By Brian Hague

I recently read a book titled “You Weren’t Supposed to See That” by Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, a New York-based wealth management firm with more than $5 billion in assets under management. He also has a popular blog and podcast and is a regular on CNBC’s midday “Halftime” show.

The book – a collection of recycled blog posts accompanied by more recent commentary from Brown – focuses heavily on all things technology. That shouldn’t be surprising, since tech stocks have driven the market for the last several years.

In a chapter titled, “When Everything That Counts Can’t Be Counted,” he talks about how today’s outrageous price/earnings multiples on tech stocks don’t matter, due to the transformation that has taken place because of technology. As an example, he cites buying PayPal at four times book value on its way to nine times book while ignoring Goldman Sachs at less than one times book. (As of this writing, PayPal is trading at 7.5x book, while Goldman is still about 1.5x book.)

Customers Vs. Users

To reinforce his case, he points out the following:

“Customers are now being referred to as ‘users,’ and, as such, commanding more respect (and capital) from the investor class. ‘Customers’ is an unsexy term, with the connotation that they must be continually sold to and ‘reacquired.’ Users, on the other hand, mustn’t be reacquired because they are always there. I get a customer, I keep a user … If Ford Motor were a savvier marketer of their stock, which has changed hands at more or less the same price for 20 years, they’d be calling buyers of their cars a ‘user base’ and the cars themselves would be rechristened ‘physical mobility apps.’”

Where CUs Should Pay Attention

Later in the same chapter, he presents this example, and this is where credit unions need to start paying close attention:

“You’re a CEO in the financial sector. Which would you rather have as your corporation’s main asset: a chain of marble-floor main street bank branches or the payment network of Visa or Mastercard? We know what your shareholders would prefer you had.”

He then presents a graph showing the share price performance from 2010 through 2019 of a regional bank stock ETF along with Capital One, a large regional bank with a very large credit card portfolio, against Visa and Mastercard. The bank ETF and Capital One are up about 140% over that time period. Visa is up more than 860%, and Mastercard is up more than 1,200%.

What does this have to do with credit unions?

It got me pondering several questions: if “customers” is an unsexy term, how do financial consumers feel about “members?” Is the not-for-profit member/owner model sufficient to differentiate credit unions to the extent that they can remain relevant? Is there anything about their current business model that can keep them relevant?

A Challenge for CUs

The next question is related to Brown’s point about Ford Motor redefining itself as an app. Here’s my challenge for credit unions:

“If you had to redefine your credit union as an app, how would you do it?”

Let’s say you’re a credit union CEO or board of directors. At this year’s planning session, this is your exercise. You’re tasked with redefining and re-branding the credit union as an app. Not, “we have an app.”

We ARE an app.

How would you do it?

Here’s a cut at it, built around redefining the credit union’s identity from “a place where you bank” to “a platform that helps you live financially better.” Some credit unions have paid lip service to this, but this takes it further. Credit to AI for the assist.

Renaming the CU

First, let’s rename the credit union from “ABC Credit Union” to “LiveBetter.” Not “LiveBetter Credit Union,” just “LiveBetter.”

The tagline: “We’re not your bank. We’re your financial operating system.”

Core identity: A user-centric platform that embeds itself into a user’s daily financial life, constantly optimizing it in the background. It doesn’t just facilitate transactions; it learns, advises, and automates decisions in real time. Like the best user-based companies, the value grows the more you interact with it.

Core functions of the App:

Daily Financial Health Feed

• Not just balances and transactions, but context
• “You spent $62 less on food delivery this week. Want to redirect that to your Roth IRA?”
• “Your auto loan is in the top 10% of rates we see. Tap to refi with one click – you’ll get a decision in minutes.”

Life Goals Engine

“I want to buy a house in three years.”

• The app monitors your progress, recommends actions, auto-allocates savings, and alerts when you’re off track.
• Financial nudges in plain English (or Spanish, or whatever your primary language is): “You’re $200 ahead of pace this month for your down payment goal.”

User Marketplace (Community-Powered)

• Services curated for users: local deals, user-to-user loans and payments, job postings, gig opportunities, insurance and other services from partners, discounts, etc.
• The credit union as platform and connector, not just lender.

Embedded Trust Layer

• Personal AI that learns users’ patterns and flags risks: “This transaction looks unusual.” Or “You typically transfer funds before this date to avoid overdraft. Should I move $100 from savings?”
•  “You had three Venmo transactions today – do you recognize these?”
• Built-in privacy guardrails: “You control how data is used – and how it isn’t.”

Social and Educational Layer

• Personalized learning: “Want a 3-minute video on how to increase your credit score?”
• Rewards for completing financial literacy modules.
• Member forums with badges and gamification: “Ask the Community,” “Share a Win,” etc.
• Real testimonials and shared stories: “How I paid off $20k in debt using the app.”

Cultural Shift:

From: “We help you manage your money.”

To: “We help you become the person you want to be – with money as an enabler.”

Strategic Principles Behind the Model

• Shift from static services to dynamic experiences
• Emphasize belonging and shared identity
• Data becomes a service
• Make growth exponential, not linear
• Branches become experience centers, not transaction centers

What It’s Not

• A mobile interface for traditional banking functions
• A digital brochure of services
• A clone of big banks’ or fintechs’ apps

What It Takes to Get There

• Cultural clarity
• Digital-first redesign
• Willingness to let go of the traditional model (did you see the word “member” anywhere in the core identity or functions above?)
• Partnerships and APIs
• Talent shift

It Won’t Be Easy

This kind of reinvention wouldn’t be easy. It wouldn’t necessarily be the only way, or even the best way. But it occurs to me that, as the for-profit world is increasingly driven by companies that define their growth in terms of “users” rather than “customers,” it’s essential for credit unions to start thinking that way. 

Maybe redefining the credit union as an app, rather than a collection of brick-and-mortar branches that take in deposits and make loans, is the way to remain relevant far into the future.

Heck, I started my career nearly 40 years ago working with institutions that defined themselves as brick-and-mortar branches that took in deposits and made loans. Isn’t it time for something new?

Brian Hague is strategy, risk and assurance partner with Rochdale. For info: www.reimaginerisk.com