Nuvision Credit Union (Nuvision) has announced that its NuvisionCares Helping Kids in Our Community campaign has delivered clothes, winter boots and school supplies to hundreds of underprivileged youth in California and Alaska.

As part of its long-standing commitment to local communities, the credit union hosted a series of clothing, boot and socks, and school backpack drives through its NuvisionCares Helping Kids in Our Community campaign, which began July 1 st and ended August 18 th . The month-long initiative helped provide clothing essentials and school supplies to less fortunate kids to help them stay in school and build a better future.

In Huntington Beach, California, Nuvision hosted its third annual clothing drive for Robyne’s Nest, a community organization that supports at-risk and homeless students, to donate clothing items for disadvantaged high school students. 

The credit union’s team of volunteers delivered hundreds of new clothing items to Robyne’s Nest. Robyne Wood, Executive Director and Founder of Robyne’s Nest shared a short video about the event and its partnership with Nuvision. “The clothes that Nuvision and their members donated will help so many kids as they prepare to head back to school” said Wood. “Nuvision is a wonderful partner, helping us provide local teens the clothing essentials they need. Thank you Nuvision for your generosity.”

During its NuvisionCares campaign, the credit union also hosted two backpack drives in Southern California and in the Bay Area respectively.

The credit union partnered with Long Beach, California non-profit His Little Feet, for the organization’s annual Back to School Fair in Long Beach. Nuvision donated 100 backpacks and much needed school supplies to His Little Feet to help kids in the local community get a head start to the school year. “We cannot express how grateful we are for Nuvision’s incredible support in making this year’s Back to School Fair the best one yet,” said Jenna Wagner, representative with His Little Feet. “Thanks to your hard work and dedication, we had the most volunteers we've ever had, and it truly made all the difference.”

Nuvision’s backpack drive in the Bay Area for the communities of Martinez and Berkeley, California provided approximately 70 backpacks filled with school supplies to elementary school-aged children. The backpacks were delivered to Las Juntas Elementary School in Martinez, California, and distributed to children participating in the annual Soulful Softball Sunday event August 18 th at Nicholl Park in Richmond, California.

In Alaska, Nuvision partnered with Anchorage Cops for Community for their 10 th Annual Clothesline Project. Nuvision’s Boot Drive supporting the Clothesline Project delivered 1400 pairs of boots, hundreds of pairs of socks, and 500 stocking caps to children in the Anchorage area. The program enables local families to shop for clothes for free and offers resource booths. Nuvision’s CEO, Roger Ballard shared his thoughts about the Anchorage boot drive in a short video.

“Nuvision showed up in a huge way for this year’s Clothesline Project,” noted Sergeant Jon Butler, Anchorage Police Department. “They have taken on the incredible challenge to make sure almost 1400 new fall and winter boots are available for our kids in Anchorage. With the help of their partners, employees, and members they have been the difference, ensuring children have properly sized boots that will keep their feet dry and warm as they head back to school. Nuvision is more than a credit union, they are community helping community toward a better today and tomorrow,” concluded Butler.

“Our NuvisionCares Helping Kids in Our Community campaign is a wonderful example of multiple communities coming together to help families in California and Alaska,” said Roger Ballard CEO, Nuvision. “Our team, community partners, and members who donated to the campaign drives were truly amazing. The generosity of our community is incredible, and we are excited to have helped make a difference in so many young lives, as they prepare to head back to school and build a better future,” noted Ballard.

​CUES is pleased to announce the return of its popular Board Liaison Workshop, happening in conjunction with Directors Conference, December 8-11, in Nashville, TN.

Workshop registrants will experience the best of both worlds—attending Directors Conference general sessions, and learning from programming created exclusively for the board liaison role. Topics include:

• Key Responsibilities
• Board Success through Assessments  
• Board Succession Planning
• Fostering Strong Relationship with the Board
• Managing Boardroom Dynamics
• Governance vs. Management

 
​“We’re excited about the return of Board Liaison Workshop. This year’s event is special, as it allows governance professionals to join their board members at Directors Conference. This is a great way to foster team building—plus, Nashville is a convenient, fun, and budget-friendly destination,” said Dawn Abely, CUES SVP/Chief Sales & Member Relations Officer.

“This also gives board liaisons a place to meet colleagues and nurture relationships—peers they can turn to long after the event is over to exchange thoughts and ideas with,” added Abely.

