MANCHESTER, N.H.–In 2026, The CU Daily has launched aa new, ongoing initiative: The Profitability Imperative, built around a clear and unavoidable theme: “The Sustainability Reset: Mission Requires Margin.”
Throughout this year the CU Daily will be reporting and compiling resources, insights, advice and examples of how credit unions have found ways to grow and build margin so as to support their missions.
This initiative is a direct response to what the data—and our readers—are telling us.
Across the country, too many credit unions under $1 billion in assets are struggling to generate sustainable profitability. Membership growth is negative. Loan growth is slowing. And for many, mergers are increasingly viewed as the only remaining option—not because they want to merge, but because they don’t see another viable path forward.
The Profitability Imperative is designed to at the very least shine a light on that path forward. You can find a more detailed explanation of the initiative here.
Below, is an ongoing compilation of all reporting, comment and more related to the Profitability Imperative. As this is a CU community-wide effort in support of the sixth Cooperative Principle, Cooperation Among Cooperatives, we not just invite your input, we expect it. Please provide any feedback to Frank J. Diekmann at [email protected].
About the Profitability Imperative
MANCHESTER, N.H.–Reporting can be found here that provides a deeper dive into this initiatve here. This story introduced the series.
Smalll CUs & Profitability: How We Stopped the Bleeding
Doug Wadsworth, CEO of Tri-Community Credit Union, shares specific examples of how his small credt union eliminated many expenses and created efficiencies. The report shares how numerous small changes can stack to have much bigger results.
The Opportunities Being Overlooked to Create Sustainable Growth in Credit Unions
ATLANTA —Credit unions seeking to improve and grow have overlooked opportunities in brand awareness, risk appetite solution and talent, according to one person, who further advised it is critical to make it “more enticing to invest in credit unions than to extract from them.”
And when it comes to that latter point, the only way to build that culture is through incentivization and goal alignment at the board and senior management level, according to Ancin Cooley, whose insights are being shared here as part of the CU Daily’s “The Profitability Imperative: the Sustainability Reset—Mission Requires Margin” series.
Four Strategies for Driving Organic Growth, Including the One ‘Sexy’ Things All Credit Unions Share
SAN DIEGO–Four strategies for driving new organic growth — both large and small — at credit unions were shared by one person here, who challenged CUs to recognize that what they offer is a commodity but that there are still some “sexy” differences to be leveraged.
Sharing specific strategies for growth with the CUES Directors Conference was Cisco Malpertida Smith, a managing director with SRM, who began his career at BECU in Seattle, where he was the first person hired to identify strategies for organic growth. He then spent five years with GTE Financial CU in Tampa, was CEO of The Florist FCU, currently works as fractional CEO for one small credit union, and is working to start two de novo credit unions.
2 Things That Drive Growth at Credit Unions & Two Things That Might Need to be Removed
POIPU, Kauai–When it comes to driving growth at a credit union, it really all comes down to two things, according to one person, who also advised that removing a question from the digital sign-up process may pay dividends, while cautioning that one bias by board members may be preventing the CU from serving what can be a profitable market.
Speaking to Rochdale’s Volunteer Leadership Institute (VLI), Sam Brownell, CEO of CUCollaborate, used analysis of NCUA 5300 data to stress his point that spending money on marketing “is the biggest lever you can pull.”
Why Credit Unions Can’t Grow if They Fall Into the ‘Commodity Trap’ & Forget Their ‘Brand’
EUGENE, Ore.–Any credit union looking to grow and sustain that growth must avoid the “commodity trap,” according to one person, adding that credit unions have been “gifted” some special attributes they must leverage.
Matt Purvis, the president of Purvis Management and the former chief experience officer with Northwest Community Credit Union, has developed Animation Systems, which helps develop brands that drive organizational behavior and performance. In this article he offers his thoughts as part of the CU Daily’s Profitability Imperative series.
A Warning Over Doorways Into, Out of a CU; Plus a Free Resource to Use
POIPU, Kauai—Credit union board members gathered here were warned about just how many “doorways” there are into CU systems, how they are opened and how they can be locked, while also being pointed toward a free security tool every CU should be using.
Speaking to Rochdale’s Volunteer Leadership Institute (VLI), Randy Romes, a principal with CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, shared with attendees a graphic showing all of the devices in their homes and lives—from routers to refrigerators—that are part of the Internet of Things, and said the same applies to credit unions, which are much juicier targets for bad actors.
Romes recommended that even the smallest credit unions turn to CIS Critical Security Controls, version 8, which include resources such as checklists, benchmarks, reporting and tracking tools, and other guidance.
3 Areas Where CUs Want to Improve, and 3 Questions to Be Asking About All Those Silos of Data
SAN DIEGO—There are three areas where most credit unions are seeking to improve, and three questions to be asking when it comes to creating efficiencies, according to one person who has partnered with CUs on not just those issues, but on better leveraging their data.
Anne Legg, who has worked with more than 600 leaders in credit unions, leads THRIVE Strategic Services, which specializes in helping CUs to simplify their data transformation, identify new revenue sources, lessen member friction, and increase talent productivity, has shared her perspective in some of the lessons she has learned as part of the CU Daily’s Profitability Imperative series.
