How an Inside/Outside Strategy Can Pay Off

Published on April 19, 2017 on CUToday.info

By Mark Fogarty

PEACHTREE CORNERS, Ga.–An inside/outside strategy can become a significant boost for credit union bottom lines this year, according to one person, who noted that in turn back-end efficiencies can free up money that can be used to improve products members will respond to.

Jason Schwabline, senior vice president of product management and strategy at Alogent, believes credit unions can improve their financial performance by increasing member transactions through technology while at the same time increasing efficiency inside the walls of their own shops.

Schwabline says credit unions are now in a “perfect storm” of technology and innovation. “Credit unions will spend; they will innovate,” he said. “Some use third parties, and some innovate themselves.”

Tearing down credit union silos in favor of integrated platforms is a big step the cooperatives can take, he suggested. From there, the money saved can go towards developing key mobile relationships with members.

Many credit unions have been working to educate and encourage their members about mobile solutions they can access from a variety of locations and devices, he said. But that doesn’t mean they won’t ever see members inside branches. Schwabline has observed tech-savvy Millennials who start and fund their accounts remotely, but who then find their way into the bricks-and-mortar.

“Younger members may come in for financial advice,” he said. “They want a real person to tell them how to plan a savings strategy, how to finance a car, how to pay down their mountains of student debt. And the branch officer who counsels them may become not only a trusted advisor, but an influencer of the millennial’s financial decisions for a long time to come.”

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