The Achieva Credit Union Foundation is proud to announce Teresa Hibbard as the new Foundation Director, effective April 17th. In this leadership role, Hibbard will play a pivotal part in continuing the Foundation’s efforts to support and give back to the local community through meaningful seminars and events. Additionally, Hibbard’s new responsibilities will entail the management of inspiring foundation events, impactful fundraising efforts, and making transformative scholarships a reality. “We are thrilled to have an incredible and skilled leader join our team,” said David Oak, Chief Marketing Officer at Achieva Credit Union. “Mrs. Hibbard’s experience leading nonprofit organizations in all capacities will be instrumental in providing innovative financial initiatives to those who need it most. She is a powerful addition to the Foundation.” Achieva Welcomes Hibbard, who has more than twenty years of professional experience in the nonprofit sector. Prior to joining the Achieva Foundation she served as the Public Relations and Development Director at the Salvation Army of Clearwater and Upper Pinellas County. Achieva Credit Union is a proud partner of the Salvation Army and is excited to continue its longstanding tradition of supporting the Angel Tree program. Hibbard states she loves to create connections and collaborate with others on projects and programs that make a difference. Her goal is to be an asset to Achieva Credit Union and the community by advocating for the common good through financial services. Her specialties include nonprofit leadership, grant writing, project and public speaking, event planning, and human resources. “As a Certified Fund-Raising Executive with more than 20 years of nonprofit and leadership management, I’m excited about this opportunity to provide foundational support to leadership, employees, members, and the community,” says Hibbard. “Through decades of service I recognize how vital it is to develop and maintain relationships in all lines of business, in conjunction with clear communication. A strategy that has proven and will continue to prove invaluable with donors, board members, and volunteers at Achieva Credit Union.”
0 Comments
SRM (Strategic Resource Management), an independent advisory firm serving financial institutions across North America and Europe, announced that through the acquisition of Sievewright & Associates, its MergerMAP service is available to support credit unions considering or pursuing mergers and acquisitions. “The credit union system continues to consolidate as credit unions focus on providing ever-increasing levels of value to their members through the benefits of scale, improved delivery and service capabilities, and greater convenience,” said Mark Sievewright, Founder of Sievewright & Associates and Chief Credit Union Strategist at SRM. “The MergerMAP service enables credit union executives and Boards of Directors to achieve their merger goals, including the evaluation and integration of their fields of membership, staffing, operations and technology infrastructures.” MergerMAP is designed to offer credit unions a strategic and thoughtful merger and acquisition consulting partner to help guide the institution through the often arduous and highly detailed process. MergerMAP engagements are structured to provide start-to-finish support and are customized to the specific needs of the credit union. Various aspects of the financial, human resources, operations, and technology ramifications of an acquisition or merger are evaluated, as are the unique challenges facing the leadership team. MergerMAP clients will also have access to the Sievewright & Associates Strategic Leadership Series, which includes ongoing Perspectives Reports focused on strategic planning and innovation for credit union leaders. “The thought of successfully executing a merger or acquisition can be daunting for credit unions, and the mere idea of where to start or what to evaluate can be overwhelming,” said Ben Mrva, Chief Revenue Officer at SRM. “With MergerMAP, we are offering credit unions a proven approach and true partner to help them understand the benefits, challenges, and resources needed to complete a merger. The guidance offered in the board room will ensure the credit union is executing the best deal for their organization.” Pulsate is pleased to announce its integration with Q2’s Digital Banking Platform, via the Q2 Partner Accelerator Program partnership. The Pulsate platform enables credit unions and community banks to grow wallet share and deepen member relationships in the mobile channels. The integration makes Pulsate’s mobile-first platform available within Q2’s Digital Banking Platform, enabling Q2 customers to drive member engagement, conversions, and revenue through data-driven personalized, relevant, and localized mobile communications. The Q2 Partner Accelerator is a program through the Q2 Innovation Studio that allows in-demand financial services companies who are leveraging the Q2 SDK to pre-integrate their technology into the Q2 Digital Banking Platform. This enables financial institutions to work with these partners, purchase their solutions and rapidly deploy the standardized integrations to their customers. Pulsate uses in-depth data to segment and profile consumers and match them with the right product and service offerings. It intelligently triggers these personalized