Data, data, data. That's what it's all about these days, as credit unions do their darndest to collect and analyze heaps of information that will ultimately better serve their members -- and, hopefully, better serve them rather than these so-called disruptors out there.

To gain some clarity on this timely topic, we invited Our Community Credit Union CFO Ryan Drake and Thrive Strategic Services Founder Anne Legg on the program. Both Anne and Ryan are hosting an upcoming webinar entitled: "Connecting Data to Create Value and Growth in a Disruptive Climate." (Jan. 26, 10:00-10:45 a.m. PST).

In this talk, we touched on why this topic is so vital to credit unions today, along with how Our Community has handled connecting its data to create value for its members in a disruptive world. Ryan also provided a before-and-after picture of his credit union's experience that will be quite valuable to other CUs out there.

And, last, we discussed plans moving forward, as well as any advice for credit unions looking to exceed in this area. Check it out and let us know your thoughts.

Blizzards, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, and more. We're all affected by these natural disasters in some form or fashion -- and, obviously, credit unions are impacted, as well. When dealing with these catastrophic events, timing is crucial to help businesses get back up and running. And, in credit unions' case, back up and running to help members in need -- quickly.

For this reason, NCUA introduced its Incident Management System that automates many of the old manual tasks that were a bit time consuming. This enhanced automation can transform NCUA's disaster recovery response time from days to hours -- which is hugely beneficial to credit unions looking for much-needed information.

To get a better understanding on how this new system works and benefits credit unions, we invited former United States Marine and NCUA Emergency Management Specialist Ben Cates on the program. Ben explained the genesis of the new and improved system, how it answers credit union pain points with their disaster recovery efforts, and the tool's future plans.

Great conversation with Ben on a very important tool for credit unions today. Check it out and let us know your thoughts.

As cardless everything begins to take over our payments lives, the convenience certainly excels. But so does the fraud. It's the proverbial double-edged sword, teetering on the fence of risk vs. reward.

That said, the coolness of cardless ATMs are popping up nationwide -- much to the glee of consumers. Oh, and fraudsters are feeling quite gleeful about it, too. They love the cardless access just as much as the rest of us.

To get the inside scoop on this rising trend, we invited NuData Security Vice President of Business Development Robert Capps on the program. Robert informs us on the prevalence of cardless ATM fraud, as well as, how "identity proofing" can help, the role of behavorial analytics in mitigating this problem, advice for credit unions looking for answers, and much more.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts.

Yes, it's that time of year again when the GonzoBanker lads announce their 16th Annual GonzoBanker Awards, covering many of the high notes, low notes, and mishaps in the financial services industry during 2016. With tongue firmly implanted in cheek, these aren't your typical marketing, lending, new business, etc. awards. They are quite different with thoughtful prizes such as:

• A “Get Your Act Together” Statistic if There Ever Was One
• Hippest Acquisition of the Year
• Sabre Rattling Award for 2016
• “Whoa Horsey” Technology Trend
• Welcome Back Kotter Award
• Favorite Warm-and-Fuzzy Message from Your Local Store -- which was "No chip reader"

So we rounded up the instigators of this annual effort, Cornerstone Advisors Steve Williams and Terence Roche to discuss a few of the awards that primarily related to credit unions -- and there were some classics, starting out with Tinker Federal Credit Union winning the Handy Handout Award for its logo-emblazoned jumper cables. So cool.

Some of the others we discussed included:

• 2016 Gonzo Marketing Medal -- Elevations Credit Union
• Best Pragmatic Use of SalesForce -- SchoolsFirst Credit Union
• Sabre Rattling Award -- VISA and Walmart
• Whatever Happened To? Award -- MCX
• Trends That Must Expire 12/31/16 -- I'll let Terence and Steve explain this one.

Too much fun for sure. So check it out when you get a chance and let us know if you have a few awards of your own.

First, I must admit this interview didn't go remotely as planned -- and that's a good thing. Our chat with The Florist Federal Credit Union President/CEO Cisco Malpartida Smith, who is also in the running as having the coolest name on CUbroadcast this year, on what it's like to run a smaller credit union in today's fast-paced, financial services environment that's fraught with mergers, acquisitions, and failures.

Of course, we did discuss that topic and plenty more. But we also addressed how Cisco came from not one but two billion-dollar credit unions (BECU and GTE Financial) before taking the lead position at The Florist FCU at $8 million; 920 members; 5 employees; and, yes, located in Roswell, NM. (No need to start cracking the UFO jokes, Cisco has heard them all.)

A super interesting talk on how he's taking a billion-dollar perspective and plugging it into an $8 million shop. Great message here from a perspective we don't get enough of. Check it out and let us know your thoughts -- and keep an eye on The Florist FCU.