The CUSO Guru International Best-Selling Author

I wrote two books that are available on Amazon.  My mother is very proud.   Neither book is the Great American Novel.  The character development and plot lines are too thin.   But for credit union folks, they should be of interest.

For over thirty years, I have helped credit unions plan, form and operate CUSO’s.   On behalf of NACUSO and its members, I have advocated with NCUA and state credit union regulators to maintain a favorable regulatory climate for credit union collaborations.  My name became so closely tied to CUSO’s that my nickname became the “CUSO Guru.”   Now that my hair has turned white, I have finally grown into the brand.

I wrote the books to share knowledge I acquired with my credit union colleagues.  The first book is entitled Credit Union Collaborations – Lessons Learned.   In concept, collaboration is an easy sell.   “We will be stronger united.”   In practice, a business collaboration requires considerable skill and effort to create and maintain.  A business collaboration is an alternative business model that requires an understanding of all the issues that will positively and negatively affect the alignment of the personal and business interests of the participants.

The book has 26 lessons to keep in mind as you plan a collaboration and a chapter on how to apply those lessons in creating various types of collaborations. There is a chapter on NACUSO’s history.  Four CUSO’s are profiled, including the lessons learned by them.   The CUSO’s are CU*Answers, Financial Service Centers Cooperative, Ongoing Operations and Open Technology Solutions.   My thanks to Randy Karnes, Bob Frizzle, Esteban Camargo, Sarah Canepa Bang, Bonnie Kramer, Kirk Drake and Mike Atkins for their assistance with their respective CUSO stories.

It is my opinion that credit unions that want to be competitive with banks and Fintech’s and survive in the 21st Century will need the following:

1. Technology tools to meet growing member expectations;
2. Data management and analysis tools;
3. The means to contain operational costs;
4. The ability to attract highly capable talent; and
5. Additional income streams that are consumer friendly.

My two questions for every credit union are:

1. Does your credit union have the resources, scale and desire to acquire all the above capabilities on its own?
2. If not, what is your plan to significantly grow scale to obtain the necessary resources and expertise – buying bank assets, mergers and/or collaborations? By leveraging collaborative business models, credit unions are able to remain independent while obtaining the scale to acquire the above capabilities.

In 2012 and 2016, I was asked by the University of Cork to teach Irish credit unions about the use of CUSO’s.   I learned that credit unions worldwide face similar competitive problems and can benefit by developing collaboration skill sets.   Payac Services CLG, Ireland’s first payments CUSO, has purchased 150 copies of my book for the Irish credit unions.    I also had someone in India purchase my book.   “Best-selling” may be a stretch but it is officially “international.”

The concepts can be applied to collaborations of other non-profit organizations.  The American Fraternal Alliance invited me a few years back to discuss how the collaborations lessons learned by credit unions could be applied to fraternal benefit societies.

The other book I wrote  is entitled The Guide for Credit Unions Providing Investment and Insurance Services. Due to regulatory restrictions prior to 2001, credit unions used CUSO’s to contract with broker/dealers in networking arrangements where investment services are offered to credit union members by broker/dealers and a portion of the commissions is shared with the credit union.   I became very familiar with the agreements and business arrangements.  This book contains best practices and the legal authority governing these arrangements.   Providing investment and insurance services conveniently for a fair price is a great member benefit and the fee income earned can be significant if a credit union understands the success factors and implements them.  The book shares those success factors.

Now on to the Great American Novel.

Guy A. Messick is a partner in Messick Lauer & Smith in Media, PA, www.cusolaw.com .   Guy is General Counsel to the National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations (“NACUSO”)  and recognized as a CUSO Pioneer in America’s Credit Union Museum in Manchester, New Hampshire.