Name the single most important IT system in your credit union.
Spoiler alert: it's not your core. Not anymore.
Who says that? Mike Hatch, a VP and national sales manager at Finastra, and a core expert. Hatch knows the core is crucial but he also believes that it's the institution's digital orientation that will shape its future.
Core is part of that.
But it is not the end all.
Another question: is your core system holding your institution back? Can you easily - and inexpensively - integrate cool fintech technology into your core?
Say no and you are telling the truth.
But it's the wrong answer. You want an open core that lets you deliver the tech your members want.
Credit unions are looking for ways to be different, says Hatch. An open core helps there.
Think cores are boring? You won't think this podcast is boring - and you just may find yourself wondering if now is the time to initiate a core conversion.
Scary? You bet. But going out of business is scarier.
Listen to the Mike Hatch podcast here.
This is one of a half dozen podcasts recorded at Finastra Community Markets in Chicago, October 2019.
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
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 59 Daniel Ford CIO at Jovia CU on Cybersecurity
Can your cybersecurity keep hackers at bay?
Can cybersecurity be used as a marketing tool by a credit union?
Can a banker in fact become a credit union executive?
For answers, listen to this podcast with Daniel Ford, CIO at Jovia, a $3+ billion credit union on Long Island that you probably know as NEFCU. The rebranding occurred a month ago.
Ford joined NEFCU via First Source Bank in South Bend (IN), where he was the chief information officer, responsible for infrastructure, cybersecurity, and application development. We asked him bluntly: can a banker in fact fit into a credit union's philosophy? You can guess his answer but give it a full listen. He makes points to remember.
Podcasts in this series that explore bankers and credit unions include Jim Blaine, Bucky Sebastian, Gary Oakland, and Marc Schaefer.
Ford also talks, at length, about what a CIO needs to do to stay on top of cybersecurity and also how to work with vendors.
As for using cybersecurity as a marketing tool, don't be too quick to say no way. Ford offers a tactic that just might work. Of course you want to hear that.
Listen to the Ford podcast 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
Can cybersecurity be used as a marketing tool by a credit union?
Can a banker in fact become a credit union executive?
For answers, listen to this podcast with Daniel Ford, CIO at Jovia, a $3+ billion credit union on Long Island that you probably know as NEFCU. The rebranding occurred a month ago.
Ford joined NEFCU via First Source Bank in South Bend (IN), where he was the chief information officer, responsible for infrastructure, cybersecurity, and application development. We asked him bluntly: can a banker in fact fit into a credit union's philosophy? You can guess his answer but give it a full listen. He makes points to remember.
Podcasts in this series that explore bankers and credit unions include Jim Blaine, Bucky Sebastian, Gary Oakland, and Marc Schaefer.
Ford also talks, at length, about what a CIO needs to do to stay on top of cybersecurity and also how to work with vendors.
As for using cybersecurity as a marketing tool, don't be too quick to say no way. Ford offers a tactic that just might work. Of course you want to hear that.
Listen to the Ford podcast 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
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 58 Jeff Bender on Digital First Members, Live from DN Intersect
Will your superior teller experiences guarantee your future?
Believe that and - probably - you won't want to hear this podcast on the rise of the digital first member. That member may occasionally step into a branch but usually they are unhappy. They would rather interact online.
And their numbers are growing.
Smart institutions know this. A Chase - in its heart - is now a technology company. Are you?
In this podcast, Jeff Bender - vice president, digital solutions at Diebold Nixdorf - tells about the future of banking as he sees it. And he sees a lot of digital.
Word of advice: bet now on cardless ATM access. That, says Bender, is the next must offer.
Bender also warns about offering a generic, off the peg digital experience. Do all your competitors offer the same mobile banking app as you? Think again if that's true. "Find ways to personalize, to differentiate," says Bender.
And keep thinking digitally. It is the future and it is now.
Listen to Bender here.
This podcast Bender mentions Partners FCU and its digital journey. For my take on Partners FCU, read this.
This podcast is one of a group of four recorded on site at the Diebold Nixdorf DN Intersect conference in Las Vegas, September 2019.
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
Believe that and - probably - you won't want to hear this podcast on the rise of the digital first member. That member may occasionally step into a branch but usually they are unhappy. They would rather interact online.
And their numbers are growing.
Smart institutions know this. A Chase - in its heart - is now a technology company. Are you?
In this podcast, Jeff Bender - vice president, digital solutions at Diebold Nixdorf - tells about the future of banking as he sees it. And he sees a lot of digital.
Word of advice: bet now on cardless ATM access. That, says Bender, is the next must offer.
Bender also warns about offering a generic, off the peg digital experience. Do all your competitors offer the same mobile banking app as you? Think again if that's true. "Find ways to personalize, to differentiate," says Bender.
And keep thinking digitally. It is the future and it is now.
Listen to Bender here.
This podcast Bender mentions Partners FCU and its digital journey. For my take on Partners FCU, read this.
