SEATAC, WA (October 16, 2019) — Credit unions stand out in the competitive marketplace through the stories they share and by continuing to provide the suite of tech-based products consumers need.
That was the front-and-center reminder that Troy Stang, Northwest Credit Union Association President and CEO, delivered from the MAXX mainstage during the opening session Tuesday.
“We need to be louder than we’ve ever been and use our collective voices to continue to educate members, consumers, and public policy officials about how important it is for the marketplace to have a not-for-profit choice in financial services,” Stang said.
Stang followed three keynote speakers who demonstrated the power of storytelling to the audience, and he encouraged credit unions to accelerate sharing their stories.
“Credit Unions have something meaningful and important to talk about.” Stang said. “Having something that’s this important and learning to say it in a way that people everywhere listen to and act on – that’s what we are after with the collective work of credit unions everywhere.”
Stang traveled with the audience through the credit union journey, starting with how they were created to balance the nation’s credit structure, and emphasizing how they have never wavered in service to middle- and working-class families.
“While economies and technologies have changed over the years,” Stang noted, “credit unions remain aligned to their original mission to put members and consumers first, while at the same time evolving to provide members with the cutting-edge products and services they have come to expect.”
Stang likened the credit union journey to the agricultural and industrial economic revolutions that started and succeeded for a simple reason: they represented more powerful and efficient ways to help people get the goods and services they needed.
Today, credit unions are in the information revolution, Stang noted, with technology making people’s lives easier. “We are paying attention and keeping pace with the speed of technology,” Stang said. “Evolving our technologies and infrastructures provides members with the ease and speed they have come to expect – and with an unmatched human connectivity.”
Stang said credit unions offer a full product menu that is aligned with the new economy consumer.
In addition to at-your-fingertips financial services, most notably, Stang said: “What sets credit unions apart is that they offer a distinct value that consumers want and need – human connectivity. Credit unions are the modern-day economic fabric and have been the fabric of our communities since day one. Consumers can count on credit unions to always put their needs first.”
Stang closed by reminding credit unions that, “What you do and how you do it matters. You’re helping people, families, and communities to grow.”
Credit unions, he said, are more committed than ever to their original mission and, he said, it’s time to make their message big and loud.
“We own our narrative and it’s time to widely share the human stories,” he said.
The Northwest Credit Union Association is the trade association representing more than 175 not-for- profit, cooperative credit unions in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, and their 8.1 million consumer members. As not-for-profit cooperatives, credit unions look out for their members’ financial well-being. Everyone should open their eyes to a credit union. For more information, please visit: https://yourmoneyfurther.com
Lynn Heider
503.329.7208 | lheider@nwcua.org
Jenny Miller
jmiller@nwcua.org
208.713.9596 (Mobile)
