LEVERAGE Monthly Newsletter

LEVERAGE is inviting Southeast Credit Union Conference & Expo (SCUCE) attendees to come network, enjoy a few cocktails, and listen to a fabulous live band, Upside Avenue, at the LEVERAGE Networking After Dark Party on Wednesday, June 14th from 8:00 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.

This event will be located at the Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek Hotel in the Waldorf Grand Ballroom.

SCUCE is one of the premier credit union conferences in the country. The event averages 1,000 attendees from more than 120 credit unions.

And don’t forget to check out the LEVERAGE Booth #510 during your time at SCUCE! We have a wide array of products and services to show our credit union friends! Come get to know the LEVERAGE Team.

Learn more information about SCUCE and register here.

See you at SCUCE 2023!

Staying ahead of pressing topics trending in the financial services industry is an essential practice for credit unions. Continuing this bi-weekly educational webinar series, we will be listening to leaders from LEVERAGE’s service companies as they host a discussion on issues and potential solutions within their specific service areas.

Plan on spending 30 to 60 minutes with LEVERAGE beginning at 11:00 AM ET every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month in 2023.

Here’s a preview of the content you can expect!

By Steve Heusuk, Director, Competitive & Market Intelligence, CUNA Mutual Group

Without question, the multi-year plan still has its place – even amid today’s unprecedented pace of change. After all, long-term planning is how leaders put meat on the bones of their vision.

At the same time, visionaries must also be nimble, pivoting to take advantage of emerging technologies and market opportunities. Executing the following near-term strategies can set the table for adaptability without letting shiny objects pull teams too far off course.

1. Reexamine your competitive advantage

Many credit unions believe member service is the core of their value proposition. In fact, when CUNA Mutual Group surveyed credit union leaders in Q2 2021, 41 percent of respondents said member service was a top-three source of their organization’s competitive advantage.

How many of those credit unions’ members would say the same? If you believe the data, fewer of today’s members feel their credit union is providing great service. It’s no secret credit unions have been trailing banks in customer satisfaction for several consecutive years. Yet, many credit union leaders continue to contend that member service is their greatest strength.

Credit unions that believe their advantage is member service yet find evidence to the contrary may want to reexamine their perceived advantages. That investigation starts at the very top, by checking on the relevancy of the credit union’s purpose, mission, and vision. Are they still aligned with what members need?

From there, strategists can identify the areas in which the credit union must win to reach its North Star.

2. Ferret out points of friction

Even though credit unions are building out digital capabilities, many digital experiences are still filled with friction. Members are finding it harder to understand information about their accounts (down 7 points from 2018 to 2022) and harder to make changes to their accounts (down 6 points from 2018 to 2022)¹. Strategists would do well to turn their immediate attention to those areas, looking specifically into how easily a member can move across channels.

Keep in mind that digital banking is not only for younger members. Anecdotally, I have a friend in his early 60s who could barely operate a smartphone prior to the pandemic, nor did he want to. Today, he’s much more comfortable with the supercomputer in his pocket.

Consumers of all ages increasingly expect to easily complete routine tasks, such as checking balances and moving money, through digital channels with little or no friction. They also expect seamless engagement across channels. Take my friend, for instance, who still very much appreciates face-to-face interaction. If he runs into issues with an online loan application, for instance, it should be easy for him to visit a branch and pick up in person where he left off online.

Setting the more complex transactions aside for the moment, credit unions that focus on meeting expectations for routine banking tasks will be best positioned to win the loyalty of today’s members.

3. Partner to acquire key digital capabilities

Credit unions must present solutions to members’ problems, challenges, and needs. Fostering and maintaining a trusted relationship is key to achieving success. Enabling digital solutions that reduce disintermediation by placing credit unions at the beginning, middle, and end of the member buying experience is at the core of this approach.

The solutions that credit unions employ must enable an end-to-end experience that includes shopping, contracting, and funding. As institutions align to deliver these capabilities, they will likely partner with technology providers to enable digital tools that support these functions. These partnerships can allow credit unions to operate with competitive force and ensure the fast delivery of experiences that support today’s diverse member base, in their greatest moments of need.

Improving member experience

Consumers are selecting their primary financial institution much differently than they have in the past. Member experience is everything. By improving member experience, credit unions can keep pace with fast-changing expectations and help increase member satisfaction. The near-term strategies described above are well-equipped to help credit unions do just that.

For more information about CUNA Mutual Group, visit https://www.cunamutual.com/.

¹ American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) data, 2022, https://www.theacsi.org/industries/finance-and-insurance/credit-unions/

Learners like game-based learning because it’s fun and doesn’t disrupt their whole workday. Organizations like it because it’s a training method that drives real results and improves learning outcomes — especially for remote workers.

With other training methods, repeating material over and over again is a bore. But, employees gladly repeat and replay lessons — earning higher scores and learning in the process — when training is an interactive game.

How to Create and Deploy Game-Based Learning Quickly

So if game-based learning is the perfect training solution for remote employees, why don’t more companies use it?

Well, traditionally, creating game-based learning content has been challenging. It required a lot of technical knowledge, custom coding, and exhaustive testing. Which means:

1. It’s typically expensive to produce
2. Not easy to update
3. Takes a long time to roll-out

For those reasons, many organizations have stayed away from a game-based learning approach. While those concerns are totally legit, times have changed.

LemonadeLXP is not an average game-based learning platform. Our rapid authoring tools let you create addictive game-based learning in minutes.

And when we say rapid authoring, we mean it. Check out the nice things people say about us.👇

“The ease of high-quality content creation and rapid deployment - it’s genuinely a cinch with LemonadeLXP.” Chris G. Head of Digital Adoption & Engagement

“It's very easy to use. My training team has been building content in LemonadeLXP for a while now, and it's one of the most user-friendly platforms we have for content creation.” - Kendall D. Training Supervisor

For more information about LemonadeLXP, contact Growth by Design at contact@growthbydesign.org.

The National Automobile Dealers Association is forecasting new and used car sales to remain on the strong course they have followed in recent years. Credit unions have a unique opportunity to corner this market through the LEVERAGE partner, Credit Union Loan Source (CULS).

CULS’ deep experience and expertise in the auto lending industry offer investing credit unions the chance to increase revenue by taking advantage of indirect auto loan participations originated through a network of nearly 1,700 franchise dealers across 27 states.

Loans are underwritten to uniform credit guidelines for prime loans (640 FICO and above) and are designed to maximize net yields while maintaining acceptable levels of credit risk and loss performance.

CULS expertise, state-of-the-art systems, and nimble culture offer an attractive option for investing credit unions to grow their loan portfolio with assets that target net yields of 425+ bps inclusive of losses.

Funded loans are pooled together and sold monthly to investing credit unions and due diligence is easily performed by accessing the CULS loan origination system where all the originating documentation including the loan agreements and credit reports are available for review.

Watch Our Video to Learn More:

For more information, visit https://myleverage.com/solutions/culs.php or contact a LEVERAGE Business Development Consultant at consult@myleverage.com.