Learning from the leaders: Insights on credit union growth – Part 2
Growth and flexibility are of utmost importance for credit unions in 2023. Seasoned leaders in the industry often have insights that can be extremely valuable for those organizations who need a little extra help. Cotribute’s initiative, “Healthy Growing Credit Unions in the Digital Era”, aims to collect and distill this information into actionable steps for credit unions. We connect with leaders with years of experience scaling operations, making strategic shifts, and thinking one step ahead.
Darius Wise took an unconventional path to his current role of CEO at Red Rocks Credit Union in Colorado. He grew up in Michigan, studied theology, and spent many years in vocational ministry before moving into the non-profit space. His leadership role at Upstream Impact in Colorado set the foundation for community work and service to those in need – a passion that he would carry over to the credit union world. Darius became familiar with the industry as Chief Impact Officer at Red Rocks, overseeing the team and continuing to expand on the mission of pouring back into the local community.
“Banking the unbanked” is a grassroots effort that Red Rocks Credit Union has focused on from the beginning, taking a special interest in making financial products accessible to those who might not traditionally qualify for them. This focus on investing in the community is one of several different qualities Darius emphasized in our conversation when asked about what successful credit unions prioritize. According to the FDIC’s Biennial Survey, as of 2023, about 6 million Americans are unbanked and another 19 million are underbanked. When credit unions focus on alleviating this problem by offering lower minimum balances and accessible services, they build trust in the community and increase organic awareness of the organization while also making a difference for those in need.
We also asked Darius what changes he’s observed in the industry over the past four years considering the global pandemic. He shared with us that Red Rocks has been forced to be more attentive to the needs of its employees and its members, which has translated into more openness around creative solutions to problems. Caring well for employees and members has required a more robust digital approach than ever before. While there can be hesitation around making drastic changes to how services are provided and how teams communicate, the willingness to grow and change has served Red Rocks well and paved the way for new opportunities that wouldn’t have been available otherwise. Many small and medium credit unions tend to be resource-constrained, so digital capabilities are vital when it comes to increasing ROI and getting the most “bang for the buck” in terms of productivity. Jack Henry’s 2023 Strategic Priorities Benchmark Study offers insight into these “inflection points” mentioned by Darius – in particular, credit unions are focusing more on leveraging data and improving the accountholder experience because of the record-breaking inflation and rapidly rising interest rates of 2022.
Our interview with Darius contains many more valuable insights around strategies for growth. He believes that differentiation can happen in many ways, not just through competitive interest rates – and for institutions who are struggling with growth, strategy and delivery channels are deeply important. He also points out that credit unions can tend to move slowly in terms of digital innovation, and that maintaining relevance is an area that most organizations can grow in, especially in terms of speed. We recommend watching the full interview for even more great information about the balance between organic growth strategies and more targeted customer acquisition.
Cotribute is the award-winning fintech platform that enables membership and margin growth through delightful digital acquisition and onboarding experiences. Cotribute seamlessly integrates with Core, LOS and online banking systems and is on a mission to deliver compelling digital experiences to every credit union member.
