WASHINGTON–There’s a common dilemma facing many credit union leaders who admit they don’t have the answer: A significant number of members are members in account-number only and aren’t active, according to Samantha Paxson. And the fault for that often lies with CUs that have the wrong message on their websites.

Paxson, the long-time executive with the former Co-op Solutions who now leads the firm Power & Light Collective, said it’s a refrain she hears often when it comes to growth.

Paxson’s observations came during a session at the Mitchell Stankovic Underground titled, “New Rules, The Truth is in the Data.”

‘Being Honest With Ourselves’

“A lot a lot of credit union leaders come to me and say, ‘Sam I’ve got 60,000 consumers, but only 30,000 are active.’ Or, ‘I have two-million members, but if we are really honest with ourselves, are we winning the daily interaction of the member?’” Paxson shared in remarks during Mitchell Stankovic’s recent Underground meeting. 

Not About the Spreadsheet

Paxson said many credit unions are run from the perspective of a spreadsheet or lending, with loan opportunities only coming every five to seven years, on average. 

“We have challenges in really engaging the member and building trust. That’s ultimately what we’re trying to do is make sure that for today’s consumers their credit unions are a relevant, viable option to do business with.”

Paxon noted she has had a long-term relationship with EY, which has conducted significant research on behalf of credit unions that was often highlighted during Co-op Solutions’ former THINK meeting. That research often developed use cases for credit unions on engagement, and better understanding members.

To get to that point requires data.

‘Meeting Up’

“The data is so important because it allows us to show up, to deeply understand our members, to meet them where they expect to be met,” said Paxson, adding it helps identify what is “personal” to the member.

The EY research in recent years helps credit union executives know which strategic bets to place, “because we have limited resources and we need to better understand where to place those bets in order to win the member moments.”

New research with EY is under way, she added.

‘Moment of Opportunity’

Nikhil Lele, banking and capital markets leader with EY, who co-presented at the Underground with Paxson, said that while “there are lots of existential things going on in the environment, the truth of the matter is the environment is not waiting for anyone to change.”

The question, of course, is how to win and thrive amidst that change, he acknowledged.

“We care about it so much because we also see a moment and opportunity for credit unions to capture unique sources of growth…by accelerating a digital leapfrogging beyond just pure things like digital account opening,” he said, before asking for a show of hands by credit unions that believe they have mastered digital account opening.

No hands were raised. 

Not About the Balance Sheet

Onboarding members effectively is about more than just handling data in a secure way, Lele told the meeting; it’s about making it easy, convenient and connected to other things that they’re doing.

“It’s not about staring at your balance sheet and saying we need to gather deposits and we can’t pay up the rates for it,” he said. “It’s accessing these efficient marketplaces that allow you to be deposit-gatherers, build digital capability, enhance your CRM systems, make your member experiences that much more efficient and better without having to spend all the capital that your 1,000-times larger brethren are already doing…

“Our research simply points a light on the reality your members expect this and they would rather get it from you,” Lele continued. “The data shows that over and over again, but in the absence of getting it from you they’re already getting it from numerous other places, including the large financial institutions, who are making experiences almost digitally perfect…You’re battling in an environment that requires almost perfection. But the capabilities exist to go and actually leapfrog ahead of where your larger brethren actually are.”

Where Should CUs Start?

Asked where credit unions should start in this engagement battle as soon as they get home, Paxson said they should look to their website homepages.

“When I go to your homepages, what’s on them? It’s your rates. Is the number-one value proposition of your credit union the rate you are offering? What that does is make the member rate shop. Are we in an environment where we can win rate-chasers? Is that our value proposition in people helping people? And how often is that consumer going to engage in that kind of service? 

‘Value Bundles’

“We have to think about our services in value bundles, and those are organized according to how a human behaves,” Paxson continued. “What do they need in their short-time financial lives? Why do they not trust credit unions to deliver the type of financial services they need? We need to demonstrate that we can meet their daily needs. Organizations need to show that we have all of the array of solutions and that we know how those solutions connect together to drive the financial outcome for the member.”