Author: Denise Wymore

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CO-OP FINANCIAL SERVICES HOSTS REGIONAL ROADSHOWS OFFERING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION STRATEGIES TO CREDIT UNIONS

Single-Day Events across the Country Bring Industry Thought Leaders to Doorsteps of Credit Unions

CO-OP Financial Services is bringing strategic and tactical learnings to help credit unions on their digital transformation journey through six, single-day “Roadshow” events running July-October in locations across the country.

“Last month’s THINK 18 Conference shed light on the many challenges and emerging trends credit unions need to consider in the digital age,” said Samantha Paxson, Chief Experience Officer for CO-OP. “From the rise of AI to open banking and changing patterns in fraud, credit unions have a lot to keep pace with. THINK was a great place to start the conversation but it is just one leg of the ‘Race to Excellence.’”

Each CO-OP Roadshow will feature industry thought leaders, both within and beyond CO-OP, sharing hands-on strategies credit unions can put to work immediately. CO-OP has identified seven strategies it is pursuing and recommends credit unions follow to accelerate the digital transformation process.

Roadshow speakers will share insights and guidance on topics including:

  • The latest consumer and fintech trends that will impact credit unions now and in the future.
  • How to respond to these trends with seven strategies to accelerate digital transformation.
  • The vital role data plays in fueling growth and how to establish an effective data strategy.
  • Why integration is the key to innovation, empowering credit unions to deliver excellence.
  • How CO-OP is evolving to become a world-class ecosystem, enabling the company to serve as a strategic partner to credit unions on their path towards digital transformation.

2018 CO-OP THINK Roadshow Schedule

  • July 17: Boulder, Colorado
  • August 21: Detroit, Michigan
  • August 23: Des Moines, Iowa
  • September 26: Irvine, California
  • October 2: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • October 4: Boston, Massachusetts

There is no cost for credit union personnel to attend, and each event will include breakfast and lunch. Online registration is open now for each individual CO-OP Roadshow.

In addition to the CO-OP Roadshow dates, the company is already preparing the conference agenda for THINK 19, with a theme of “The Race Continues.” THINK 19 will be held in Miami, Florida, May 6-9, 2019. The Early Bird registration rate is $999, good through October 31, 2018. Credit union employees can register immediately at https://co-opthink.org/events/think-19/.

“We are intensely focused on co-creating the future of financial services with our credit union clients,” said Paxson. “The Roadshow events, combined with the outcomes of our Co-Creation Councils, are giving CO-OP’s leaders the feedback they need to build that future in a way that is highly customized to the industry and as member-centric as possible.”

About CO-OP Financial ServicesCO-OP Financial Services is a payments and financial technology company whose mission is ensuring the success of the credit union movement. CO-OP payments solutions, engagement services and strategic counsel help credit unions optimize member experiences to consistently provide seamless, personalized multi-channel offerings, while delivering secure, sophisticated fraud mitigation service. For more information, visit www.co-opfs.org.

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Xtend announces facelift and new business line

Companies want their marketing designs to tell stories about their brand, mission and accomplishments. In Xtend’s case, those stories needed a few “facelifts”. Xtend launched its new branding with new graphics, logos, print marketing, web pages, banners, business cards and much more all to achieve more brand cohesion and give the West Michigan CUSO an identifiable image. From there credit union partners began asking for branding help from Xtend. The new business line makes sense, since Xtend already supports several communications channels for over 110 credit unions across the country. 

Darby Oswald, Xtend’s new creative lead, had this to say about joining the Xtend community of credit unions: “It has been refreshing for me to work with financial institutions and CUSOs across the country.  I love the variety of people, challenges and opportunities to learn and grow as a designer that each of my projects has afforded me. The brands of our credit unions have a very personal feel to them. The credit unions and CUSOs I work with have all been so passionate about incorporating that feeling of ownership into their brand. It really is inspiring.”

You can check out Xtend’s current marketing by visiting their new store, their website, or by contacting the team and requesting information about a specific product or service.

About Xtend, Inc.

Xtend, Inc. is a 100% credit union-owned CUSO formed in 2002 with headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Xtend provides a wide array of managerial, operational, marketing, technical planning and consulting services for credit unions of all sizes. In short, Xtend is an aggregation point for shared resources that allows credit unions to deliver products and services more cost-effectively. Their strategic offerings include bookkeeping services, member contact services, back-office mortgage services, partnered liquidity opportunities, shared branching, compliance monitoring, and payment processing services. Xtend provides services for over 200 credit unions representing more than 1.2 million members and $13B in assets. The CUSO is currently owned by 82 credit union industry partners. For more information, visit www.xtendcu.com.