This podcast is one of a group of four recorded on site at the Diebold Nixdorf DN Intersect conference in Las Vegas, September 2019.
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
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 57 Scott Anderson Open Banking, Live from DN Intersect
One site to rule them all.
This is the banking version of the Tolkien quest for the one ring that rules them all.
Call this open banking and remember that phrase. It's about to get much buzzier and louder over the next year as open banking transforms how US financial institutions interact.
Scott Anderson, brand evangelist at Diebold Nixdorf, sat down at the company's DN Intersect event to tell us why open banking - a big issue in Europe - is heading your way.
Imagine one site where your member sees everything financial. Inside the credit union and outside. Imagine a site where the consumer can decide what to use to pay for this purchase in this moment.
How cool is that?
It's also potentially frightening to financial institutions. The institution ceases to be a walled garden and becomes instead an open transit point. Won't consumers flee?
Why should they? If their needs are getting served.
In many ways Anderson is optimistic about the impacts of open banking - which definitely is coming our way - on smaller FIs such as credit unions.
One hitch however. How do credit unions get enough data to play meaningfully in this universe? Anderson sees credit unions working in alliances with fintechs - CUSOs perhaps - to create an even playing field with big banks when it comes to open banking.
Just maybe it's the biggest FIs that have the most to lose in an open banking universe.
Think on that and think about how to win your institution's share.
Listen to Anderson here.
This podcast is one of a group of four recorded on site at the Diebold Nixdorf DN Intersect conference in Las Vegas, September 2019.
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
This is the banking version of the Tolkien quest for the one ring that rules them all.
Call this open banking and remember that phrase. It's about to get much buzzier and louder over the next year as open banking transforms how US financial institutions interact.
Scott Anderson, brand evangelist at Diebold Nixdorf, sat down at the company's DN Intersect event to tell us why open banking - a big issue in Europe - is heading your way.
Imagine one site where your member sees everything financial. Inside the credit union and outside. Imagine a site where the consumer can decide what to use to pay for this purchase in this moment.
How cool is that?
It's also potentially frightening to financial institutions. The institution ceases to be a walled garden and becomes instead an open transit point. Won't consumers flee?
Why should they? If their needs are getting served.
In many ways Anderson is optimistic about the impacts of open banking - which definitely is coming our way - on smaller FIs such as credit unions.
One hitch however. How do credit unions get enough data to play meaningfully in this universe? Anderson sees credit unions working in alliances with fintechs - CUSOs perhaps - to create an even playing field with big banks when it comes to open banking.
Just maybe it's the biggest FIs that have the most to lose in an open banking universe.
Think on that and think about how to win your institution's share.
Listen to Anderson here.
This podcast is one of a group of four recorded on site at the Diebold Nixdorf DN Intersect conference in Las Vegas, September 2019.
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
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 56 Ben Morales QCash and the Hunt for Financial Wellness
You have a successful product that puts small dollar loans in the hands of consumers who may have tattered credit but they need the money and you want to save them from predatory lenders who may charge interest upwards of 100% APR.
Your product usually involves loan rates of 24 to 36% APR.
Much better for the consumer.
And you have 11 other credit unions offering your loans.
That's the story of QCash, a subsidiary of WSECU in Washington State. And now QCash's CEO Ben Morales is launching a new tool that just may blow up QCash's market.
And that's ok.
The new QCash tool is a financial wellness product that - in its simplest understanding - is designed to heal struggling consumers by offering access to liquidity but also financial counseling and teaching that turns that consumer into a person who deserves an 8% loan. Not a 36% loan.
How cool is that.
This is an upbeat podcast about how credit unions can generally help members in an era where more of us struggle to pay our bills.
An underlying QCash belief is that the path is in the data and it's just a matter of understanding the consumer and his/her data. In that data the way to financial wellness lies.
Related podcasts include Trudy Soupcoup, a board member at WSECU; and Bill Bynum, CEO at Hope.
Listen to the Morales QCash podcast 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
Your product usually involves loan rates of 24 to 36% APR.
Much better for the consumer.
And you have 11 other credit unions offering your loans.
That's the story of QCash, a subsidiary of WSECU in Washington State. And now QCash's CEO Ben Morales is launching a new tool that just may blow up QCash's market.
And that's ok.
The new QCash tool is a financial wellness product that - in its simplest understanding - is designed to heal struggling consumers by offering access to liquidity but also financial counseling and teaching that turns that consumer into a person who deserves an 8% loan. Not a 36% loan.
How cool is that.
This is an upbeat podcast about how credit unions can generally help members in an era where more of us struggle to pay our bills.
An underlying QCash belief is that the path is in the data and it's just a matter of understanding the consumer and his/her data. In that data the way to financial wellness lies.
Related podcasts include Trudy Soupcoup, a board member at WSECU; and Bill Bynum, CEO at Hope.