Learn more at content.cues.org/blw-in-person-session. Learn more about Directors Conference at content.cues.org/DC. 

Learn more about CUES at  cues.org.

GoWest Credit Union Association — a six-state organization serving nearly 300 credit unions and their 17.4 million consumer members — has announced the finalists for its 2024 GoWest Awards.

A record number of nominations were submitted this year by organizations and individuals for consideration in eight award categories – four to spotlight the cooperative spirit of credit unions and four to honor individuals that have made outstanding contributions to development and growth within the industry.

Credit union finalists include:

Employee Experience
This award recognizes a credit union that has intentionally built a culture of internal professional development by fostering a positive work environment, providing tools for growth, and encouraging and supporting career development.
Blue Federal Credit Union
Culture Blueprint, Culture Ambassador Program, and Employee Engagement Passport
Oregon Community Credit Union (OCCU)
32-Hour Work Week Pilot for Member Contact Center
Pioneer Federal Credit Union
The Member Advantage, Expert Experience Day, and “Caught Ya” Awards

Member Program
This award recognizes a credit union that has developed an initiative, business model, program, or service that addresses the local, social, cultural, or economic needs that are specific to the credit union’s membership.
Canopy Credit Union
Financial Coaching Program
Columbia Credit Union
Overdraft Kindness Program
First Tech Federal Credit Union
Youth Villages Foster Youth Savings Program

Community Impact
This award recognizes a credit union that has demonstrated the value of its unique structure through a
comprehensive approach to social responsibility and community impact throughout its institution.
Fitzsimons Credit Union
Financial Inclusion
STCU
Wildfire Response
Verity Credit Union
Microgrant Program Initiative

Cooperation in Action
This award recognizes two or more credit unions, a CU Community or CU Communities, or credit union
professionals from separate credit unions, working together in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration, which
results in a much greater impact.
Arizona Financial Credit Union, Landings Credit Union, OneAZ Credit Union,
TruWest Credit Union
Arizona Credit Union Week
Community Healthcare Federal Credit Union, MoutainCrest Credit Union,
Northwest Plus Credit Union, Snocope Credit Union
Dawson Place Child Advocacy Center
Hughes Federal Credit Union, Pima Federal Credit Union, Pyramid Federal Credit Union,
TOPCU, Tucson Federal Credit Union, Vantage West Credit Union
Mobile Meals of Southern Arizona

In addition to the above categories, GoWest will recognize the following individual award honorees: Young Professional, Distinguished Director, Summit Advocate, and Summit Icon.

Finalists were determined by a Recognition Advisory Group made up of 42 credit union leaders representing 37 credit unions from across GoWest’s six-state region of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Winners will be presented at MAXX, GoWest’s signature event of the year and largest credit union gathering in the West, during the GoWest Awards Dinner and Gala on Oct. 16 at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center. Visit gowestassociation.org/event/maxx-convention-2024 for registration information and a complete agenda.

GoWest President and CEO Troy Stang applauds the impressive stories of innovation, impact, and service demonstrated by this year’s nominees, “It’s exciting and inspiring to hear the impact credit unions are making to uplift the cooperative spirit of the Credit Union Movement – these individuals and organizations raised the standard and met the call to be leaders in their communities in 2023. I look forward to joining hundreds of my credit union peers from across the U.S. at MAXX this fall to celebrate these outstanding trailblazers who are driving members and communities towards a brighter future.”

​Velera – formerly PSCU/Co-op Solutions, the nation’s premier payments credit union service organization (CUSO) and an integrated financial technology solutions provider – is pleased to announce its partnership with Civic Federal Credit Union (Civic) to provide contact center services and support.
 
The first of its kind in North Carolina, Civic is a digital-first credit union that serves local government employees and their families across the state. With 11 branches opening in 2024, the credit union provides products and services that empower members to achieve financial goals, increase financial wellness and in turn, create stronger communities. Civic operates with its commitment to people, planet and prosperity top of mind, which is part of its values-based banking model that considers how North Carolina communities can thrive today and into tomorrow.
 
In seeking a partner for member experience support, Civic prioritized finding a provider to fit the needs of the credit union and its members now and as it grows well into the future. Following an extensive search and vetting process, Civic chose Velera.
 
