CU2.0 Podcast Episode 32 Mike Edwards WOCCU on International Trends

Quick now, what country has the highest participation in credit unions? Say the US and you are wong. According to Mike Edwards, senior vice president for advocacy at the World Council of Credit Unions, it's Ireland, north and south, where 70% belong.

In this podcast he tells why that participation is so high.

He also tells why many regulatory matters in the US in fact originate overseas - risk based capital, Bank Secrecy Act requirements, AML, and more got their start overseas and that is why Edwards spends much of his time monitoring and attempting to influence regulations overseas.

What happens in Basel does not stay in Basel.  It may and probably will wind up in the US.

Listen in. You'll learn a lot in this podcast.





Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available.

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

CU2.0 Podcast Episode 31 Mike Reuter Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions

From the Ukraine to Ireland and Dominica, this podcast travels the globe with Mike Reuter, executive director of the Worldwide Foundation for Credit Unions, as he shares stories of the challenges faced by credit unions and also the generous willingness of other credit unions executives to help. Exhibit one may be the rebuilding of the Dominica credit union sector after that island's economy was flattened in a 2017 hurricane.  Credit union execs want to help and they do. It's an inspiring podcast that shines a light on what's special about credit unions. 

Stay tuned. In a week or two a second podcast will post with another WOCCU executive as we travel around the world to see the challenges internationally and how the US fits in.

Listen here







Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available.

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

CU2.0 Podcast Episode 30 Brett King on the Future Of Banking and Credit Unions

You don't want to listen to this podcast.

But you need to.

What banking futurist Brett King paints is a dystopian picture of financial services tomorrow where, increasingly, consumers want frictionless money transactions, they don't give a hoot about banks vs. non banks, and they have no interest in a relationship with a one stop financial services provider.

Credit unions still think they are special. Think again, warns King.

What matters today is digital. Period. Sure, King, as the founder of digital bank Moven, has a bias.

But he very probably is right.

Financial institutions are getting left behind as the biggest banks get bigger - lots bigger - and fintechs gobble up profitable slices of the financial services pie.

Along the way in this provocative conversation, King talks about the new Apple credit card, why Apple Pay has stalled, and the inevitability of real time banking.

It's a look into tomorrow.

And, yes, it may sound like a horror film.

But at least when you know what's ahead you can start preparing for it.

Listen here.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available.

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto.

CU2.0 Podcast Episode 29 Teresa Freeborn on Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union

$100 million. That's the projected three year budget for the CUNA "Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union" campaign.

Teresa Freeborn, CEO of Xceed Financial Credit Union, chairs the CUNA effort which she - make no mistake - sees as crucial in the longterm survival and prosperity of credit unions.

The campaigns blends research with marketing - much of it online - to reach out to a generation of consumers that simply may not even consider credit unions as a financial services option.

Ouch. It hurts to be ignored. But that is a credit union reality and that also is the why of the CUNA campaign.

A central mission of the campaign: raising consumer awareness of the benefits of credit unions as a different, better category of financial services providers. That's ambitious. But it just may be critical in the industry's survival.

In this podcast Freeborn tells the story of the campaign's launch, it's current status, and it's hoped for future. She also blends in her perspective as the longtime CEO of a large credit union.

Listen up - your survival may depend on it.


Podcast here.