messages to be delivered to consumers, in the mobile channels, at the right time and in the right place, increasing engagement rates. Leveraging real-time behavioral analytics, Pulsate follows consumers on their decision-making journey, automating the delivery of next-best messages based on real-time actions, which increases conversion rates and revenue. “We are delighted to now be able to offer our solution through Q2’s Digital Banking Platform, enabling financial institutions to optimize revenue and engagement through their mobile marketing channels. The financial service sector has a 79% opt-in rate for mobile marketing, the highest across all industries and 72% of consumers say that the personalization of communications in this channel is a key factor in their choice of financial providers and products” says Sarah Martin, CEO Pulsate. “With Pulsate, financial institutions can now harness the opportunity that mobile marketing presents in a highly personalized and relevant way for their consumers. Existing customers report a 28x improvement in response rates when using Pulsate for mobile marketing compared to generic banner ads, traditional mobile and email marketing tactics.” Motor City Community Credit Union Entrusts Lodestar Technologies As Partner on Analytics Journey4/19/2023 Lodestar Technologies, a leader in financial services analytics, is excited to welcome its newest client to the community. Motor City Community Credit Union (MCCCU) is a $500 million and growing financial institution based out of Windsor and Essex County, Ontario, where they operate their retail and commercial branches in a very competitive landscape. Motor City and Lodestar jointly designed a plan to build a solid analytics foundation using the Lodestar Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence application. The multi-source data warehouse will allow Motor City to integrate data from various sources across the organization into a single source of truth. Motor City has chosen a set of connectors and workflow modules to complement the data warehouse as the credit union begins its data journey. Motor City has also tapped Lodestar to help streamline and automate much of its regulatory reporting, which will result in substantial operational efficiency gains. Lodestar looks forward to building upon the foundation with Motor City throughout the life of the partnership. “Working with the team at Motor City has been a pleasure. They have vision on their short-term tactical plans as well as longer term strategic goals,” says Steve Mott, VP of Sales for Lodestar. “We are excited about the quick wins we can deliver to Motor City and looking forward to watching them build out a robust analytics strategy.” Motor City’s Vice President of Innovation, Matt Hébert, has been a key partner for Lodestar throughout the process. “The vast amount of data we can access with the Lodestar Data Warehouse solution is critical in supporting our strategic initiatives. We know that having our data in a single source of truth is going to empower us to make data-driven decisions as we drive deeper relationships with our members and our community. Motor City is excited that the partnership we are building with Lodestar will ensure that we will deliver member value from our investment.” The Lodestar technology stack, along with the technical and strategic services provided, will be leveraged across all areas of the credit union. Immediate initiatives for Motor City include:
With an average implementation time period of 12-16 weeks, Motor City looks forward to seeing results from the partnership in the near future. And with the additional connectors, workflows, and machine learning available from Lodestar, the partnership will continue to grow. PSCU – the nation’s premier payments CUSO and an integrated financial technology solutions provider – published the April edition of the PSCU Payments Index, the goal of which is to provide information and insights to help financial institutions navigate the evolving financial landscape to make informed, strategic decisions for their organizations and members. Throughout the month of March, slowing economic growth was prevalent in multiple key indicators, including consumer purchasing behavior. March 2023 data revealed softening consumer spending and lower average purchases for both credit and debit cards. The year-over-year growth rate in transactions was greater than the growth rate in purchases for both credit and debit cards, resulting in a drop in both average purchase amounts. In this month’s Deep Dive, we explore the ongoing growth in Digital Payments versus the more traditional Physical Card payments. In the Labor Department’s Apr. 12 update, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.1% in March. Despite the increase, the annual rate of inflation experienced a full percentage point drop from February, to 5.0%. This is the ninth consecutive monthly drop from the peak of 9.1% in June 2022. The largest contributor to inflation was again shelter, which offset the decline in the energy index. For the first time since September 2020, grocery prices fell on a monthly basis during March. The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index (PCE), increased in February to 5.0%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in its March 2023 jobs report that 236,000 jobs were added for the month, with