"We believe a true partnership is a mutual collaboration – it is all about coming together to determine what is best for our membership and employees, and we felt Velera held similar member- and employee-first philosophies," said Civic SVP of Member Experiences Maria Moore. "We believe innovating on new approaches, advocating for our membership and crafting unique solutions will result in a successful partnership, and we are excited about all that we will achieve in our new relationship with Velera.”
 
The CUSO will begin providing services for Civic in the fall of 2024.
 
“We are extremely pleased to be working alongside Civic as it looks to change the ways its members manage and maintain their financial lives,” said Velera EVP, Chief Growth Officer Brian Scott. “Civic’s approach to digital- and people-first financial services is perfectly aligned with our goals at Velera. We are eager to provide the credit union and its members with elevated and enhanced contact center services and offerings.”

Datava, a trailblazer in end-to-end data activation for credit unions, and Corridor, a next-gen decision analytics platform with a proven track record, are excited to announce a strategic partnership. This collaboration, backed by their extensive experience and expertise, is poised to reshape how credit unions and community banks leverage their data and decision-making capabilities to enhance and personalize member experiences, optimize and automate processes, and level the playing field with Tier 1 Banks and FinTechs.

The partnership will combine Datava’s end-to-end data activation platform with Corridor’s state-of-the-art decision workflow management platform, creating an integrated solution that empowers financial institutions to achieve unprecedented growth, proactive customer management, and operational efficiency. “We are excited to partner with Corridor, as this collaboration allows us to deliver even greater value to credit unions seeking to enhance their member experiences and operational strategies,” shared James Cartwright, Head of Sales at Datava. By integrating their technologies, Datava and Corridor will deliver comprehensive, AI-driven data strategy and advanced decision-making tools with robust compliance and governance to help financial institutions thrive in the digital era.

Key Benefits of the Partnership:

1. Unified Data and Decision Management: The integration of Datava’s data activation platform with Corridor’s decision management system will provide a holistic solution that simplifies data management and enhances decision-making processes.
2. Enhanced Member Services: Financial institutions can leverage advanced data-driven strategies, such as personalized product recommendations, targeted marketing campaigns, and real-time decision-making, to offer personalized, timely services to their members, significantly improving member satisfaction and engagement.
3. Operational Efficiency: The partnership will help credit unions and community banks reduce operational complexities, optimize employee performance, increase revenue, and drive better retention by streamlining and automating data and decision management.
4. Regulatory Compliance: Corridor’s expertise in platform-driven risk management and decision management workflows, combined with Datava’s comprehensive data activation platform, will ensure that financial institutions can maintain robust regulatory compliance and governance while driving controlled growth.

“I am very excited about this opportunity for Corridor and Datava to enable credit unions to rapidly transform decisions in a turnkey manner to best-in-class while managing costs and internal efforts optimally. We now have a ‘real’ option for credit unions to insource and own their full decisioning stack from Data -> Decisions -> Outcomes -> Activation while continuously innovating. That's transformational!” said Aditya Khandekar, Corridor’s Chief Revenue Officer.

Learn more about Datava at www.datava.com and Corridor Platforms at www.corridorplatforms.com.

Origence, the leading lending technology solutions provider for credit unions, is hosting a free webinar titled “Economic and credit union update” featuring guest speaker Steven Rick, director and chief economist at TruStage, on August 29, 2024 at 11 a.m. PT.
​
In this session, Rick will explore how the global economy, the overall financial sector, and the labor market will impact the U.S. economy, U.S. interest rates, and ultimately, credit union balance sheets and earnings performance. Attendees will identify key trends in savings, loans, and assets, while exploring future growth patterns through 2025.
Key takeaways include:

• Global and financial trends and their impact on credit unions
• Measurable performance benchmarks
• Trends in savings and loans
• Future growth patterns and predictions

“Signs of the U.S. economy slowing are emerging, with lower consumer spending, higher delinquencies, and an uptick in unemployment to 4.1%. Although June’s inflation eased to 3.0%, it’s still too high for any immediate policy change. The upcoming U.S. election in November adds uncertainty. Our credit unions now face the challenge of anticipating whether this downturn will impact earnings and inflation enough to trigger a September rate reduction, and how to strategically adjust for the potential volatility of the election period,” said Neetu Bhagat, chief financial officer of Origence. “This session will equip credit unions with the insight they need to navigate the complexities of the 2024 economic landscape effectively.”

