Data use cases for credit unions – Part 1

Data analytics was once the sole domain of giant tech companies – Amazon’s suggestions “If you bought that you might like this” or Facebook’s algorithms of which of your friend’s posts you most want to see on your timeline. With the proliferation of data across multiple systems, the increase in computing power at a decreasing price, and tools to extract and harness data, the science of data analytics is being increasingly used by credit unions to make better decisions. And it’s not just bigger credit unions that are introducing business intelligence through data analytics to their staff. Credit unions with under $500 million in assets realize that data analytics drive ROI, better member experiences, and increases in product penetration across their member base.

Data Just For Data’s Sake – NOT!

It’s important to keep in mind that no company, regardless of industry, invests in data analytics just for the technology. The cost of the tools, the hardware (or more common, the cost of cloud storage), investment in staff, such as business analysts and possibly a data scientist, and consulting services to help get started, can represent not just a significant up-front investment, but an on-going cost that must be justified. The justification sometimes comes in the form of use cases. The following paragraphs are use cases from credit unions showing the return on their investments.

 

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