Telhio Credit Union Partners with Hockey & Hounds Donates $8,060 in Support for Animal Adoption4/26/2024 Over the past year, Telhio Credit Union has provided $8,060 in support for a unique animal adoption effort in partnership with Hockey & Hounds and The Fan 97.1 FM. The donation was commemorated recently with the presentation of a check to NHL All-Star and Columbus Blue Jackets Defenseman Zach Werenski and 97.1 FM Sports Radio Announcer Anthony Rothman by Telhio’s Vice President of Marketing, Nick Biratsis. The weekly Wednesday radio segment, Hockey & Hounds, features a collaboration between Rothman of 97.1 FM The Fan Sports Radio, Zach Werenski, and Columbus Blue Jackets President of Hockey Operations, John Davidson to showcase shelter animals in Ohio. The show, sponsored by Telhio Credit Union, has inspired countless central Ohioans to support pet adoptions, community volunteering, and charitable efforts since its inception in 2016. Rothman, also a Volunteer Humane Agent in Franklin County, started this segment with former Blue Jackets Coach John Tortorella eight years ago. The weekly program presents the latest insider information on Columbus' Pro Hockey Team and spends several minutes sharing updates on adoptable rescue animals, including success stories from previous animals featured on air. “This partnership has been a win-win for everyone involved for many years,” said Biratsis. “Undoubtedly, the true winners here are the adopted dogs and their forever families, but this initiative creates ongoing support for the animals currently in shelters awaiting their permanent homes and provides needed resources to the shelters. Telhio is grateful to be a continued part of this effort.” The segment has also inspired an apparel line with the help of local sportswear company Where I’m From. The sale of Hockey & Hounds shirts, sweatshirts, and hats directly supports animals in need across central Ohio. For information about Hockey & Hounds, visit www.971thefan.com/hockeyandhounds.
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Chartway Credit Union is pleased to announce the expansion of its senior leadership team, welcoming Nick Whiting as senior vice president of Utah region—a newly created role to support our members and team members at the 15 Chartway branches in our Utah and Texas markets. Whiting comes to us with more than 18 years of experience in financial services, including his tenure as part of the branch leadership team at Utah Community Credit Union. Nick is also fluent in Spanish and highly invested in fulfilling the needs of the Latin American community, which will effectively advance Chartway’s multicultural strategy and increase access to low-cost financial products and services for historically underserved segments of the population in the communities we serve. Whiting will lead the continued transformation of Chartway’s Utah and Texas branch operations in this role. "Nick’s strong leadership capabilities, combined with a strategic mindset, align perfectly with Chartway’s core values and our planned next phase of growth and innovation," said Melissa Cade, chief retail officer. "He is excited to partner closely with leaders and team members across the organization to ensure Chartway’s brand continues to impact individuals and families so they can thrive. I look forward to having Nick on the ground in Utah and seeing the impact his leadership will make across our enterprise!" "I’m excited about this new role and the challenges it will bring," said Nick Whiting. “Chartway’s values align with my own, so I can’t wait to dig in to help Chartway grow and expand its reach—not only in the Western region but also throughout all communities we serve. I know that the skills and resources I bring to the table will be helpful to achieving our purpose of helping individuals and families thrive.” Whiting’s experience includes significant roles at Zion’s Bank, where he led all aspects of regional branch operations, including cross-functional coordination and support with their business services team. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Utah Valley University. Learn more about Chartway Credit Union at www.Chartway.com. "GDP fell shy of expectations in the first quarter, registering the slowest pace of growth in nearly two years. However, key components like consumption and business fixed investment remained strong, while volatile elements such as inventory growth and net exports accounted for the undershoot. This suggests that the economy remains on stable footing, and that the Federal Reserve can afford to wait for inflation to slow before cutting interest rates. Credit unions are a net positive for the economy, generating over $200 billion in economic activity annually." -- America's Credit Unions Deputy Chief Economist Curt Long DeepTarget Inc., a transformational financial services company that provides Growth-as-a-Service™ aka GRaaS™ to community financial institutions (FIs), announces the release of its latest whitepaper, “From Insights to Impact: Supercharging Deposits (Hint: With Cross-Selling Gold).” Download whitepaper here In today’s environment of rapid technological advancements and evolving customer expectations, banks and credit unions face the challenge of attracting deposits while also maximizing cross-selling opportunities. In addition, account holders demand seamless digital experiences and competition from fintech disruptors continues to intensify. These shifts in expectations and challenges make core transformation or modernizing legacy systems no longer a choice but a strategic imperative. However, merely upgrading infrastructure isn’t enough. Financial institutions must harness data intelligently to engage account holders effectively and cross-sell relevant products. This whitepaper explores how data-driven core transformation can empower financial institutions to achieve these objectives seamlessly. By leveraging advanced analytics, personalized engagement and seamless integration, they can enhance deposit services, deepen customer relationships and drive revenue growth. Topics covered in the whitepaper include:
“Banks and credit unions face a challenging financial environment where increasing deposits has become critical. To thrive, they must also unlock the full potential of cross-selling and maximize every customer interaction,” said Preetha Pulusani, CEO of DeepTarget. “By harnessing the power of advanced data analytics and personalized experiences, financial institutions can supercharge their deposit growth, deepen customer relationships, and drive revenue and growth. The right technology can be the game-changer that sets them apart from the competition and propels them forward in a rapidly evolving market." The Iowa Credit Union Foundation (ICUF), the philanthropic arm of the Iowa Credit Union League (ICUL), doubled its Warren A. Morrow Memorial scholarship pledge to recipients this year due to a record-breaking number of applicants. With the support of Iowa credit unions, ICUF awarded eight more high school scholarships and four more post-high school scholarships than in previous years, totaling a first-ever award amount of $46,000 to 24 students. “With the help of our Iowa credit union partners, Affiliates Management Company (AMC) and its family of companies, ICUF could proudly double its scholarship pledge to recipients this year,” said Marian Holmes, Board Chair of ICUF. “It is our passion to continue serving our community of credit union partners and helping champion financial well-being for all.” Warren A. Morrow dedicated his life and career to helping the undeserved and empowering the Hispanic community. To honor Warren's legacy, the Iowa Credit Union Foundation provides scholarships to Iowa credit union members through the Warren A. Morrow Memorial Scholarship program. Last year, $23,000 was awarded to 12 high school and post-high school students pursuing further education. “The Iowa Credit Union Foundation is grateful for the additional support from our amazing Iowa credit union partners,” said Ena Babic Barnes, Executive Director, ICUF. “By doubling our commitment to Iowa credit union members, we can continue strengthening the financial lives of Iowans and celebrate those who passionately lead by the credit union philosophy of ‘people helping people’.” The 16 high school senior recipients are:
The 8 post-high school recipients are:
As cooperative community organizations, one of the principles at the heart of the credit union movement is concern for community. What does community mean to you? How have you served your community, and how do you see your credit union working in your community? Consider sharing personal examples and experiences. Founded in 1995 as the philanthropic arm of the Iowa Credit Union League (ICUL), ICUF’s mission is guided by the credit union philosophy of ‘people helping people’. Guided by this philosophy ICUF works to champion financial well-being for all. For more information, visit www.IowaCreditUnionFoundation.org. Titan CEO and headline sponsor Wipfli LLP are pleased to announce Darius Wise, President/ CEO, Red Rocks Credit Union as a 2024 Colorado Titan 100. The Titan 100 program recognizes Colorado’s Top 100 CEOs & C-level executives. They are the area’s most accomplished business leaders in their industry using criteria that include demonstrating exceptional leadership, vision, and passion. Collectively the 2024 Colorado Titan 100 and their companies employ over 74,000 individuals and generate over $43 billion in annual revenues. This year’s honorees will be published in a limited-edition Titan 100 book and profiled exclusively online. They will be honored at an awards ceremony on May 30th, 2024, and will be given the opportunity to interact and connect multiple times throughout the year with their fellow Titans. “The Titan 100 are changing the way that business is done in Colorado. These preeminent leaders have built a distinguished reputation that is unrivaled and preeminent in their field. We proudly recognize the Titan 100 for their efforts to shape the future of the Colorado business community. Their achievements create a profound impact that makes an extraordinary difference for their employees and clients across the nation.” says Jaime Zawmon, President of Titan CEO. Darius Wise began his career with Red Rocks Credit Union in 2019 as their Chief Impact Officer. Before Wise began his work in the financial industry, he spent more than 17 years in non-profit executive leadership roles. As a visionary leader, Wise has supported Red Rocks CU as the organization has shifted its culture, performance standards, mindset, leadership team, and overall results. His proven track record of leading organizations, developing teams, and driving results is what makes him a Titan. “I am deeply honored to receive the Titan 100 recognition. This award is a testament to the incredible team I have had the privilege of leading. As I reflect on this achievement, I am reminded that the higher you climb in any organization, the less it is about you,” said President and CEO of Red Rocks Credit Union. “Your role transforms into one of service and support to the people you have the honor of leading. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve and inspire others, and I look forward to continuing to empower my team to reach new heights together.” “On behalf of all the partners and associates at Wipfli we congratulate all the Titan100 winners. It’s an honor to recognize this diverse group of leaders in the Colorado business community. We appreciate the lasting impact each leader has made, and continues to make, in building organizations of significance both here in Colorado and abroad. Your ingenuity and creativity have set you apart, and the honor of being seen as an industry Titan is richly deserved,” says Pete Aden, Partner at Wipfli. Cotribute, an award-winning embeddable fintech platform helping credit unions grow deposits, loans and memberships, today announced Tulare County Federal Credit Union (Tulare Federal, Tulare, California) has selected its modular Digital Platform to enhance the credit unions’ deposit onboarding experience, accelerate growth, enhance the overall member experience and reduce operational costs through automation. Leveraging Cotribute’s modular platform, Tulare Federal can select the capabilities it currently needs with the flexibility to add additional modules in the future. The credit union is deploying the Consumer Account Opening module to simplify the entire account opening process, provide easy, instant funding options, automate Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements including sophisticated fraud detection, anti-money laundering (AML), identify verification, OFAC checks and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) requirements. Consumer Account Opening provides a frictionless, streamlined experience that automates complex, manual processes, while providing members with a more engaging experience. Members will now be able to open new deposit accounts in less than five minutes. “Our mission is to build valuable relationships with members to create lifelong financial success,” said Gina Ramos, vice president of lending at Tulare Federal. “With Cotribute, we can extend our current technology infrastructure, meet our members evolving needs, and boost efficiencies across the organization. The sophisticated design of the platform provides an almost immediate return, giving us a competitive edge in an increasingly competitive market. This is a game-changer for our organization.” Cotribute’s modules reduce operational costs through automation and seamless out-of-the-box integrations with the credit union’s existing business applications including its core processor, digital banking application and loan systems. Tulare Federal can now access to Cotribute’s comprehensive library of 50+ best-in-class account opening templates. The customizable templates reduce implementation time by more than 80%, enabling the credit union to quickly go-to market with new financial products. Philip Paul, CEO of Cotribute, said, “Credit unions must balance providing a seamless user experience, while ensuring compliance and preventing fraud. We are proud to partner with Tulare Federal to provide its members with instant, digital account opening and a seamless deposit origination process. Streamlining processes and automating many of the tedious, back-office workflows enables the credit union to spend more time doing what it does best, providing an exceptional member experience.” Alkami Releases Digital Banking Performance Metrics Report in Partnership with Cornerstone Advisors4/24/2024 Alkami Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALKT) (“Alkami”), a leading cloud-based digital banking solutions provider for financial institutions in the U.S., announced today the release of its latest research in partnership with Cornerstone Advisors’ Ron Shevlin, chief research officer. The Digital Banking Performance Metrics report is compiled from self-reported data collected in fiscal year 2023 from a sample of 81 financial institutions, including 39 banks and 42 credit unions with an average asset size of $4.6 billion. With increased industry emphasis on digital offerings and expanded technology capabilities, banks and credit unions must keep pace to stay competitive, but that requires insight into what offerings account holders want most today. This report offers critical intelligence, diving into the qualities that make a high-performing financial institution and providing digital investment and performance metrics to arm bank and credit union leaders. The research found that active digital banking users are increasing their engagement with mobile banking offerings, particularly with payments. Comparatively, online loan applications and checking account openings saw a decrease. Other key findings from this report in comparison to 2023’s report include:
“As community and regional banks and credit unions face increased competition from megabanks as well as fintechs and alternative banking options, it is crucial for them to understand how their digital and mobile banking offerings are performing,” said Allison Cerra, chief marketing officer at Alkami. “Industry benchmarks, such as those included in this report, can help financial institutions make informed decisions about their digital investments and resources.” The report also looks to the future of digital banking, namely as it relates to machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and related technology advancements. It found that 42% of financial institutions have already deployed machine learning, and by the end of 2024, over half will have deployed generative AI. These findings are also reflected in the increased percentage of institutions with a chatbot, which grew from 8% in last year’s study to 23% in this year's study. The implementation of AI products and services is an innovation that will continue to gain traction in the industry. “The future of banking lies with technology and understanding how it can further enhance the account holder experience and transform the organization,” said Shevlin. “Overall, the metrics in this report are intended to give financial institution executives perspective on the industry’s digital banking performance. Banks and credit unions should adopt a digital banking metric framework to ensure measurement aligns with strategy,” Shevlin continued. To learn more about the 2024 Digital Banking Performance Metrics Report, click