the continued trend of increased jobs in leisure and hospitality, government, professional and business services and health care. After recent revisions, weekly initial jobless claims reached 246,000 in March, an increased level that is signaling reduced demand for workers. The overall unemployment rate for March finished at 3.5% or 5.8 million people. The slowing job growth and increased initial jobless claims provide evidence that the rate hikes by the Federal Reserve are having an effect. The Federal Reserve’s next meeting is scheduled for May 2-3. The Consumer Confidence Index increased slightly in March to 104.2 (1985=100). The 0.3 increase in March comes from an improved outlook from participants under the age of 55 and households earning over $55,000. In a special question posed last month, the Consumer Confidence Survey surveyed consumers about spending plans over the next six months. The survey found that, despite the slight increase in confidence, consumers expect to spend less on discretionary categories like travel and entertainment. “March revealed further signs of softening in consumer purchasing, with spending growth remaining in the low single digits. For the first time since 2020, transaction growth for credit and debit surpassed purchases,” said Jeremiah Lotz, Managing Vice President, Digital and Data at PSCU. “In this month’s Deep Dive, we provide a new perspective on the primary ways credit and debit cards are used by defining Digital Payments compared to Physical Card payments or true ‘card in hand’ uses. As we reach the two-year anniversary of the PSCU Payments Index, we continue to evolve the report’s data view and analysis to provide relevant insights in the changing financial landscape.” A sampling of key takeaways from the April report includes:
The full report is available for download here or can be shared as a PDF upon request. Let us know of any questions or additional needs, or if you’d like to coordinate an interview. World Council of Credit Unions’ President and CEO Elissa McCarter LaBorde encouraged a crowd of Brazilian credit union women and youth to show up and put their best selves forward by connecting with different cultures through the international network available to them. “You are a very important part of this global credit union movement, and we need you to all help us tell our story, to help us argue that credit unions are uniquely positioned to drive inclusion in every small town, big city, or dispersed island around the globe,” said McCarter LaBorde. That message got a very positive reception from the more than 1,000 people attending Super Summit Sicredi, a conference for the women and youth who work for, or are members of Sicredi, World Council’s direct member credit union system in Brazil. Smaller credit union delegations from more than a dozen other countries are also attending the two-day forum. McCarter LaBorde emphasized that young people in the audience could put their best selves forward by meeting the challenges of the future, such as climate disasters and income inequality. “And it’s easy to look at all that as leaders of the future and just throw up your hands and say, ‘what can we do? What can I do?’ My message is that we have this amazing international network of deeply rooted credit unions in over 100 countries. And the fact is, we are doing something. And you have a place, a network, to be able to do something about many of the stifling challenges and inequalities that we face,” said McCarter LaBorde. Speaking from personal experience, McCarter LaBorde got her biggest round of applause during a question-and-answer session, when asked how she, as a married mother of three children, balances life and work with such a demanding job. She advised women to forget about achieving a perfect balance and believe in themselves. “If I have to pick my kid up from school, I’m just going to have to do that and say that I’m doing it, and model that as the makeup of a leader, right? There are different ways to lead. And for me, if we’re going to have women and men be deeply engaged with their families, which we know is critically important, then we need to acknowledge that we need to accommodate the messiness of life,” said McCarter LaBorde. “I think modeling that behavior for others makes it a little easier for women to take big jobs and not always second guess taking that new job—or saying, ‘should I wait until I’m older and my kids are older’? Because those opportunities will pass you by if you don’t take them.” In nearly an hour on stage, McCarter LaBorde also spoke about the importance of credit unions to evolve and get ahead of issues such as digitalization and sustainable finance, noting that Sicredi is a leader in both areas and a model for other national movements. That sentiment was echoed by World Council Board Chair Diana Dykstra. “I know every day, you, your teams and all of your credit unions work hard to change people’s lives, and I want to thank you for all that you do,” said Dykstra. A special example of WYCUP leadership Day one of the Super Summit also featured a panel discussion, led by WOCCU Director of Member Services’ Thomas Belekevich, on how Sicredi has embraced and grown the principles put forth by WYCUP (World Young Credit Union Professionals). Establishing a system of Youth Committees throughout the country, Sicredi not only works to advance social