CU2.0 Podcast Episode 108 Ralph Swoboda former CUNA CEO to Fintect Entrepreneur

 Before he was 40, Ralph Swoboda was named CEO of CUNA in Washington, DC.  That was in 1986 and he held the job until 1994.  That was when CUNA was a big association, with a head count upwards of 1400 because it provided a lot of assistance for credit unions with back office operations.

His next job after leaving CUNA was chairman of the management committee of the Association of British Credit Unions, based in Manchester, England.

Later, he moved to CUNA Mutual where he was head of international operations, directing operations in some 30 countries, from China to the Caribbean.

Now Swoboda is managing director of CUFA Ltd., a fintech based in Dublin, Ireland which creates lending analytics software running on big data for credit unions in Ireland but expansion into the United Kingdom and the United States is afoot.

Buckle your seatbelt for this wide ranging conversation that covers upwards of 35 years of high level involvement with credit unions, literally in dozens of countries. You will hear about differences between Irish credit unions and American credit unions, about the importance of community banks to US credit unions, and how the US payments system is something of a Third World embarrassment.

We wind up discussing the lending analytics tools Swoboda now is involved in and the timing could not be more ideal as many credit union executives awaken to the reality that lots of once solid loans on their books may be turning bad as Covid-19 takes its toll on many national economies.

Probably no podcast in this series covers so diverse a range of topics, countries, technologies.

You may not always agree with Swoboda. But you will definitely have fun listening in on this conversation.

Listen up here.  

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CU2.0 Podcast Episode 107 Bert Hash CEO MECU (Retired) on a Life in Financial Services

 When Bert Hash, Jr. took over as CEO of MECU in 1996 it was a $400 million institution with one branch that served municipal employees of Baltimore. In this podcast he tells about the institution he took charge of. It had exactly zero ATMs.  It did not dispense cash to members - if a member wanted a withdrawal, they were issued a check and most went across the street to a bank to cash it.  

Hash, who came to MECU after a long career with banks, knew there had to be changes.  Within his first six months he put cash in the branch, installed the first ATM, brought in computers and prepared the institution for the battles ahead of it.

When he retired in 2014, MECU had assets of $1.3 billion, a membership of 106,000, and it had grown from one branch to 11.

I knew I had to talk with him even before I heard that story and that was because retired SECU North Carolina CEO Jim Blaine and Renee Sattiewhite of AACUC  enthusiastically seconded the motion.

When I initially asked Bert, he momentary hesitated - did he belong in the company this podcast features? Of course I knew he did. But he is a decent, modest man and you will hear that personality throughout this podcast.  

In one section he tells of taking a call from an irate member who believed MECU had made a mistake with his account. Bert agreed with him but still the man went on and after 30 minutes, the man was still threatening to move his account to a bank.  Bert told him he was sure he would find at least one thing different at a bank. What, asked the man. "You won't have a half hour conversation with the bank CEO trying to convince you to stay," said Bert.

His is a credit union life and it is made all the special because, as an African American, he faced challenges in his career path and in his leadership of MECU.  He tells his story in this podcast which is an especially personal document.

At the end, you will hear a podcast paste on where a recording of a call Bert made to me is.  That's because as he reflected overnight about what he had said when asked if he witnessed racism in financial services, he decided he had more to say. His perspective is thoughtful, nuanced, realistic.

He offers a brief summary of the 100+ year of African American credit unions, tells why he think them important in reaching out to the underserved, and offers a stirring perspective on the real credit union mission.

Along the way, you will hear mention of many past CU2.0 podcasts - Jim Blaine, Bucky Sebastian, Gary Oakland, Renee Sattiewhite, Bill Bynum, Cathie Mahon, and Marc Schaefer.

This podcast is recorded in Phoenix - thus the first remarks from Bert.

Hear the Hash podcast here.

Tech note: this week the podcast switched to new software, Hindenburg Journalist.  Forgive any glitches - they are on me.

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

And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.

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 106 the Credit Union Mastermind Group

Are you ready to jumpstart your credit union's successes? 

How about your personal success?

You want to know about the new CU2.0 Mastermind group - which is specifically created to help credit union and fintech leaders come together in small, working groups to hash out problems, solutions, opportunities.

Listen up: we are in a crisis. A health crisis and a national, indeed global, financial crisis.  The impacts of what we now confront will be with us for years.  You remember 2008.  This is worse. And it will cause more disruption.

That's why now is the time for a Mastermind group.  Because it's time for a big rethink and a Mastermind group will put this process in overdrive for participants.

Mastermind groups work. They accelerate success. In this podcast you will hear personal testimony about the power of Mastermind groups from CU2.0 founder Kirk Drake.

You also will hear from Dr. Patty Ann Tublin who shares her psychological insights into what challenges credit union and fintech leaders face today and the barriers they face in succeeding.

And you will hear about how these Mastermind groups will work, mixing small group sessions with larger ones and all done virtually, at least for now.

You've heard of Mastermind groups? Indeed you have if you have read the great motivational writer Napoleon Hill who is credited with coining the term in his 1920s book The Law of Success.  He elaborated upon the idea in his later book, Think and Grow Rich.

In its simplest form a Mastermind group is for peer to peer mentoring - meaning the same folks get together, in person or virtually, on a regular basis and hash out what is gnawing on them.  In the CU2.0 version, sessions are facilitator led to add more focus to every session.

That will speed the results and, nowadays, who has time to wait?

Listen here.  

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

And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.

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 105 Angela Russell CUNA Mutual on Race and Equity and What to Do Now DEI4

Ask Angela Russell, Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at CUNA Mutual Group, a year from now what she would want to be able to tell us about progress made in the year and she did not hesitate with her answer.

On a personal level, she said, she hoped her son would be able to go for a run outside without fear.

Professionally, she said she hoped that the conversation about race and diversity and financial inclusion would be continuing and that credit unions would still be taking positive actions, rather than today's focus on race simply fading away as just another fad.

Take a deep breath now. If you believe this will be a heavy podcast that challenges a lot of your beliefs you are right.

"We are doing better but we have a long way to go," said Russell

But also know this: Angela Russell is an engaging conversationalist (hear her personal podcast, Black Oxygen, here) who laughs often but who also puts our attention on issues we might want to ignore - but nowadays we cannot.

The US is changing. We are fast on the way to becoming a minority majority nation. Credit unions that want to stay relevant need to adapt to this changing reality and that means, among other things, tuning into the changing demographics of their communities, seeking to engage minority board members, and seeking to improve representation of multiple races and nationalities on their workforces.

It's a tall order. But now is the time.

Listen here.

There are many related podcasts in this series, including #100 with Victor Miguel Corro of Coopera, another CU DEI Collective member, 101 with Renee Sattiewhite of the African American Credit Union Coalition, and also Cathie Mahon, CEO of Inclusiv, also a CU DEI Collective member. And a podcast with Cliff Rosenthal, a pioneer in the CDFI world. And there's a podcast with Pablo DeFillipa, also of Inclusiv.

Another don't miss is Bill Bynum of Hope CU.  

The podcast also mentions a book titled Evicted, by Princeton sociologist Matthew Desmond.

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

And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.

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