Be sure to watch the entire interview located below the show notes.

Co-op Solutions Chief Experience Officer Samantha Paxson joined us on the show to preview the organization's upcoming TH!NK Conference in Chicago, May 2-6. Being the first in-person gathering in two years, TH!NK's theme is appropriately "Rethink Everything."

Samantha discussed the meaning behind the theme, as well as in-depth market research they conducted with EY and Filene Research Institute that will be revealed at the event.

In addition, she listed the keynoters and their topics:

• Swan Sit -- global digital marketing consultant, dubbed "Queen of the Clubhouse" by Forbes
• Dave Logan -- New York Times best-selling author and Co-founder of Care4th
• Ken Kocienda -- former designer and engineer for Apple
• Sallie Krawcheck -- CEO and Founder of Ellevest
• Eswar Prasad -- Cornell University Professor and author of "The Future of Money"
• Bill Carr -- former Amazon executive and author of "Working Backwards"
• Fred Reichheld -- creator of the Net Promoter Score

Samantha also outlined TH!NK's Master Classes for attendees that will focus on Data Activation, Payments Strategy, and Converging Technology. And, lastly, she talked about having a bit of fun, as well, as attendees will get to visit the Navy Pier for the closing party and a night at Wrigley Field to network watch the Cubs take on the White Sox.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts -- and don't forget to register. And be sure to watch the entire episode below for all the details.

Be sure to watch the entire episode located below the show notes.

CuneXus SVP Barry Kirby and America’s Credit Union Chief Information Officer Troy Kyle joined us on the show to share the news about the credit union winning the ‘2022 Celent Model Bank Award’ for Transformed Lending Strategy and Member Service. With CuneXus' help, America's Credit Union was able to boost its loan redemption rates by 7x with a new consumer lending platform.

Both Troy and Barry discussed this award win, as well as why the credit union adopted CuneXus lending platform and how it helped achieve some pretty incredible results in a very short amount of time, increasing its loan redemption rates from $500,000 per month to $3.8 million per month in -- get this -- three weeks time.

In addition, the credit union achieved the highest GAP and Warranty adoption in its history.

Another great success story in the lending arena. Check it out and let us know your thoughts.

Be sure to watch the entire episode located below the show notes.

Smaller credit unions need all the help they can get in many areas of operation these days and gaining and retaining top talent is, well, at or near the top of their list in significance.

To discuss this topic in further detail and announce the release of CUNA's Talent Strategy Guide for Small Credit Unions, we invited Family Focus Federal Credit Union President/CEO and CUNA Small Credit Union Committee Chair Amy Broderson on the show.

Amy provided a quick overview of the guide, what tools and tactics are in it, as well as why create a guide like this for small credit unions.

Many, many takeaways in this talk with Amy. Check it out and let us know your thoughts. And be sure to watch the entire episode below for all the details.

Be sure to watch the full episode located below the show notes.

Finalytics.ai’s Co-founder/CEO Craig McLaughlin stopped by the show to share some key finding from his organization's "2022 Credit Union Digital Maturity Index Survey.”

A few key findings Craig shared included:

• Only 14% of credit unions completely agree that they have the appropriate flexible, iterative, and collaborative approach to execute a digital strategy.
• Respondents scored their capability to use modern technology (like APIs, cloud, artificial intelligence (AI)) higher than other abilities, but only 14% completely agree that they have those technologies in place.
• Although internal and external data drive outcomes, only 12% of respondents had this capability, amongst the lowest score of all the areas measured.

One other finding that surprised him revolved around leadership in the digital arena, saying 26% respondents said they had right leaders to carry out digital strategies.

Craig also shared lessons learned from the findings with respondents revealing a gap between digital intentions and execution and need for member-centric strategy.

Fascinating talk with Craig, analyzing these findings. Check it out and let us know your thoughts. And be sure to watch the entire episode below for all the details.

NCUA Chairman Todd Harper joined us on the show to partake in a bit of a lightning round of trends, topics, and issues occurring in credit unions today. 

But before we embarked on the rapid fire of topics, Todd shared his personal thoughts on Ukraine and if he has been in contact with Ukrainian American credit unions regarding  their status -- as well as what we can do domestically to assist in any way.

As far as the lightning round goes (for part 1 of our conversation), Todd covered the latest cybersecurity concerns for credit unions today with Russian cyberattacks being one of the main concerns right now.

We also talked about cryptocurrency and the looming regulations surrounding this digital currency -- and what it all means to credit unions not only right now but in the near future, as well.

We covered a lot in part one, but stay tuned for part two, as we discuss overdraft fees (the elimination of), credit unions buying banks activity, and mergers and acquisitions continuing to impact the industry.

In part three, we'll cover succession planning, consumer financial protection, and appraisal bias in the mortgage lending arena. Unfortunately, it's very real and happening all too often.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts. And stay tuned for parts two and three coming up!