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CU*Answers plans new strategic planning event for credit union CEOs

Planning began today for a new event to be held by CU*Answers for its credit union clients, to take the place of the annual CEO Strategies conference that has been held in the fall for the past 13 years. The 2018 CEO Strategic Developers Boot Camp, scheduled for November 5-9, 2018, will signal a new opportunity for CEOs and their business development executives to participate in creating the solutions that CU*Answers and the cuasterisk.com network will take to market. The event will bring credit union CEOs and senior-level executives who have a builder’s soul together with CU*Answers strategic leaders and designers to build a future that is based on what CUSO participants all want to own and use.

Topics being planned include Designing the Future of Internet Retailing, Designing Teller Platforms for Our Future, and Designing the Future for Online and Mobile Tools. Randy Karnes, CU*Answers CEO, stated that this event was intended to evolve the concept of a boot camp, which has been a very successful format for the CUSO over the past couple of years, to target directly credit union senior executives for this new event. “We want to marry the drive of credit union designers with cooperative-owned designer resources, to engage strategy-makers to actually build something, not just talk about what they want,” said Karnes.

About CU*Answers, Inc.

CU*Answers offers expertise in implementing technical solutions to operational needs, and is a leader in helping credit unions form strategic alliances and partnerships. CU*Answers provides a wide variety of services for credit unions including its flagship CU*BASE® processing system (online and in-house) and Internet development services featuring It’s Me 247 online and mobile banking. Additional services include web development, network design and security, and image check processing. Founded 45+ years ago, CU*Answers is a 100% credit union-owned cooperative CUSO providing services to credit unions representing over 1.9 million members and $19 billion in credit union assets. For more information, visit www.cuanswers.com.

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CU Direct Predicts What’s Coming in Auto Lending

This article was originally published on CUToday.info written by Frank Diekmann, who has been a big supporter of NACUSO and is a great reporter. Frank has written extensively on developments in auto lending, and he, like Tony Boutelle, believes these changes are going to arrive faster than many of us think. 

Tony Boutelle, CEO of CU Direct at the Drive 18 Conference

Perhaps no area of lending is being watched more carefully than auto lending when it comes to potential disruptions to the entire business model, and credit unions here were offered a forecast for what might lie ahead–and when–by CU Direct.

During the company’s Drive 18 Conference, CEO Tony Boutelle updated credit unions on what it is forecasting and how credit unions should prepare to respond on some issues of strong interest to credit unions.

According to Boutelle, CU Direct sees the future of auto lending and the auto industry itself as “A.C.E.S.” for Autonomous, Connected, Electric and Shared.

Boutelle cited a quote from Dr. Dieter Zetsche, the former CEO of Daimler, who observed, “Connectivity, autonomous driving, vehicle sharing and electric drive systems—each of these four trends has the potential to turn our industry on its head. Yet the real revolution lies in intelligently linking these four.”

What’s clear, said Boutelle, is that every major car manufacturer in the world wants to be an early mover in changing how mobility works. Of the top 20 companies spending on R&D, the car manufacturers dominate the list.

Autonomous Vehicles

The autonomous auto: Chevy Bolt

According to Boutelle, who cited work being done by CU Direct’s Innovation Lab, there are five levels of evolution in autonomous vehicles:

  • Basic automation (updates to legacy vehicles)
  • Adaptive Safety and Connected Vehicles (lane departure warnings and heads-up displays)
  • Limited Self Drive (such as Tesla and self-parking technology)
  • Full Self-Serve
  • Completely autonomous (no driver needed)

“We’re getting close to levels four and five,” said Boutelle.

Regulation 

When it comes to regulation, Boutelle acknowledged there are varying state and federal regulations but all currently require cars to have a steering well and brakes.

But Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet, now has 51 registered autonomous vehicles in California, and more than 500 autonomous minivans in Arizona, along with “thousands” more on order ahead of a ridesharing service it plans to launch.

“I think this is going to come a lot faster than a lot of us thought,” said Boutelle.

He noted Apple, which has partnered with Lexus, is now testing 55 cars on public roads, and that GM’s Cruise has more autonomous vehicles in California with 104.

Accessing Energy and Infrastructure

A key issue with electric vehicles isn’t just the vehicles themselves, but the infrastructure to recharge them. He cited one analysis that suggests electric vehicles will surpass internal combustion engines by 2038. “But the real key here is going to be how fast you can reduce the cost,” said Boutelle. “Greater efficiency means at $1,000 battery-per-kilowatt-hour in 2010 will cost $73 in 2030.”

He noted there are 150,000 gas stations in the U.S. right now as compared to 17,749 charging locations, and that it now takes from 30 minutes to four hours to charge a vehicle. 

Auto Dealer Income

Boutelle said one fallout as electric cars become more commonplace will be on a primary profit center of auto dealers, the service department. “Electric cars last as long as 500,000 miles. There are going to be some interesting changes.”

New Mobility Concepts

“Transportation is shifting from owned good to a rented service,” said Boutelle, referring to people moving away from owning cars to using them on an as-needed basis, such as through a subscription.

