We have a real Thanksgiving treat for you this holiday week -- a guest post from Aite Group's Ron Shevlin (via our friends at CU Water Water Cooler) on "The Future of Credit Unions." This post is actually a recording of Ron's presentation at the 2014 CU Water Cooler Symposium, which took place in Austin, TX, a couple months ago.

I saw Ron's presentation live and I tell you it is well worth the review. So sit back this week and give it a watch and let it soak in as 2015 is almost upon us. And, again, many thanks to CU Water Cooler for letting us post this recording of Ron Shevlin's "The Future of Credit Unions." Enjoy!

Ron's original post on CU Water Cooler...
Editor's note: While we were able to capture Ron's audio from his talk, we had a technical issue with the video footage. However, we feel that being able to view the slides and hear Ron is still very useful and informative.

Credit unions have a rich history of helping consumers with their financial needs. The logo with the “little guy” holding an umbrella, shielding him from financial distress and hard times is burnished in the minds of many credit union professionals. But times have changed. We’re a much more affluent society than we were 70 years ago. Nearly nine in 10 Americans have a high school diploma, in contrast to only three in 10 back when the little guy was created. Average household income has skyrocketed—even holding consistent for inflation. The amount of money the average US household spends on everyday goods and things is up 50% from just 20 years ago. 

My presentation, The Future of Credit Unions, is about how consumers’ changing needs create opportunities and challenges for the credit union of the future, who will become the advisor to financially-engaged consumers. In this context, advice is less about asset allocation, but more about advice and guidance on everyday money management.

I hope that people who watch my presentation will be motivated to reinvent their credit union—and, in particular, their credit union’s business model—to address the future financial needs of an emerging group of consumers who are far more engaged in the management of their financial lives than previous generations were.

Ron

Ron Shevlin is a senior analyst at Aite Group, where his research focuses on marketing strategy and consumer behavior in retail banking. Prior to joining Aite Group, Ron was a Vice President of Consulting at Epsilon, and before that, a Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research. Ron is the author of a popular industry blog, Snarketing 2.0, which was named the #1 blog for financial marketers by The Financial Brand. Ron was recently named as one of the top 30 innovators to watch in banking by Bank Innovation.

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Analyst firm Celent has just released a new report entitled, Catch CU: The Ongoing Evolution of the Credit Union Market, which reviews the recent consolidation of the industry through many, many, many mergers over the last 10-15 years and the impact these mergers have had on the smaller CU ($50 million and under). In addition, the report also looks at the growing disparity of efficiency between the smaller and larger credit unions and where the market is headed. A very telling report, indeed.

To get the inside scoop on Catch CU, we invited its author Celent's Stephen Greer (who's located in Madrid, Spain, by the way!) for extended chat on these topics. Here are some of the items we focused on...

-- Smaller credit unions ($50 million and under) are a dying breed. But the industry may adjust to the new role that smaller institutions could play in the future. 
-- In the past 15 years, added complexity has challenged the simplicity of the traditional (credit union) business model. 
-- The competitive disadvantage is unsustainable, as the ability to gather deposits will deepen the disparity between the largest and smallest institutions.
-- Credit unions need to start rethinking some of the long-held conventions of the business to stay relevant but find ways to grow revenue without endangering the mission statement.

There's plenty more in this episode with Celent's Stephen Greer. Enjoy!

Visit:
celent.com

Short on time? Watch the trailer below...

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Part 2: Creating a partnership with Ongoing Operations, Digital Federal Credit Union can help area credit unions with their disaster recover services through a new venture call regional-based disaster recovery services -- another cool, cooperative effort for CUs. Digital's Vice President of Risk Management David DeWitt describes how this new, shared service will benefit participating credit unions in DCU's area.

Visit:
www.ongoingoperations.com
www.dcu.org

Many of you may have noticed that there's a new news site on the block called CUtoday. It's a website loaded with industry news, events, issues, and more -- and it was started by Frank Diekmann, who you may know from his other editor/publisher positions within our movement. Well, Frank, never one to rest on his laurels, has fired up CUtoday to consolidate many of the credit union industry's disparate resources and bring them all under one CUtoday roof.

Along with chatting why he started CUtoday in an already crowded news space, we discuss what's different about his new publishing venture, how he sees it benefiting the industry, as well as his how he sees it evolving. We also touch on his views regarding today's credit union movement -- and much more. Check it out!

Visit:
cutoday.info

Short on time? Watch the trailer below...

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Always a highlight of the year is our chat with with CCUL President/CEO Diana Dykstra -- and this year's discussion was no different. Probably one of the happiest people I know, Diana provided us with a glowing review of CCUL's recent annual meeting held in downtown Los Angeles. The show hosted some timely discussions on today's credit union issues. In addition, this year's attendees received a real treat when Los Angeles Lakers former star point guard and now super LA businessman Magic Johnson delivered the keynote. The cherry on top: Magic seems to have a real affinity for credit unions and what they represent.

Along with Magic, Diana talked about California and Nevada credit union performances in 2014, as well as, what they can do better in 2015. We also touched on some of the top issues credit unions will face in 2015. (Can you say regulations?) But Diana doesn't stop at listing the issues, she hints at some solutions, as well.

So sit back this weekend and enjoy our chat with CCUL's Diana Dysktra and let us know what you think.

Visit:
ccul.org

Short on time? Watch the trailer below...

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