In continuing efforts to make a lasting impact on members and consumers, Credit Union FINHEALTH18 drew more than 80 leaders who were fixated on this year’s mantra of “Share, Collaborate, Impact” as they work to deliver financial health and well-being to more people in their communities.
Credit union professionals and educators from California, Nevada and across the nation met for two days in Las Vegas in mid-April, bringing their individual roles and expertise to the table to engage in thought leadership on the state of financial health in America today.
“Once again, we brought practitioners in financial health together from a variety of sectors to learn from each other and to collaborate,” said Larry Palochik, senior vice president of member solutions for the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues—the host of the conference. “For credit unions, focusing on their members’ financial health over the long term isn’t a new concept. This has always been at the heart and soul of what we do.”
After a successful prior two years, Palochik said he rebranded the conference to create a broader awareness of “financial health” during April, also known as Financial Literacy Month. The term "financial health" is used as a snapshot to describe how families and individuals are realistically handling their entire financial welfare and livelihood: income, debt, assets, liabilities, credit scores, and other household, economic and lifestyle influencers.
A major focal point during this year’s conference is how lifechanging events can scar someone’s financial wherewithal for years. Dr. Roderick King, CEO of the Florida Institute for Health Innovation, helped attendees visualize the link between financial health and physical health and explore why health care has become a life-altering expense. Not only has the cost of health care skyrocketed in recent decades as technology increases and people live longer, there is also a noticeable increase in chronic diseases.
“Even for those with chronic diseases who are insured, 20 percent still have trouble paying their bills,” King said. “Also, as medical costs rise, many of these individuals are delaying receiving the care and attention they need.”
When these individuals finally seek treatment, several are hit with hospitalization and expensive medical bills. They have less hours at work, and other complicating factors are inhibiting them from raising their income back to a normal level. Bankruptcy after hospitalization has risen dramatically. “This is something cutting across the board,” King said. “It’s not limited to the poor or the underserved or the underbanked, or to certain racial groups. It’s hitting all different groups of people.”
Attendees also heard from a panel of credit unions on “The Nitty Gritty of Operationalizing Financial Health”—just one of several presentations and speakers during the two-day event. Each panelist gave personal examples of creating a financial wellness plan, experimenting and testing it, rolling it out to members, studying feedback and results, and then tweaking the ongoing model based on member results or directing those results into new programs. Examples came from BECU’s (Boeing Employees) “Financial Health Check” initiative; University FCU’s application of the Center for Financial Services Innovation’s “Financial Health Roadmap” program; and SEFCU’s (State Employees) roadmap for employees and members to access financial wellness through its Virtual Learning Community.
Another influential segment was a panel on financial education technology where leaders from EverFi, Yodlee, the Richard Myles Johnson Foundation and other organizations shared new insights and best practices on how young adults consume information. Mobile apps are becoming crucial in reaching out to this population, but what’s equally important is studying their habits and usage on the back-end and integrating that knowledge into outreach strategies.
Aside from the conference, this year marked the first-ever EverFi User Meeting where credit unions and the Leagues were able to come together to reflect on their partnership, discuss successes, and target opportunities going forward. The Leagues’ Financial Capability Initiative, powered by EverFi, has been helping credit unions provide the digital financial education their members need to help develop and refine savings and financial capability strategies.
Palochik said Credit Union FINHEALTH18 marked a critical third-year crossroads. The first year’s event, entitled “Financial Capability Colloquium” in 2016, consisted of an invited group of leaders mostly from California who set out to measure and quantify credit unions’ financial education impact. The second year expanded the conference’s scope to a national audience of collaborative and interested stakeholders.
This third year’s rebranded “FINHEALTH” conference has cemented the group’s ongoing effort and provided actionable plans and strategies that attendees can experiment with at their respective credit union or organization.
“A common question surrounding the conference this year was: Is financial health ‘a thing we do’? Or is the ‘the’ thing we do?,” Palochik said. “Ultimately we all realize that financial health and wellness is what credit unions stand for. As we continue on this journey, credit union leaders are learning that investing in financial health cannot be short-sighted. It’s about creating longer-term ROA—for both the members and the credit union.”
The conference included presentations by the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues, the National Credit Union Foundation, Balance, Boeing Employees CU, University FCU, State Employees FCU, Community First CU, the Center for Financial Services Innovation, the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado—Boulder, the Richard Myles Johnson Foundation, and Yodlee Financial Wellness Solution—Yodlee and Envestnet.
California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues Senior Vice President of Member Solutions Larry Palochik (left) and National Credit Union Foundation Executive Director Gigi Hyland (right) speak during Credit Union FINHEALTH18
At FINHEALTH18 (left to right), California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues Senior Vice President of Member Solutions Larry Palochik; Leagues Manager of Meetings, Conventions and Small Credit Union Support Deanne Figueras; and Dr. Roderick King, CEO of the Florida Institute for Health Innovation.