PARK CITY, Utah — Seventy-five credit union CEOs and senior executives representing institutions with more than $210 billion in combined assets are meeting in Utah this week as part of a new National Credit Union Foundation initiative focused on shaping how credit unions address members’ financial well-being.
The Foundation’s inaugural Financial Well-Being Exchange, or FWBX, is being held Sept. 1-3 at the St. Regis Deer Valley in Park City. Participants represent credit unions from 28 states, according to the Foundation.
The event is designed as an executive-level forum for credit union leaders to exchange ideas and consider how institutions can expand their efforts to improve the financial health of members and communities.
‘Extraordinary Work’
“Credit unions across the country do extraordinary work to improve member financial well-being and drive impact,” Lauren Culp, executive director of the National Credit Union Foundation, said in a statement. “And, what we know to be true is that credit unions are committed to always raising the bar and going further for their members.”
Culp said the gathering is intended to explore how credit unions can collectively expand those efforts.
Foundation Takes Enterprise-Wide Approach
The Foundation said the Exchange approaches financial well-being from an enterprise-wide perspective rather than treating it as a stand-alone program or service.
That approach considers how a credit union’s mission and strategy, products, policies, technology and organizational culture can collectively affect members’ financial well-being.
The event includes roundtable discussions and advisory board components intended to generate ideas that could be applied more broadly across the credit union system, according to the Foundation.
The Foundation said it plans to publish high-level themes and findings emerging from the gathering. Those findings also will help guide its future financial well-being programs and initiatives for credit unions nationwide.
‘Much Bigger’ Opportunity
“The opportunity in front of us at the Exchange is much bigger than just the people in this room,” Culp said. “It has the potential to reshape financial well-being delivery for the entire financial services sector.”
The Foundation said the Financial Well-Being Exchange was created as a recurring forum for senior credit union executives interested in developing new approaches to improving members’ financial lives.