Boutelle pointed to the numerous businesses that have launched that involve simply using a car when needed, an Airbnb for cars, as he described it. Two businesses in that space are Turo and Maven.  There are also new managed fleets, such as Zipcar, Car2Go, Enterprise CarShare and Hertz Connect, that are also growing.

In the case of Turo, it says it has 170,000 cars in its system and four-million users. Its solution allows a person to put a car into Turo and rent it out to others when they need it.

Meanwhile, a lease-like approach is being offered by companies such as Fair and Ford Canvas, which have used cars. Well-established brands offering subscriptions to new cars include Care by Volvo, Porsche Passport, Book by Cadillac, and Access by BMW.

Four Predictions

Overall, Boutelle offered these four predictions for the auto lending marketplace:

  • Auto sales remain strong with more than 250 million cars on the road, plus eight to 10 million new vehicles added each year
  • There will be a shift to partially autonomous over next 10-15 years
  • The pace of change is dependent on battery improvements and access to energy
  • Car ownership will decline from 2.06 cars per household to 1.1 by 2040

“Keep doing what you’re doing with traditional auto financing,” recommended Boutelle. “But in our Innovation Lab we are researching other things, such as commercial loans for fleet vehicles, pay-as-you-go financing, and multi-owner contracts.”

To read more about Tony Boutelle, check out his Spotlight Interview with NACUSO.

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Constellation and Catalyst Corporate Federal Credit Union Close $500,000 Investment

Winner of 2017 NACUSO Next Big Idea Competition

Constellation Digital Partners, LLC and Catalyst Corporate Federal Credit Union are pleased to announce a new investment from Catalyst Corporate of $500,000 in Constellation. Constellation CEO Kristopher Kovacs closed the investment May 2 with Catalyst Corporate President and CEO Kathy Garner.

Constellation is the first and only open digital banking platform for credit unions. The platform makes it possible for credit unions to access resources needed to provide the digital services members want. Since Constellation’s inception, Catalyst Corporate – which serves 1,400 credit unions nationwide – has been involved and closely monitoring the onboarding of its investors and partners. The interest generated and the capital raised by Constellation have made it evident to Catalyst Corporate that Constellation will fill a void in the credit union industry.

“Working together with fintech developers on an open development platform allows credit unions to overcome many of the constraints faced in the past on competitors’ legacy technology systems,” said Garner. “For Catalyst Corporate, working with Constellation is an opportunity to leverage the investment we’ve already made in TranZact, our members’ account management platform, and TranzCapture, our deposit capture platform. TranzCapture was built from the ground up to integrate easily, and it aligns well with the Constellation platform.” 

Constellation not only offers Catalyst Corporate a new way to deliver existing services, but also an additional channel for delivering new services, Garner said. In addition, it gives Catalyst Corporate the ability to interact more closely with credit unions that are not currently members of Catalyst Corporate to better understand their future direction and needs.

“We are thrilled to welcome this new partner and eager to start working with Catalyst Corporate,” said Kovacs. “Catalyst Corporate strives to maximize efficiency, prioritizes strategies that create value for its member credit unions, and leverages technology to achieve its objectives whenever possible. With their involvement, Constellation is able to help bring these guiding principles to life for its members everywhere.”

Eleven other credit union partners have invested in Constellation, including: Coastal Credit Union, Teacher’s Credit Union, CFCU Community Credit Union, Meritrust Credit Union, Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union, Georgia’s Own Credit Union, Affinity Federal Credit Union, Kinecta Federal Credit Union, Vizo Financial Corporate Credit Union, TwinStar Credit Union and Nusenda Credit Union.  CU Solutions Group, CO-OP Financial Services and CUNA Mutual have also invested in he platform.

To learn more about Constellation, visit www.constellation.coop. Connect with Constellation on Twitter (@ConstellationDP), Facebook, and LinkedIn. To learn more about Catalyst Corporate Federal Credit Union, visit www.catalystcorp.org. Connect with Catalyst Corporate on Twitter (@CatalystCorpFCU), Facebook, and LinkedIn.

About Constellation Digital Partners, LLC

Constellation is developing a patented, secure and flexible cloud-based marketplace that enables upper to mid-tier credit unions and innovative app developers to provide safe, reliable, and next-generation digital financial service experiences while giving the freedom to compete, innovate, and thrive in the financial services industry. Constellation will redefine what credit unions offer, delivering digital financial services in a way that enables them to place members at the center of their business strategy. Visit www.constellation.coop to learn more.

About Catalyst Corporate Federal Credit Union

Catalyst Corporate Federal Credit Union is a wholesale cooperative financial institution headquartered in Plano, Texas. It serves more than 1,400 credit unions nationwide with core financial services, including payments, liquidity and investment solutions, and exceptional back-office support. Wholly-owned subsidiary Catalyst Strategic Solutions, LLC provides a comprehensive, SEC-registered advisory service, sophisticated ALM guidance and derivative services. Visit www.catalystcorp.org to learn more.