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How the CUSO Model Could Be the Disruptor We Need

CUNA’s Governmental Affairs Conference is not to be missed. Over 5,000 credit union evangelists gather in our Nation’s capital to network, meet and greet, lobby, sing, dance, and of course eat! We’re proud to say that once again NACUSO staff and many board members were in attendance this year to meet with legislators and regulators to protect and further the CUSO movement.

As we entered the exhibit hall we were greeted by our Platinum partner CO-OP Financial Services with this compelling question:

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This seemed to be the overall theme of the conference. A time of reflection and a time to look ahead and challenge ourselves.   This year we honored credit union pioneers, like CO-OP CEO Stan Hollen, who will be retiring in May, and we celebrate the next generation of credit union leaders through the Cooperative Trust (aka “The Crashers”).

At the opening session CUNA President Jim Nussle delivered a very inspirational message in which he urged credit unions to become the disruptors that America is craving.

He reminded us that in 1934 credit unions had become the banking industry disruptors. That was the year CUNA was formed and credit unions began to boom.  Then he challenged us with this statement: “One critical way credit unions can draw more of that market share is by becoming the same type of disruptors that have recently turned other industries on their ears,” Nussle explained, “Companies such as Uber and Amazon are spurring massive change in their respective industries, and credit unions have the ability to assume a similar identity. “

According to the book Disrupting the Disruptors by Alex Hammer, Uber’s success can be attributed to these three points:

  1. They use a more nimble approach than their traditional competitors.
  2. It’s a perfect example of a skilled trade being made irrelevant by technological progress.
  3. The real lesson here is about the nature of disruptor companies. If you want to really, truly upend a market, then you have to focus on perfecting the tools people use to create change. In the end, companies don’t upend markets – customers do.

Marketplace lenders are replacing the skilled underwriters with technology that is fast, easy, anonymous and they price the risk using big data, which is disrupting financial institutions. We need to be more nimble and be open to rapid prototyping and failing faster.

We believe the best way to disrupt our category is by continuing to collaborate and innovate through the CUSO model. We have received several exciting applications for the 4th Annual Next Big Idea Competition in Las Vegas on April 6th.  And for the first time ever we are hosting Partner Connection Sessions. The goal is to connect like-minded people that are committed to using the structure of partnerships to innovate, create scale, manage risk, negotiate savings, create political strength, etc.  Collaboration is in our DNA and part of our history.

If you have the Next Big Idea we would love to hear about it. The deadline is March 1st.

Let’s disrupt those bankers!