Listen to the Morales QCash podcast 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
Thursday, October 3, 2019
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 55 Richard Crone on Libra, Live from DN Intersect
Richard Crone is a longtime payments geek and when it comes to Libra, he has a particular spin. It boils down to this: forget the talk about crypto currency. Libra fundamentally is a pre-paid account and because it is a Facebook effort, it has reach into some 2.1 billion daily users of Facebook tools (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, etc.).
"It's a prepaid network with global reach - there are also 90 million businesses on Facebook properties," said Crone.
His blunt message: every credit union needs a Libra strategy and you need it now.
Understand this: Facebook may not be looking to profit off Libra per se. Its strategy seems instead to be to use Libra to drive traffic to Facebook sites and thereby increase advertising revenues.
Which may make Libra yet more attractive to financial institutions.
The conversation includes Heidi Liebenguth, managing partner at Crone Consulting, and it took place in a public space at Caesars Palace, where Crone and Liebenguth were speakers at DN Intersect, the Diebold Nixdorf meeting. There's minor ambient noise but audio quality of the podcast is good.
Crone finds it "bizarre" that not one FDIC insured institution joined in the launch of Libra.
He also is not deterred by the regulatory scrutiny Libra has won. In fact he sees it as a competitive advantage because it may deter competitors from plunging in with their own similar products.
Listen to this podcast and you definitely will want to dig into Libra and reach the decisions that are right for your credit union. Inaction is not a strategy.
Don't miss a related podcast with Diebold Nixdorf executive Douglas Hartung, also on Libra.
Listen to the Crone podcast 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
"It's a prepaid network with global reach - there are also 90 million businesses on Facebook properties," said Crone.
His blunt message: every credit union needs a Libra strategy and you need it now.
Understand this: Facebook may not be looking to profit off Libra per se. Its strategy seems instead to be to use Libra to drive traffic to Facebook sites and thereby increase advertising revenues.
Which may make Libra yet more attractive to financial institutions.
The conversation includes Heidi Liebenguth, managing partner at Crone Consulting, and it took place in a public space at Caesars Palace, where Crone and Liebenguth were speakers at DN Intersect, the Diebold Nixdorf meeting. There's minor ambient noise but audio quality of the podcast is good.
Crone finds it "bizarre" that not one FDIC insured institution joined in the launch of Libra.
He also is not deterred by the regulatory scrutiny Libra has won. In fact he sees it as a competitive advantage because it may deter competitors from plunging in with their own similar products.
Listen to this podcast and you definitely will want to dig into Libra and reach the decisions that are right for your credit union. Inaction is not a strategy.
Don't miss a related podcast with Diebold Nixdorf executive Douglas Hartung, also on Libra.
Listen to the Crone podcast 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 54 Douglas Hartung on Libra, Live at DN Intersect
Buckle up for big, explosive ideas. That's what Douglas Hartung - senior director, business development & alliances at Diebold Nixdorf - specializes in and in this podcast he discusses Libra, bringing financial services to the globe's underbanked and unbanked, and the exciting idea that just maybe all a person needs to send money anywhere on the planet is a smart phone.
How cool is that?
Know that just may be Libra's promise.
While some scoff at the prospects of Libra - the Facebook backed new-style currency - Hartung believes that the sheer magnitude of the Facebook family of properties user base makes this a financial play that demands attention.
He also likes the idea of in-app payments - so in Facebook, for instance, what if you can without friction send $10 to a friend in Bali. With just a click. Without leaving the Facebook app.
Is Libra just another Bitcoin variant? Hartung says nope. He tells why in the podcast.
A bottomline here is: pay attention to Libra. You may regret it if you don't.
Incidentally you will hear some taps interspersed throughout the podcast. That's Hartung animatedly tapping on a table to emphasize his point. Get into his spirit, let the taps animate you too.
This podcast is one of a group of four recorded on site at the Diebold Nixdorf DN Intersect conference in Las Vegas, September 2019.
Don't miss a related podcast with industry analyst Richard Crone, also on Libra. It posts in a week.
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
How cool is that?
Know that just may be Libra's promise.
While some scoff at the prospects of Libra - the Facebook backed new-style currency - Hartung believes that the sheer magnitude of the Facebook family of properties user base makes this a financial play that demands attention.
He also likes the idea of in-app payments - so in Facebook, for instance, what if you can without friction send $10 to a friend in Bali. With just a click. Without leaving the Facebook app.
Is Libra just another Bitcoin variant? Hartung says nope. He tells why in the podcast.
A bottomline here is: pay attention to Libra. You may regret it if you don't.
Incidentally you will hear some taps interspersed throughout the podcast. That's Hartung animatedly tapping on a table to emphasize his point. Get into his spirit, let the taps animate you too.
This podcast is one of a group of four recorded on site at the Diebold Nixdorf DN Intersect conference in Las Vegas, September 2019.
Don't miss a related podcast with industry analyst Richard Crone, also on Libra. It posts in a week.
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
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