CU2.0 Podcast Episode 137 David Tuyo University Credit Union and the Pandemic

 You may think you have it tough managing a credit union in the pandemic.  You need to talk with David Tuyo, CEO of University Credit Union, with assets edging up towards $1 billion and a growth rate in loans that's running around 30% per year.

2020 too saw sustained growth - in assets, loans, and even members.  That's despite the reality that University serves a membership of what the name suggests: colleges and universities, mainly in California, some faith based (St. Mary's College in northern California and Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles), others large publics (UCLA and University of California Irvine).  The kicker is that California colleges were closed for much of 2020 due to the pandemic and yet University grew.

And every University branch was closed. Still it thrived.

How? Tuyo tells in this podcast.

The credit union had had a multi-year plan to go full into digital.  What had been envisioned as a three year transformation took three months.

He also notes that University's compensation is entirely team based - that is, raises are a result of the organization's performance.  Not the individual's.

Another Tuyo word of advice: now is the time to let your nerd out.  He means dig into and revel in the data. Really know your members and prospective members, what they need and want.

At around $875 million in assets, can University survive? Tuyo says his benchmark is that he wants the credit union to perform at the rate of a $2 billion institution.  That, he thinks, is the velocity that is needed to stay competitive in a world where a handful of big banks control half the banking in the U.S.

Along the way mention is made of a CUBroadcast show he did.  It's linked here.

Listen up.  

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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 136 Pete Crear A Distinguished Credit Union Life

 Know this about Pete Crear: He was the first to win the lifetime achievement award from the African American Credit Union Coalition - and when they gave him the award in 2003 they decided to name it after him.  

The roster of Pete Crear Lifetime Achivement Award winners is now a dazzling hall of fame of credit union heroes and heroines, including several who have been in the CU2.0 Podcast - Bill Bynum and Bert Hash, Jr.  

The podcast opens with how Crear felt when he was told that, not only did he win the award, it was now named after him.  You will like his authenticity.

Just who is Pete Crear?  Here's the press release that went out when he retired as CEO of WOCCU, the World Council of Credit Unions.

The release noted: "Prior to joining WOCCU, Crear was CUNA’s executive vice president of external relations and, before that, executive vice president and chief operating officer responsible for daily operations of the Madison, Wis., office. He also served in top leadership positions at the Indiana, Connecticut and Michigan credit union leagues."

Crear also is of an age where he saw the nation change.  He vividly remembers the impact of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society legislation that made civil rights a legal reality, not just a talking point.

And he remembers the job discrimination he encountered when he applied for his first adult job.  

Does he think matters are better now for African Americans - both credit union members and employees? Listen to the podcast for his answers.

In the podcast Crear mentions a CPA he worked for early on, Richard Henry Austin, who went on to serve as Michigan's first African American Secretary of State.

He name checks Bucky Sebastian - a past podcast guest - for helping rid NCUA of regulations that made it harder for African Americans to borrow.  

Crear also tosses a praise bouquet at Angela Russell, a CUNA Mutual executive, and Cliff Rosenthal who literally wrote the book on CDFIs.  

One more name to mention: Renee Sattiewhite, CEO of the AACUC and a past podcast guest.  

A last fact to know about Pete Crear: this is a very good natured man.  He laughs.  He shares himself. And he wants to make the world a better place.

Listen up.

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

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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

Tags: Data analyticsbig datacredit unions

CU2.0 Podcast Episode 135 Joel Schwartz DoubleCheck and NSF Fees

 Overdraft fees are big business for most financial institutions and it's estimated that 20% of credit union members, one in five, have an NSF annually.

The worse news is that the credit union's NSF fee is just the start of the consumer's pain.  Joel Schwartz, founder and co-CEO of DoubleCheck, a Los Angeles company with an innovative spin on how to best handle NSFs, estimates that the NSF can lead to perhaps $175 in ripple charges such as a returned item fee imposed by the payee of the bounced check.

Ouch.

DoubleCheck has an alternative - and, hold on you protest, your institution wants to maintain its NSF income, especially in today's economy where loan interest rates are anemic.  

Schwartz gets that. He describes DoubleCheck as the financial equivalent of traffic school in the context of a speeding ticket.  Go to traffic school and, usually, that wipes out the pain of an increase in insurance premiums.

What DoubleCheck's tool does is offer the consumer realtime options for dealing with the consequences of an NSF such as offering the opportunity to use a credit card to make good on the check or ACH, therefore it doesn't look like a bounced item to the payee. Whoosh, that $175 in ripple charges may vanish.

DoubleCheck charges $20, an amount it typically splits with the credit union - so in fact the credit union income goes up.

Sounds good? It gets better. The DoubleCheck tools - which make the NSF process transparent to the consumer - may help a credit union duck class action suits that claim discriminatory processing of NSFs.   

There's a link in the show notes to a recent Navy Federal $16 million settlement involving NSF charges.

There's also a class action suit in progress. Link in the show notes.  

Meantime, Schwartz predicts there will be Congressional action to limit NSF charges, a topic of much interest to Senator Cory Booker. See the link in the show notes.  

DoubleCheck tools may help a credit union recoup some income that may be capped by federal action.

Mentioned in the show is SECU's NSF policies. The charge is $12 but the member gets a two day window without charge to clear up the issue.  (Here's a link to a podcast with Jim Blaine, the retired SECU CEO.) 

Listen up.

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

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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 134 Jim Van Dyke Breach Clarity

 Every day there are four data breaches. And every year literally of billions of dollars are lost in various frauds that are fed by the data stolen in breaches.  Who pays the bulk of that loss? Financial institutions, says Jim Van Dyke, founder of Breach Clarity, an innovative company that wants to shed a bright light on the breaches themselves but also what any given breach means for this consumer.

Generally there's enormous opacity around breaches. Most organizations are slow to divulge details - and that makes it difficult for a consumer to decide on an appropriate action plan.

Breach Clarity aims to shine a spotlight on the breaches but also to tell consumers what steps they need to take to protect themselves.

Note: this is not a LifeLock type company.  Breach Clarity is about research and personalized prescriptions that in many cases the consumer will take him- or herself, often in association with a participating financial institution.

Key to Breach Clarity is that its business plan involved signing up financial institutions who in turn will offer the service to their customers and members.  It is not a direct to consumer play.

Another key: for now Breach Clarity's focus is on signing up credit unions in particular.  The member focus, says Van Dyke, makes Breach Clarity a tool that credit unions will want to offer members.

And a benefit is that Breach Clarity may well reduce a credit union's fraud losses and also call center costs associated with breached members.

The first Breach Clarity customer is BCU (nee Baxter Credit Union).   Check out a recent CUBroadcast show featuring Van Dyke and BCU's Carey Price.  

BCU forecasts its ROI on Breach Clarity will be 5x.

By the way, if Van Dyke's name seems familiar it is because it should be. He was a co-founder of Javelin, a strategy and research firm focused on financial services.  In a spot check, I found I cited Javelin research and opinions 61 times when I wrote for CUTimes.  That's a lot.

Check the Breach Clarity database for credit unions and there are 39 breaches. Is your FI on the list?

Don' be lulled by that small number, Van Dyke warns.  Few credit unions are breached - buy they still are where much fraud shows up, using data stolen in other breaches.

Listen up.

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