Q&A with CSCU President Bob Hackney

Credit Union Magazine interviewed Bob Hackney, President of CSCU, during CSCU’s recent 2013 Solutions Conference.

CU Mag: When you look at your conference agenda, what stands out?

Hackney: The goal of this conference is to give attendees significant take-home value.

We have a very informative EMV chip-card panel discussion on the agenda, followed by a question-and-answer period. With representatives from FIS—our processing partner—which is already doing EMV in other parts of the world; Visa; and CPI, which actually makes the cards, and Stephen Fedor, from CIBC bank in Canada.

Stephen and I both serve on the Visa Risk and Operations Council. His insights will provide that real take-home value because the Canadians have been through this and Stephen has already lived through what credit unions will be doing.

We’re two-and-a-half years away from EMV implementation. If you don’t currently have a leader for your EMV project, you need to assign one and gather a project team to take responsibility. The team needs to start by determining the credit union’s objectives.

CU Mag: What insight do you hope conference attendees will take home with them?

Hackney: For the past couple of years, most credit unions had a hunker-down mentality due to the recession and they weren’t focused on growing, but on maintaining the status quo.

I sensed a totally different attitude at CUNA’s Governmental Affairs Conference in February. There’s plenty to be positive about and now’s the time to grow. There’s great opportunity for credit unions to grow their business, especially in the area of credit card penetration.