LAS VEGAS — After more than a year of development, a “sandbox of solutions” designed to boost the viability and growth of small and midsize credit unions will be unveiled Oct. 25 in Las Vegas.
The initiative, called Credit Union Shared Services (CUSS), is led by Mitchell Stankovic & Associates with contributions from numerous industry collaborators. The scalable shared service model and its initial offerings will be introduced at Mitchell Stankovic’s Underground meeting at the Venetian Hotel, held alongside the Money20/20 conference.
Avoiding Irrelevancy
Mitchell Stankovic said the CUSS project was launched in 2024 after widespread recognition that smaller credit unions — critical to grassroots advocacy but increasingly disappearing through mergers — needed new shared services to remain competitive.
“Right now, there are small credit unions that are struggling, and they don’t have the same services available to them that large credit unions have. This is not equitable,” said Chad Ritchie, CEO of Matanuska Valley FCU. “If we can’t be there when our members need us, in the way they need us, we start to become irrelevant. This is an issue all credit unions face, because we are behind the times and haven’t been able to innovate at the pace that matters.”
Addressing Pain Points
Mitchell Stankovic said it has spent the past year building the CUSS framework, with a strong strategic advisory component and partnerships to address key pain points. Solutions include:
- Fractional Leadership as a Service for succession planning.
- Shared back-office services to optimize operations and reduce costs.
- Modernized, cloud-based core technology adaptable for small, boutique, de novo and large credit unions.
- Retirement plan services tailored for small credit union CEOs.
CEO Sue Mitchell emphasized that CUSS is more than just a marketplace of options. “It took time to get this right, and to dig deeper into what is truly available, truly native cloud-based, truly flexible — and yes, we’ve had to vet out the imposters and cash cow vendors harming the industry with lockdown practices,” she said.
Additional Discussion
The Oct. 25 Underground Collision 2025 event will also include sessions on Web3, ecosystem restructuring, and credit union leadership.
“The event invites credit unions, CUSOs, fintechs and partners to embrace a decentralized, permissionless, trustless future, empowering member-controlled systems and financial equity,” Mitchell Stankovic said.
