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Welcome to AI, Part 1 in the CU2.0 Podcast series.  Next week we'll post AI, Part 2, an exploration of voice and AI. This week looks at a company focused on text and AI. Both are products of the DCU Fintech Innovation Lab in Boston - podcast about that here.

Either way, great stuff is happening that you need to know about to stay current.

Why? It's because a lot of credit union work is mundane, tedious, boring really. It needs doing, no question, but how best?

Enter Coalesce. The company's tagline says it all:  "AI software that automates tedious work for financial services."

You're not interested because credit unions are special? Coalesce is in the DCU Fintech Innovation Lab in Boston - hear the podcast about the lab here - and it is already working with Digital Federal Credit Union, BECU,and the NASA credit union, among other financial institutions (including some mega banks). It has a good credit union pedigree.

The Coalesce focus is on automating monotonous, rote work, particularly around handling incoming member emails (70% it turns out can be answered by machines) and also auto loan applications. Hunting for fraud is another, promising avenue for AI.  AI, it turns out, is good doing these jobs faster and cheaper than people.

Are the machines taking over? Greg Woolf, the Coalesce founder and CEO, laughed at that.  For good reason. The Coalesce version of AI is built around input from people who also are in charge.

Put away those Matrix fears and come for a ride into tomorrow where machines do a lot of the work people honestly don't want to do and the machines are good at it.

The CU2.0 podcast. About credit unions for tomorrow.

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

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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Welcome to AI, Part 2 in the CU2.0 Podcast series.  Last week our podcast explored email and AI through the eyes of Coalesce, a DCU Fintech Innovation Lab company. This week, in Part 2, we explore voice and AI through Posh Development, another DCU Fintech Innovation Lab company - podcast about that here.

Either way, great stuff is happening that you need to know about to stay current.

B of A is pushing its AI bot Erica hard. But just maybe you can fight back with your own voice bot. That's part of the Posh promise.

It's a good, practical podcast. Listen up here.

This is a podcast you can't miss. AI definitely is the future. It's up to you to understand and control it.

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

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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Quick, how does a company get named Pinkaloo?

Meet Gideon Taub, CEO of Pinkaloo, a company focused on modernizing charitable giving for the 99% - that means us - and now it also is helping credit unions find a way to claim a central place in guiding members to more effective giving.

With Pinkaloo, a use can set up a budget for giving, access tools to help find organizations of particular interest, get gifts sorted for tax purposes, and - this is huge - do research without falling victim to the insecurity of some charity websites.

It's win-win-win, for the member, the credit union, the charities.

Pinkaloo is about bringing efficiencies to something that for many of us has been haphazard.

Note: Pinkaloo does not require core access.

Also note: credit unions may find that Pinkaloo helps them know much better what their members want to support and this may help steer credit union charitable giving in a much more precise direction. Just sayin'.

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

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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Buckle up. In episode 2 of the CU2.0 Podcast South Bay Credit Union CEO Jennifer Oliver dishes on the hard work of staying alive at a $100 million institution - and in fact she's prospering. Want to know how she works this miracle? So did we which is why sat for a special 30 minute podcast that is worth every minute.

The CU2.0 podcast. About credit unions for tomorrow.

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

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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"We are facing a global talent shortage," said Tommy Marshall, executive director of the new Georgia Fintech Academy, by way of an an answer to the question: why was your organization formed.

It's an ambitious undertaking. The idea is to pull together resources from 26 Georgia public universities - including Georgia Tech, Georgia State, and Georgia Southern - and to offer students the opportunity to earn a degree focused on fintech.

Right now, the emphasis is on a bachelors degree program but there are plans for an advanced degree as well as professional development courses.

Understand this: Georgia has gotten a jump on other states. Nowhere else is there such a sweeping program that draws upon a wide range of institutions, all joining together to produce grads with degrees that will help them get good, well paying, interesting work.

Marshall of course is looking for companies that want to hire grads - FIS is already a primary program sponsor - and he specifically saus in this podcast that he wants to hear from credit unions. If you have needs for fintech grads and you are in Georgia, shout it out because this might become an answered prayer.

