Top 6 credit union technologies that I am thankful for as a member
As a late Gen Xer/Early Millennial – I grew up with technology. I remember distinctly in the 5th grade when the mouse was introduced and our computer lab moved to Macs from Tandys. I started working in credit union technology on an old EDS World system at 18 as a teller and spent the next 10 years of my career implementing an explosion of technology in credit unions. As I thought about things I was thankful for – I thought about all of the innovations, software, systems and processes I have implemented and experienced as a member. Here is my list of technology that I truly appreciate as a credit union member.
Remote Deposit Capture in Mobile Banking
This is my all-time favorite. It is sad that this gets me excited but I really love being able to deposit a check without ever leaving my kitchen. Just take a quick picture of the front and back, enter the amount and you are done. I have a corporate account I administer for a networking group and I don’t have RDC with that bank. It is brutal. It takes me 4 to 6 weeks to coordinate my schedule and make it to a branch.
Automatic Loan Decisioning
I am extremely impatient. Not a little. A LOT. Automatic loan decisioning for everything pretty much but a mortgage is what I expect. Take any longer and I go research and find something else that is faster and more efficient. Sorry, I won’t wait for a day for a slightly better rate. Thankfully, my credit union has this and is very efficient with loan processing.
E*Signatures
My credit union supports e*signatures for everything. This is great – the documents get sent to me and I can complete everything from my phone. A while back I was cleaning up my files and stumbled across my first car loan from Agriculture FCU. It was the well worn carbon copy and physical signature. I really -really appreciate – A) not having to sign a physical copy B) not having to store a physical copy. Thank you Credit Unions who have E*Signatures.
7-11 Kiosks connected to Shared Branching
If you haven’t used one go try it. They are Awesome! Thank you Sarah Bang! Like many credit union members I don’t live near the credit unions I bank with and can rarely make it into a branch. Every time there is a transaction that I can’t do through mobile banking, online banking or a call center, the 7-11 Kiosk works. Everytime. I have used it on the road to deposit large checks and check multiple credit union account balances.
Online Banking & Bill Pay
I can’t imagine a bank or credit union without these. My father used to use a phone coupler modem with his laptop in the 80’s and dialed into a Bank. He downloaded his account data and printed it out on a dot matrix printer. Thank goodness my first credit union account had online banking. From my dorm room I could check my balances and avoid bouncing checks as a freshmen in college. Even though I know how to balance a check book – I haven’t had to since I was a kid.
PFM or Mint
Unfortunately my credit union doesn’t have a great PFM tool. However, I can use Mint. It is fantastic for being able to manage my budget, see all of my credit union & brokerage accounts, and manage my full financial picture. Thank you for PFM software and account aggregation.
Thank you credit unions for working hard on my behalf as a member to implement technology, be efficient and provide great rates. I can’t wait to see the future with digital wallets and for credit unions to use more and more data analytics to improve the member experience and service offerings.