This webinar promises to be a valuable resource for credit unions seeking to make informed decisions in an ever-evolving economic climate. Origence invites credit union professionals, executives, and stakeholders to register for this free webinar here.

AmeriCU Credit Union, one of New York State’s largest full-service credit unions, has deployed Illuma Shield™ voice verification technology in their Member Contact Center to streamline both live agent and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) interactions. Posh AI, another CUSO partner, has also been integrated, providing their members with secure, 24/7 access to their accounts through telephone banking with conversational AI. This dual approach to digital transformation tackles the tough issues of high call volumes and fraud prevention with simple, effective solutions.

Combining IVR and Voice Verification: A Winning Strategy
Integrating the Illuma Shield™ voice authentication solution with Posh’s Voice Assistant enhances account security, reduces agent workload, and ensures a seamless member experience across both live agent and IVR interactions.

Ronald Belle, President and CEO of AmeriCU Credit Union, shared anticipation about the effects of this tech transformation: “We’re ensuring our members continue to receive the highest level of service and security with this powerful combination of technology solutions. The seamless integration process exceeded our expectations, and seeing the increase in operational efficiency as more members enroll has truly been rewarding. Our members have also shared enthusiasm for these improvements.”

According to Illuma Founder and CEO, Milind Borkar, “For credit unions across the U.S., ongoing high call volume and talent shortages have increased hold times, and fraudsters are relentless in their attempts to compromise account security. By creating a frictionless path for member verification, we can substantially reduce call handle times and significantly improve account security.”
Posh Co-Founder and CEO, Karan Kashyap, highlighted an added advantage: “The Posh Voice Assistant significantly reduces the burden on agents by enabling more members to access truly convenient self-service options. This eliminates the need to navigate complicated phone menus or face resolution delays from being transferred to an agent. With integrated voice verification, we ensure the same high level of security in every interaction.”

By integrating conversational AI and secure voice biometrics, tech-forward credit unions like AmeriCU can offer frictionless, secure access to member accounts around the clock. Members can self-serve with telephone banking, where they can call anytime to manage their account, or with a live agent during business hours to avoid lengthy security questions.

CUSO Investments Are Paying Off for Tech Savvy Credit Unions
Illuma and Posh are the first to co-develop the integration between voice authentication and conversational AI, focusing on the needs and use cases prevalent in credit unions. Unlike other solutions that are costly and difficult to deploy, this focused effort is right-sized for credit unions that need a quick, budget-friendly way to improve member experience, operational efficiency, and account security.
​
With member expectations for a seamless user experience higher than ever, it pays to be on the cutting edge of voice authentication and frictionless member service in the credit union call center. As part of the Curql investor group and supporter of Illuma, Posh, and other CUSOs, AmeriCU is committed to the continued development and availability of critical solutions like Illuma Shield™.

​F) has announced the organizations receiving the first $50,000 in grant funding. The new program was launched in response to the findings of the recent ICUF statewide report “Economic Realities of Communities of Color,” which identified challenges faced by Iowa’s most vulnerable communities.
 
Financial Inclusion Grants direct funding to organizations serving minority populations in policy areas covered by the report: affordable housing, business ownership, childcare, education, employment, and health access and outcomes.
 
After announcing the program last Fall, ICUF collaborated with credit union partners across Iowa to identify qualifying organizations working in their communities. Credit unions were able to nominate mission-aligned nonprofits this Spring, who were then invited to apply for grants ranging from $5,000-$10,000. Eight nonprofit organizations were selected from the proposals received, for a total of $50,000 in first cycle of Financial Inclusion Grant funding. These organizations serve minority communities in a variety of geographic regions in Iowa, representing both urban and rural parts of the state.
 
“The Iowa Credit Union Foundation is excited to announce the first grant recipients in the Financial Inclusion Grant Program,” said Ena Babic Barnes, Executive Director, ICUF. “These selected organizations represent the critical work required to tackle barriers to financial well-being for all Iowans. We take pride in supporting their impactful work and believe that highlighting their contributions will significantly advance economic equity and foster greater financial inclusion across our State.”
 
