Credit unions: This is our time

We can grow our membership, help consumers by differentiating our integrity

I suggest that credit unions have an edge. We have worked for decades in relative obscurity, which should work in our favor—emerging as shiny new and clean financial institutions that care about our customers and do everything they can do create excellent customers experiences.

How can this help us? Let me explain.

Despite the new regulations to protect consumers that followed the 2008 economic debacle, we continue to hear reports about another big bank or lender being fined, agreeing to a settlement and then returning to business as usual.

That’s worrisome—or should be—for the consumer who is ultimately footing the bill. If you’re like me, you follow the reports of the settlements, shake your head and ask yourself, “Why do the Big Guys continue to draw the business?”

The obvious answer is that consumers aren’t paying attention: “It’s too much work to switch to another financial institution,” they lament. “And how do I know my new PFI isn’t cut from the same cloth?”

One very big reason for this line of reasoning is that as credit unions, we haven’t done enough to differentiate ourselves. It’s apparent with annual first-mortgage market share climbing from 2.61% in 2007 to 8.40% in 2014 that credit unions are making inroads. But are we paying attention to the real reasons?

Even with the increased market share, CUs have not continued to pound on the integrity theme that proved so successful in the publicity built around Bank Transfer Day.

Surveys continue to show that honesty and integrity from their financial institution resonates well for each generation we serve—from Boomers to Millennials.

So, yes, differentiation in a market with similar rates and terms can win battles and bring more members. More important, it can benefit those members over the long haul with any number of financial challenges requiring assistance—honest assistance—and care for their overall financial well-being.

That’s something that the Big Guys have long since put aside to gain more profits.

The time is now. Make it part of your interaction with members, your marketing efforts, your mission statement and value proposition: Integrity and honesty helps solve financial challenges. Credit unions solve problems, not create them. The same can’t be said of many big banks and lenders. It’s a message consumers understand.

Bob Dorsa

Bob Dorsa

Bob Dorsa is the President of the ACUMA (American Credit Union Mortgage Association) a professional trade association (co-founded by Dorsa in 1996). ACUMA is one of the most unique niche ... Web: www.acuma.org Details