The Members Group Brandon Bolger and Brandon Kuehl (Team Brandon, if you will) recently penned a white paper entitled: "U.S. Participates in the Global Fight Against Card Fraud." One would hope we would be leading that charge, but that's another story for another time.

To dive in deeper on this topic, we invited half of Team Brandon, Brandon Kuehl, to give us the latest on this fight that we seem to be barely ahead of. We discussed such topics as EMV deadline -- and its ramifications on the exploding digital payment arena, tokenization supplementing EMV, tokenization going beyond Apple Pay, EMV obsolete (before it even gets started in the U.S.), fraudsters foiling tokenization, and much, much more.

It's an information-packed interview with Brandon on a white-hot topic in which 100% of credit unions should be interested. Don't miss it -- and let us know your thoughts on this topic, as it seems to evolve daily.

"Cause Marketing" is all around us with campaigns like Product Red, Hanes for Good, Boston Strong Tee, and many others including our own Credit Unions for Kids cause. These campaigns raise awareness for altruistic movements via larger organizations or corporations.

Well, this type of thinking or marketing is quite synchronous with credit unions, as well. And we invited the folks from CafeGive on the show to dig a little deeper into how this marketing works and how it jibes so well with the credit union movement -- ultimately benefiting both. CafeGive's CEO Sandra Morris and Director of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships Alan Robinson visited us to discuss this very topic.

We also talked about how they bring fresh ideas from outside the credit union industry and how those ideas can resonate well with CUs. Lastly, they provided plenty of practical advice and takeaways for credit unions that want to venture down the benevolent road of cause marketing. Check it out and let us know what you're doing with your cause marketing efforts.

According to PolicyWorks' VP of Regulatory Compliance Cindy Williams, we are in the "in between" time when it comes to regulations -- many having been implemented late last year and more coming down the tracks later in 2015. Cindy says now is a good time for credit unions to get caught up and get their ducks in a row to prep for the next regulation wave to ensure their compliancy. But to many CUs, this breather will be short lived because of the lack of resources and time to keep pace with the regulations is sometimes too much.

We address this issue, along with Cindy's advice for credit unions feeling the regulation crunch and is this the new normal for the industry's constant barrage of rules that seem to suppress many smaller FI's member services potential and ability to attract new business. Well, we find out in this episode with Cindy, as well as much, much more.

Visit:
policyworksllc.com

If you're a budding entrepreneur looking for financial assistance to get your venture off the ground, you may want to check out UT Federal Credit Union's unique "Shark Tank-like" lending project aimed at start ups. This entrepreneurial-focused project, called Line 12 Microfund, was started by UT FCU's Senior VP/Chief Lending Officer and CU Times' 2015 Trailblazer Award winner (for this very project) Jonathan Patrick -- who is quite the entrepreneur himself.

According to Jonathan, Line12 is the business microfund from UT FCU, and supported by a select group of experts where entrepreneurs, start ups, and established businesses, can benefit from a wide range of services, designed to help a members business endeavor reach its potential. Line12 provides these folks with expert analysis, strategic planning, and, of course, capital to get it all going. A very unique program for UT FCU members -- in fact, it's the only one of its kind nationwide.

Jonathan provides us with why he started it, how it works, who it's geared for, its goals, and more -- along with a few examples of the benefits its brings to both members and the credit union. Pretty innovative stuff that only a credit union could back and see it through to success. And Jonathan has quite an interesting backstory to drive this project and pull it off, as well.

So enjoy and go check out Line12 and its success at UT FCU. Perhaps it will be coming to a CU near you.

BTW: You have to read Jonathan's "Mark Cuban Thinks I'm a Moron" story. Classic.

Yes, credit unions have been growing at a health rate the past couple years and lending has followed suit. All good news for the industry, for sure. But if you peel the proverbial onion back a few layers, what do we really see in regards to the health of credit unions?

To find out, we invited Glatt Consulting's Tom Glatt on the program to share his latest Credit Union HealthScore report for Q4 2014. Dovetailing on the good news, Tom tells us some unprecedented news from his more recent report, along with a few concerns of which we should be aware to keep credit unions on the path to enhanced success.

We will also have Tom visiting us each quarter to provide the industry's latest grade, so be on the lookout for him every three months or so. Enjoy!

Click here to see the entire interview.

glattconsulting.com
Credit Union HealthScore