In the program, Marshall tells exactly why Georgia started the Academy, how he got his job, and why this all just may be very important to economic development in Georgia.

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

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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Do you dream of being in control of your credit union's digital presence?

Stop dreaming, start doing.  Find out how in this podcast as Ent vice president Tanan Miles explains how the Colorado institution has full control of the UI of its digital presence.

How cool is that when the most important branch for most credit unions is online and mobile access?

Ent, by the way, has compelling numbers to show the emerging dominance of mobile.  34% of its members are mobile exclusive - that is their only way to access the institution. And 75% of the online sessions now are mobile.

Which means you want to start controlling your institution's digital presence.

Like right now.

Find out how in this podcast, in the CU2.0 Podcast series.

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

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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What are people saying about your credit union?

That means members, staff, and community members?

And how does a nasty hack impact your reputation?

Meet Casy Boggs of ReputationUS, where the business is in fact reputation management and a primary emphasis is work with credit unions.

You think you have a great reputation? Don't guess. Know. Get a reputation audit done and be prepared to be surprised by the results.

Particularly interesting is how a hack impacts a credit union's reputation, a topic Boggs has studied in depth.  

Among his findings: 48% of us are very unlikely to remain a member if their data has been hacked and then used to set up a bogus credit card account.

Good news, per the survey, is the vast majority of us hold credit unions in high reputational esteem.

But don't take it for granted.

Boggs says in this podcast that too many institutions are unprepared to deal with events that involve a reputational hit - they lack a plan and a plan can smooth the path to recovery.

Bad stuff happens. Are you prepared?

Find out what's involved in this podcast. Listen here.

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

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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.Welcome to the CU2.0 Podcast with your host Robert McGarvey.

In every episode we probe the massive digital transformation that now is remaking the nation’s credit unions and today’s guest is Amy Downs, CEO of Allegiance Credit Union in Oklahoma.

This is a very special episode. The conversation with Amy opens with her remembrance of the 1995 bombing of the Murrah federal office building in Oklahoma. Many of her co-workers lost their lives that day; some 168 people died that day. Amy survived but was hospitalized. She also talks about her determination to remake Allegiance to be a thriving 21st century institution, a credit union that honors and remembers its past but also is focused on staying relevant.

 It’s a great credit union story.  Told the CU2.0 way.

 One more thing: tune into the last bit of this podcast to learn about special sponsorship opportunities. You’ll want to hear about this.

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Welcome to the CU2.0 Podcast with your host Robert McGarvey. In every episode we probe the massive digital transformation that now is remaking the nation’s credit unions and today’s guest is Trudy Soucoup, a member of the board of directors at Washing State Employees Credit Union, a top 100 institution with about $2.8 billion in assets.

Trudy’s day job is as CEO of Homes First!, a non profit focused on low income housing in Washington.

The focus of this podcast: what’s it like to be a board member in 2018, a time of enormous flux for most credit unions.

Hint: it’s a lot of work.

You’ll hear about that and also a slightly embarrassing introduction to MRDC in this podcast.

Board members are critical to the success of credit unions. But rarely are they heard from. So listen up.

One more thing: tune into the last bit of this podcast to learn about special sponsorship opportunities.  You’ll want to hear about this.

The CU2.0 podcast. About credit unions for tomorrow.

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Teach them when they are young.

That's the approach to financial education taken by John Lanza of the Money Mammals, where the focus is on financial education for children 11 and under.

A key: the education becomes a family project.  That means credit unions - and credit unions can sign up with the Money Mammals to access its library of teaching materials and workbooks - will be attracting younger adults with small children.

The material also is branded with the credit union name.

And the financial education itself of course is a key credit union mission.

Lanza stresses that good as it is for kids to get financial education in school, it's crucial that they also get it at home because they need some money to learn with. Call it allowance and know it can be small.  But that money becomes a teaching tool.

Lanza said he presently is working with 15 credit unions and he wants more.  Some are under $200 million, one is bigger than $3 billion.  So the program will work in just about any size institution.

Give a listen and just maybe you will be persuaded to focus on financial ed and children, the Money Mammals way.

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

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