The recipients of the first round of ICUF Financial Inclusion Grant funding include:

• $10,000 to the Multicultural Development Center of Iowa in Iowa City, addressing Business Ownership
• $10,000 to Athletics for Education and Success in Fort Dodge, addressing Childcare and Education
• $5,000 to 24/7 BLAC in Waterloo, addressing Affordable Housing and Business Ownership
• $5,000 to The Academy for Scholastic and Personal Success in Cedar Rapids, addressing Education and Health Access &Outcomes
• $5,000 to the Four Mounds Foundation in Dubuque, addressing Affordable Housing, Education, and Employment
• $5,000 to One Economy Financial Development Corporation in Des Moines addressing Business Ownership
• $5,000 to Knock & Drop Iowa in Des Moines, addressing Health Access &Outcomes
• $5,000 to Boys & Girls Club of Siouxland in Sioux City, addressing Childcare & Education

 
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 champions financial wellbeing for all. For more information, visit www.IowaCreditUnionFoundation.org.

Credit union and community bank data analytics provider Gemineye is thrilled to announce three new credit union visionary clients in Q2 2024: CapEd Credit Union, Credit Union 1, and Veridian Credit Union.

As more credit unions grow disillusioned by the big promises and big price points of many data analytics providers, Gemineye’s revolutionary Databricks and Microsoft architecture, flexible integrations, and modest price point is an obvious choice.

Gemineye’s mission is to empower community financial institutions to become more data driven, making data analytics accessible to all credit unions. “A credit union’s ability to become data driven is now key to their viability,” said Brewster Knowlton, CEO of Gemineye. “Providing an affordable, yet extremely capable option that credit unions of all sizes can afford is critical to empowering the credit union movement. We are thrilled to welcome these exceptional credit unions to the Gemineye family.”

"CapEd chose Gemineye after evaluating several analytics vendors because it was clear to us that they have a leadership team who is passionate about both the credit union industry and how to empower credit unions by providing insights,” said Toby King, CIO at CapEd CU. “Gemineye’s robust, mature framework is built on Microsoft’s cloud platform. These are people steeped in credit union operations and terminology, as well as experts in deriving meaning from data. Win-win.”

The fact that the Gemineye Data Lakehouse leverages world-class technology from Microsoft and Databricks is a powerful differentiator. It doesn’t take much time before clients see the benefits of using these superior technologies, compared to others.

“We are excited to join the Gemineye family!” said Marvin Anunciacion, Director of Data Analytics at Credit Union 1. “When we went through our vendor selection process, and spoke with other credit union leaders, Gemineye was a clear winner for us in their:

• speed of implementation
• pre-built solutions for our critical software platforms
• native cloud and Databricks architecture
• out-of-the-box data visualization solution
• extremely high praise from existing clients
• very competitive pricing model

Icing on the cake for us was our knowledge of Brewster’s long history and dedication to the credit union movement and his role of helping credit union leaders mature their comprehension and utilization of their data.”

“After reviewing a variety of credit union-centric solutions, it was clear the [Gemineye Data Lakehouse] product was the best fit for Veridian,” said Angi Erikson, Manager of Business Intelligence at Veridian Credit Union. “Specifically, a few things that stood out to us include:

• The modern, cloud-native application
• The integrations that connect systems we already use to their platform
• Power BI being the preferred visualization tool for both Gemineye and Veridian
• The knowledge and expertise of cloud technology and tools

 
We look forward to a collaborative partnership with Gemineye.”

Westerra Credit Union is offering members a lucrative investment opportunity to maximize their savings in a secure and profitable way through opening a 5-month Certificate of Deposit (CD) at an incredible 9.00% APY and 8.648% dividend rate*.

This limited-time offer starts September 3rd and commemorates Westerra’s 90th anniversary. The exceptional features of this limited-time CD offer are listed below and can be found at Westerracu.com/CD.
​

• Unmatched Interest Rate: The extraordinary 9.00% APY is well above the industry’s average 5% APY for a 6-month CD. 
• Deposit Terms: Members can open this CD with a minimum deposit of $500, up to a maximum of $3,000. The term is set at 5 months, making it a short-term, high-reward investment. Thanks to the high APY, when funded at $3,000 this results in a potential of over $100 in returns. 
• Limited-Time Offer: This special CD will be available starting September 3rd for a limited period.
• Eligibility Requirements: This offer is available in-branch only. Funds that are currently deposited with Westerra are not eligible. However, existing Westerra members can open a CD (limit one per member) with new funds. Members can visit Westerracu.com/locations to find the closest branch in the Denver Metro area.