The CUSO Question: Are you willing to invest to innovate?

There’s something about the annual NACUSO conference that makes it interesting and energizing. It’s a reminder of the power of CUSOs in providing scale for innovation. That’s what makes them ideal incubators to produce the products that credit unions need to thrive.

The most recent NACUSO conference — in late April in Anaheim, CA — provided some great examples of the CUSO philosophy in action, in all its diversity and imagination.

The offerings of the year’s award winners ranged from turnkey mortgage services to leading-edge analytics solutions, all collaborative responses to marketplace challenges and opportunities.

CUSOs were created to provide answers. So, I have two questions:

  • Is your credit union willing to make a long-term investment in a CUSO that might not yield immediate return?
  • Do you have the appetite to fail before succeeding when it comes to new technologies?

 

 

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