here. Credit unions nationwide are providing up to $50,000 in $100 grants at Title 1 schools to put the lessons in the 2 nd edition of How to Turn $100 into $1,000,000 into practice. In addition, PSCU/Co-op Solutions stepped up to provide the grant for the books given to students at the schools in these underprivileged areas. Just in time for National Financial Literacy Month, How to Turn $100 into $1,000,000 is a revised, comprehensive first guide to earning, saving and investing money from the creators of the nationally syndicated, Emmy Award and Parents’ Choice Award-winning TV series on PBS, Biz Kid$. Rather than a staid book signing, Biz Kid$ is celebrating the book launch by returning to its roots with credit unions. The credit unions that originally sponsored the show have leaned into financial education again, sponsoring these book-launch celebrations, along with the PSCU/Co-op Solutions grant for the books to be provided to the students at five Title 1 schools. The credit unions that generously provided the $10,000 grants include Michigan First CU, SkyPoint Federal Credit Union, CSE Federal Credit Union, Tapco Credit Union and Pelican State Credit Union. Each will hold events at local Title 1 schools with public officials and media fanfare. "This initiative transcends traditional financial education, offering a hands-on approach that empowers students to shape their financial future," Jeannine Glista, Author and Executive Producer of Biz Kid$, said. “We truly appreciate the long-term partnership we’ve enjoyed with credit unions through our aligned missions.” Jamie Strayer, Founder of CU Strategic Planning and Co-owner of Biz Kid$, stated, “Biz Kid$ was produced with grants from 292 credit unions and system partners. And now, the investment by PSCU/Co-op Solutions and the credit unions supporting this book launch shows that Biz Kid$ is more relevant to credit unions than ever before.” The books will be distributed, and then the 5 th graders will be surprised with the $100 hand-ups, which they will have the opportunity to turn into $1,000,000 by applying the lessons from the book. Title 1 is a federal educational program supporting low-income schools and students across the country. Financial responsibility is a crucial skill that many struggle with throughout adulthood. How to Turn $100 into $1,000,000, available nationally on April 23, introduces children to the concept of finances and lays out the importance of financial freedom. Money is not about greed but stability and creating options for yourself. Written in an engaging yet informative style, How to Turn $100 into $1,000,000 is the perfect book for 5th grade students in historically underprivileged areas. It fosters hands- on learning and money management skills for economic stability. Filled with colorful illustrations, eye-catching infographics and interactive worksheets, this book makes financial literacy easily digestible for kids. Bonus content for parents was also created to match each chapter with video clips, digital tools, and full episodes, to bring the concepts to life for their young reader. More information at BizKids.com. To celebrate World Book Day on April 23, SELCO Community Credit Union announced that it collected 1,100 new and lightly used children’s books — and SELCO employees volunteered en masse to sort and clean many of them — during its recent book drive benefiting SMART Reading, a statewide children’s literacy nonprofit. The book drive and cleaning event, part of the SELCO Steps Up community giving program, was held March 11-29 at 12 SELCO locations in Burns, Central Oregon, and Lane County. Now in its second year, the book drive asked SELCO employees and credit union members to drop off new or slightly used books, all of which will be distributed by SMART Reading to help local children build their home libraries. SELCO employees also sorted and cleaned each used book so they are donated in the very best possible condition. In all, 33 SELCO employees volunteered to refurbish the books. According to SMART Reading, which SELCO has partnered with since 1996, early literacy is a crucial part of children’s formative education, and book drives such as SELCO’s aim to promote that educational link. Research shows that having 25 books in a household produces an average of two additional years of total educational achievement. “Ensuring children have access to books in early childhood is vital to the development of their reading skills,” said Jessica Bowersox, Executive Director of SMART Reading. “Through partnerships like this one with SELCO, we’ve given away tens of thousands of books across the state in the 2023-24 academic year alone.” SELCO’s combined book drive and cleaning event started in Lane County in 2023, and it was enormously popular amongst the credit union’s team members. As part of the new SELCO Steps Up initiative, the program was expanded this year to include branches in Bend, Redmond, and Burns, proving equally popular in those areas. The results in each market include:
“This was an all-hands effort, and we couldn’t be more proud to support the work of SMART Reading to get books in the hands of young readers,” said Olivia Sorensen, Senior Community Development Specialist for SELCO. “SELCO was founded by educators almost a century ago, so our partnership with SMART Reading is a perfect fit. We’ve seen firsthand the incredible value a child gets from owning their own books. Is there anything better than getting lost in a story from a book that is all yours? Not a chance!” Click here to watch a video about the SELCO-SMART Reading book drive. |
Author: Mike LawsonMarried to a most gorgeous and wonderful wife, raising 5 kiddos (including twins!), enjoy helping others tell their stories, and love surfing SoCal waves. Keep it simple. Archives
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