PSCU announces findings of “How Credit Unions Can Become Financial Health Providers” study
Collaboration with Financial Health Network and Members Development Company helps assess financial health of credit union members and employees across the country
ST. PETERSBURG, FL (February 17, 2021) —
In continued support of its corporate philanthropic cause of financial well-being, PSCU,, the nation’s premier payments credit union service organization (CUSO), today announced the findings of a new study, “How Credit Unions Can Become Financial Health Providers,” that assessed the financial health of credit union members and employees against a national benchmark. The study was conducted by the Financial Health Network with support from Members Development Company (MDC) and PSCU.
According to research findings, the financial health needs of members are evident: Over 60% of credit union members surveyed are struggling financially and at least one-third live paycheck-to-paycheck. In line with these findings, more than 60% of credit union employees are struggling financially, too.
While recent years have seen strong economic growth and positive gains in Americans’ general financial well-being, credit union members’ financial health remains stagnant, according to credit union member and employee financial health data.
“The aggregate data shows the credit union industry still has work to do to improve financial health among its members and employees,” said Merry Pateuk, senior vice president, Industry Engagement at PSCU. “Our goal through this research and partnership is to help credit unions and other industry organizations rethink how we operate, the investments in products and services we make and the resources we provide in order to prioritize financial well-being. Measuring the financial health of members and employees is a key step toward improving financial outcomes.”
In addition, the study reveals that credit unions need to move to the forefront of financial health education to compete effectively against other financial institutions and big banks. The study also provides an overview of how credit unions can pivot to become financial health providers.
By leveraging the FinHealthCheck,, a cutting-edge business-to-business platform for credit unions, the project team distributed financial health surveys to members and employees of Allegacy FCU (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and Meritrust Credit Union (Wichita, Kan.) in October and November 2020. In addition, Financial Health Network tapped into available data from past project work with seven additional credit unions and interviewed a diverse set of credit union executives and thought leaders. The Financial Health Network segmented its nationally representative U.S. Financial Health Pulse® data set to compare survey responses from self-identified credit union members to the benchmark population.
Leveraging these project findings, PSCU, the Financial Health Network and MDC plan to identify in-market products to better meet the needs of members and employees to improve financial well-being, as well as provide opportunities to develop new offerings that fill market gaps.
About PSCU
PSCU/Co-op Solutions is the nation’s premier payments credit union service organization (CUSO) and an integrated financial technology solutions provider. With over four decades of industry experience and a commitment to service excellence and innovation, the company serves more than 4,000 financial institutions throughout North America. PSCU/Co-op Solutions leverages its expertise and resources on behalf of credit unions and their members, offering an end-to-end product portfolio that includes payment processing, fraud and risk management, data and analytics, digital banking, instant payments, strategic consulting, collections, ATM and POS networks, shared branching and 24/7/365 member support via its contact centers. For more information, visit pscu.com and coop.org.