programs through their credit union young professionals, but their young members as well. Vinicius Mattia, a university professor in the Brazilian state of Parana, also serves as a Sicredi Youth Committee member. He feels more youth partnerships between credit union employees and community members are the key to a better society. “We are in this place of cooperation. The best path is to be united with the same purpose. When people start understanding there’s this cooperative business model, which we sometimes call ‘alternative,’ but in my view it is the model that is the most correct. So, I would like young people to have spaces and moments where they can have more cooperative experiences, like with Sicredi. It is more than a place of knowledge and exchange; these spaces have lot of potential for personal growth too,” said Mattia, who was a WYCUP Scholarship recipient in 2020. Belekevich said Mattia’s passion for the financial cooperative model shows the value of community youth engagement for credit unions around the world. “In that sense, Sicredi has inspired us a lot. What you guys do here, with the Youth Committees, is impressive. I have never seen anything like it that has developed something so powerful in its ability to empower youth. We are able to inspire other countries with your example,” said Belekevich. Super Summit Sicredi concludes Tuesday and will feature Global Women’s Leadership Network (GWLN) Director Lena Giakoumopoulos leading a pair of panel discussions on women in credit unions. Premier Members Credit Union Receives Landmark Recognition from Colorado Breastfeeding Coalition4/17/2023 Premier Members Credit Union has received recognition from the Colorado Breastfeeding Coalition as the state’s newest Lactation Friendly Workplace. PMCU is the largest Credit Union in Colorado to participate in the program, and the first to recognize the entirety of their branches. All branches have received certificates with this designation. PMCU worked with Boulder County Public Health and Jefferson County Public Health to assess their operations and come up with an innovative solution to convert a room of any size into an equitable, private space for employees to express breast milk. Together, the teams created what amounts to a “Traveling Lactation Kit” that includes a portable pump, furniture, privacy screens, and other amenities. The kits and upgrades to their existing lactation spaces were paid for entirely by mini grants from Advancing Breastfeeding Colorado. “Knowing that almost two-thirds of new parents stop lactation earlier than they want to because of a lack of support was a significant motivating factor in working with this program,” said Garrett Chappell, Sr Sustainability Specialist for Premier Members CU. “We have a responsibility as an employer to support our new parents and connect them to the resources they need to ensure their own health, as well as the health of their newborns. This is a key tenant of the social side of Sustainability, and core to our success as an organization.” By solidifying this recognition, PMCU has affirmed the legal rights of their employees to have access to these spaces and encourages their fellow Financial Institutions to get creative and find ways to support their new parent workforce using the resources of the Colorado Breastfeeding Coalition and Advancing Breastfeeding Colorado. Allegacy Federal Credit Union celebrated the ribbon cutting and relocation of its Mocksville financial center on April 12. Allegacy’s Mocksville financial center moved from 256 Hospital Road to 822 Valley Road on March 27. The credit union chose the new space to provide current and potential members easier access to Allegacy’s financial resources in a more centralized location. The new financial center includes upgrades and provides a new drive-thru Interactive Teller Machine (ITM) that features video assistance, offers self-service transactions, and live teller assistance on Saturday mornings. Guests and Allegacy staff attended the grand opening event to celebrate with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring local community leaders and guest speakers. Speakers included William Marklin III, mayor of Mocksville and Melinda Szeliga, chair of the Davie Chamber board of directors. “We are excited to offer our members a more accessible location with the opening of our new space for our Mocksville team on Valley Road,” said Allegacy President and CEO, Cathy Pace. “Our members come first and providing better access to our financial centers is vital. Our Mocksville team looks forward to serving our members and potential new members at the new location.” Local members and business owners attended, toured the new facility, and enjoyed a reception following the ribbon cutting. DESERT FINANCIAL CREDIT UNION NAMED OFFICIAL RETAIL BANKING PARTNER OF ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY4/14/2023 Desert Financial Credit Union will expand its current partnership with Arizona State University (ASU) to become the university’s official retail banking partner on April 12, 2023. With the retail banking partnership in place, Desert Financial will be the exclusive provider of ASU-branded debit and credit cards and will run all on-campus bank branches and ATMs at ASU’s Downtown Phoenix, Polytechnic, Tempe and West campuses. Desert Financial is kicking off the expanded partnership with a $25,000 donation that will be used for equipment to aid in recovery and injury prevention across all Arizona State University Women’s Sports. Desert Financial will also provide student and community engagement activities on the ASU campuses, including volunteer opportunities and financial education for students and faculty. “We know strong communities are built by citizens who have received a quality education,” says Desert Financial President and CEO, Jeff Meshey. “Our existing partnership with ASU has improved access to higher education for our employees, and we’re building on that foundation to increase access to high-quality, local financial services and financial education for the ASU community.” Since launching their corporate education program in 2020, nearly 30% of Desert Financial employees have enrolled in fully funded undergraduate degree programs, graduate education or continuing education courses through ASU. “Arizona State University and Desert Financial Credit Union share a strong belief in the power of education and our collaborative ability to support student learning and success,” said ASU President Michael M. Crow. “ASU is excited to grow this valued partnership as a dynamic resource offering great service, convenience and financial literacy to our students and our broader Sun Devil community.” Desert Financial has been closely tied to ASU for the past several years. Arizona’s largest credit union has held naming rights for the university’s basketball arena since 2019. Desert Financial Arena on the ASU Tempe campus is home to men’s and women’s basketball, wrestling, gymnastics and volleyball. The two organizations share common founding stories. Arizona State University began as a school to train teachers in 1885. Desert Financial Credit Union owes its origin to a group of Valley teachers who founded the credit union in 1939 with just $78.75. The exclusive ASU debit cards will be available soon at DesertFinancial.com/ASU. Pioneer Valley Credit Union Partners with Mahalo Banking to Accelerate Digital Transformation4/14/2023 Springfield, Mass.-based Pioneer Valley Credit Union (Pioneer Valley) has signed a partnership agreement with Mahalo Banking, a CUSO that provides online and mobile banking solutions for credit unions. By launching the Mahalo Banking platform, Pioneer Valley plans to advance its digital banking experience and improve its competitive advantage within the industry. Pioneer Valley is the oldest postal credit union in the nation and serves members of select employer groups and associations within Western Massachusetts. Pioneer Valley previously leveraged two different providers for its online and mobile banking, which offered members two separate, disjointed digital experiences. By launching Mahalo’s platform, their members will receive access to a true omni-experience with a seamless interface and improved usability. Pioneer Valley plans to use Mahalo’s digital banking platform to implement several new features that enable its members to enjoy more streamlined processes, greater self-service capabilities and financial wellness opportunities. “Pioneer Valley Credit Union’s digital transformation goals were substantial, and we needed a digital banking platform that could meet the future needs of our members,” said Anabela P. Grenier, President and CEO of Pioneer Valley. “Mahalo’s proven technology as well as its future roadmap were important factors in our ultimate decision. The Mahalo team is in tune with the common challenges faced by credit unions and their members, and they understand the importance of collaboration to ensure all member needs are being met. We know this will be a successful partnership with Mahalo.” The Mahalo Banking platform is built by credit union industry veterans and attuned to address the needs of credit unions and their members. The platform is designed to combat common member frustrations and provide an enhanced digital banking experience for the modern age through deep integrations into credit union cores and streamlined third-party integrations. Credit unions leveraging the platform deliver a unified omni-experience that ensures members have access to cohesive banking services across mobile and online browsers. With robust performance quality, reliability and modernized usability, the Mahalo platform enables credit unions of all asset sizes to strengthen their competitive edge and retain and grow their membership base. Mahalo is a proud partner with cybersecurity experts and its platform offers a highly secure architectural design to protect credit union and member data. “More credit unions are faced with the need to embrace digital transformation to better serve their members and effectively compete against challenger banks,” said Jim Stickley, Chief Executive Officer of Mahalo. “However, making these digital banking platform shifts can be difficult without the help of a provider that intuitively understands the needs, challenges and goals that are unique to the credit union space. We just released a significantly enhanced version of our Mahalo Banking platform that delivers digital banking humanized, which will enable Pioneer Valley to truly elevate its overall member experience. We are excited to offer its members the innovative tools they need to achieve greater financial autonomy.” |
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
May 2024
Categories |