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Lee Wetherington, Director of Strategic Insight for Jack Henry, analyzes research and change for a living. Wetherington left no doubt to a packed audience of credit union leaders at the Maine CU League's Management Roundtable that "there are big changes happening in the financial services industry. Technology is driving many of those changes. People are interacting with their financial institution in different ways but many financial institutions are not taking the time to find out which technology their members need and, more importantly, want."
When it comes to technology, Wetherington said smart phones have not only fundamentally changed how we communicate, they have changed how we interact with our financial institution. "82% of credit union members do half of their banking electronically, and that number is only going up. So, that means the end of branches, right? Wrong, but it is the end of the traditional member-branch relationship. If you are not paying attention to how your members interact with you, then you are not paying attention. It's not about just having technology and delivery channels, it's about having the 'right' technology and the 'right' delivery channels. Credit unions should not be all things to all members through all channels and devices. Do you know your members? Are you taking the time to get to know your members and their habits?" he asked, adding, "branches still definitely have a role in the financial services landscape but how (and how often) your members interact with those branches is changing, and you need to change your branch model from less of a transactional model to more of an expert/advisor model."
Wetherington was quick to point out that satisfaction with credit unions is 13 points higher than with banks. He said that quality of mobile/online products, proximity to branches, even though they are not used often, and expertise/quality of staff are the biggest driver of satisfaction. According to Wetherington, in order to get satisfied members and keep those members, you must engage those members. He describes engagement as repeated, satisfying transactions that strengthen emotional connection a member has with a credit union. "If you get engagement, you get trust and all of the benefits that goes along with it," he explained.
Resources:
Lee Wetherington's Management Roundtable Presentation - Part I
Lee Wethering's Management Roundtable Presentation - Part II