Posts By: Denise Wymore

Clothing Spend Decreased While Interior Furnishings Increased, Among Other Findings

Credit and debit cardholders appear to be spending more on their holiday shopping this year as compared to last, according to CO-OP Financial Services’ analysis of card transaction data from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. Among the key takeaways, CO-OP’s data indicates credit union cardholders shop more – and spend more – when they do so in a digital environment.

The average amount of money spent per cardholder was up this year, and in some cases, significantly. Credit cardholders spent an average of $323 over the five-day period, up more than 10 percent (+10.6%) over last year’s average of $292. For their part, debit cardholders spent an average of $264 from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. That’s an increase of nearly 17 percent (+16.8%) over the same period in 2018. CO-OP’s data shows analyst predictions for 2019 holiday shopping increases as high as 19.7 percent were fairly on target.… Read more

Lumin Digital, a PSCU company, announced today it has successfully converted and onboarded Mutual Security Credit Union (Shelton, Conn.) to Lumin Digital’s cloud-based platform. More than 10,000 active Mutual Security digital users are now utilizing the Lumin platform, which launched in late September.

With over $315 million in assets, Mutual Security Credit Union selected Lumin Digital as its digital banking solution due to Lumin Digital’s capability to provide a user experience surpassing that of big banks and other financial institutions.

“After conducting extensive research, we chose Lumin Digital because we believe it is the top online banking system on the market,” said Larry Holderman, CEO of Mutual Security Credit Union. “Our team worked in close coordination with the Lumin Digital team to execute a well-orchestrated conversion for our members. We look forward to continued success with Lumin Digital as our trusted digital banking partner.”… Read more

CU*Answers, the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based core data processing CUSO, recently revamped its bill pay and P2P configuration infrastructure to allow credit unions to support any combination of multiple bill pay and/or P2P vendors for their members. Credit unions thinking of switching to a new vendor or planning a merger on the CU*BASE^® core data processing system can now move to a bill pay solution for new enrollees, while at the same time giving existing bill pay members more time to migrate.

“This will have benefits for our credit unions who are just converting to CU*BASE as well,” said Scott Collins, executive vice president of national sales. “Juggling overlapping vendor contracts during a conversion or merger can be stressful. Rather than buying out of a contract, credit unions will now have the option to enable multiple bill pay vendor options, thus allowing members to more smoothly transition, while also letting that contract run its course.”

The new infrastructure also follows up changes made in the CUSO’s 19.05 release that allowed credit unions to begin offering Payveris P2P even if they were using a different provider for bill pay services.… Read more

In an effort to further enhance its commitment to delivering an exceptional experience for its Owner credit unions and their members, PSCU has announced that Kevin Spear has been named senior vice president, Service Delivery. In his role, Spear will be responsible for driving the strategic direction, continuous improvement and operational effectiveness of PSCU’s Service Delivery team.

Spear’s appointment marks a return to the company for the payments industry veteran, who previously led Client Relations and Services at PSCU from 2006 to 2012.

“Kevin brings an impressive background and proven experience to PSCU, including extensive payments experience, a long list of credit union relationships and strong working knowledge of what makes PSCU great – a perfect combination for this role,” said Dean Young, EVP and chief experience officer at PSCU. “His passion for serving credit unions is unsurpassed, and we know he will continue to help lead PSCU in delivering industry-leading product offerings and exceptional services to our Owner credit unions.”

Throughout his career, Spear has held several executive roles in sales, service and client relations with firms including Card Management Corporation, PNC Bank and UPS Capital Corp.… Read more

CU Service Network (CUSN) is pleased to announce that it has selected Nathan Rogers as its new VP of Business Development and Marketing. Rogers is recognized as a passionate and dedicated champion of the credit union movement, serving in leadership roles with both credit unions and CUSOs. With two decades of credit union experience, he has the familiarity necessary to help meet the needs of credit unions throughout the country.

Rogers began his credit union career 20 years ago as the Director of Marketing and IT for Steelcase Employees CU (now known as Community West CU) in Grand Rapids, MI. There Rogers was sold on the credit union philosophy and has never looked back. He continued his career in credit union marketing with Rivertown Community FCU also in Grand Rapids, MI where he led major initiatives in branding, digital experience, IT, branch expansion, indirect lending, and business development as well as participated as a member of the ALM committee and executive management team.… Read more