and decided to check it out.

Next thing she knew she was a volunteer and soon that became a staff job.

In 2008 she became CEO.

In this podcast you will hear about the day to day challenge of keeping a small credit union vital, about the help Brooklyn Cooperative has gotten (or not gotten) from large banks and credit unions, and why it matters to be a CDFI, a community development financial institution.

Related podcasts mentioned in this one include CU 2.0 Podcast #15 with Cathie Mahon, CEO of Inclusiv. 

Also listen to CU 2.0 Podcast #37 with Cliff Rosenthal, a pioneer in the CDFI world.

And Luis Pastor at Latino Community Credit Union in Durham. 

Listen up.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email [email protected]

And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It’s a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto.