CU 2.0 Episode 155 Tony Hernandez DCUC on the AACUC CCEP (Initials Decoded Below) DEI 2021 1

 Now don't you wish you had a magic decoder ring?

There's an alphabet soup in the podcast title. Let me decipher.

DCUC - Defense Credit Union Council, the trade group for some 181 military themed credit unions (and many are behemoths - Navy Fed, Pen Fed, you get the picture).

Tony Hernandez is the DCUC CEO, after logging 25 years in the Air Force where he finished as a colonel.

AACUC is the African American Credit Union Coalition.  You know AACUC because last year the CEO Renee Sattiewhite was a guest on the show.  Remember that name because you will hear it frequently in this podcast.

As for CCEP that's a new AACUC initiative that has paired people of different backgrounds and often different races for a 90 day interaction.

Hernandez is on the steering committee, and he has authored CUInsight blogs explaining the why of CCEP.  

The first CCEP round comes to a close in July, but the hunt already is on for participants in a new round.  

Experts debate when the US will become minority majority, meaning whites will no longer be in the majority, but one fact is certain: that day is coming and now is the time to focus on efforts to produce more harmonious race relations,  And a big part of that just is talking with people not like us.  (Whatever we are.)

Along the way in this Hernandez podcast you will hear a great deal about why defense credit unions matter, why they have an ideal membership mix, and how a 25 year Air Force veteran transitioned into the credit union world.

Hernandez' personal story is something you didn't expect, from how his wife was instrumental in his getting the DCUC job (never sneer at being a plus one!) to musings about the difficulties in ascending the military ranks ladder.

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

CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 154 Joe Cianciolo Home Co-Purchasing

 An elderly member contacts you.  He/she has a stack of medical bills, little in savings, but substantial equity in a home.  What are the options? How can you help?

Two obvious choices are a HELOC and a reverse mortgage but there are significant problems with both. When there are no other options, well, maybe....

But now there is a third way and today's podcast guest, Joe Cianciolo, CEO of HomePace, is here to tell us about what amounts to co-investing in single family homes (sorry condo owners, HomePace presently is not investing in them. It also is not interested in rental property or vacation homes).

What HomePace does is buy an option to purchase up to 17.5% of a home.  It pays for that ownership now, But it does not collect until the home is sold, or in rare cases the owner buys out their position.  That means HomePace is in for the longterm.

HomePace is a passive investor. It has no right to force a sale.

HomePace's investment is not debt. It has no impact on the homeowner's FICO score.

Another HomePace play is co-investing in a new home purchase.  Say a buyer is cash short and can come up with only 10% of the purchase price for a downpayment.  HomePace may match that 10%, qualifying the buyer for more favorable loan terms.

In such cases, HomePace envisions the credit union as the mortgage originator - and that's a plus in a time when credit union mortgage market share continues to slip.  A new tool in a credit union's lending tool set just may help close more deals.

Note: HomePace requires its owners to have a minimum 10% equity in a home.  It will not invest in a no down or 3% down purchase.  Lenders who portfolio mortgages generally will accept the HomePace participation.

In this podcast, Cianciolo tells how HomePace works, what it looks for in a deal, what states it operates in (and one state where it believes it unlikely it ever will do business), and why it especially likes credit unions as partners.

A number of players now are in this co-investing market but a HomePace distinction it that it already is working with one credit union on its deals, it believes it will announce several more shortly, and it is actively seeing additional credit union partners.

There are many cases where a co-investor is an obvious advantage in a deal.  Check out HomePace and this co-investing universe.  There just may be advantages for members in need.

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

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 153 Jon Voorhees on What You Do Not Know About Smart Branching

 Jon Voorhees has spent his work life optimizing branch performance. He has headed initiatives where an institution added hundreds of branches and he has headed initiatives where hundreds of branches were closed.  His last job at a financial services company - he now is a consultant based in Washington State - was as a senior vice president at Bank of America and you can guess how many challenges he faced at that bank.

But he knows credit unions too and in recent years has worked with a number on a simple question: how to optimize the branch strategy.  The question is easy to ask but hard to answer, especially since so much that impacts branching, from the pandemic to financial technology, keeps changing.

One thing Voorhees is adamant about: branches aren't going way.

Another thing: branches make for remarkably effective billboards for financial institutions.  Maybe you cannot afford a sizable ad daily in your local newspaper, but a properly positioned branch, with the right kind of signage. just may succeed in reminding your community that you are still thriving, still ready to help with their financial services needs. 

This is a wide ranging conversation, something of a primer on branch optimization,

Along the way you will find out where in supermarket branches make sense (or not), what could possibly go wrong with a branch that featured a Starbucks, and exactly where a branch needs to be in a shopping center.

Personally, I went into this podcast thinking, close'em all.  I had come to think that branches had served their purpose and were done. After giving Voorhees a listen, I now believe there is indeed a valuable place for branches in the credit union system - but only when they are smartly sited, tweaked for today's times, and wear the right, eye-catching signage. And many institutions just aren't getting that right.

The fixes are in this podcast.

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

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 152 Bill Clark CEO TimeTrade SilverCloud on Digital First Banking Trends

 You know the headline - in fact you could write the story on the explosion in digital banking transactions during the last pandemic year.  

But do you know this: there has also been an explosion in the use of digital self-service information gathering and problem solving.

That's the surprising news in a report from TimeTrade SilverCloud, a provider of customer engagement solutions.  

In this podcast Bill Clark, CEO of TimeTrade SilverCloud offers the specifics - and prepared to be surprised.   Everybody knew members have been using digital to check account balances and pay bills but who knew members were making strong use of digital to investigate everything from PPP loans to how to get contactless debit cards.

By TimeTrade SilverCloud's data,  "Usage of online self-service increased 38% from March to April 2020 and has sustained a level 69% greater even a year later – demonstrating a shift in customer behavior to leverage self-service options before reaching out for live support."

Another factoid: Usage of knowledge based in mobile banking apps is up 82% year on year.

A third blockbuster number: "Chatbot usage on bank and credit union websites and mobile apps increased 272% year-over-year."

A last fact: Credit unions saw a 107% increase in year over year in pre-scheduling in branch appointments from Q1 2020 to Q1 2021.

The numbers tell the story: Something big has happened in regard to how we do our financial services.

This is a brisk podcast.  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.

CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 151 Michelle Asher ENT on Social Media Mastery

 Consider this podcast everything you wanted to know about credit unions and their social media channels but were afraid to ask.  Or maybe you just didn't know to ask.

But the reality today is that social media have emerged as a crucial communications outlet - and for some generations they may be the most important way to communicate.

And yet the channels are so new.  Twitter started in 2006.  Facebook dates back to 2004.  Instagram was launched in 2010.  LinkedIn dates back 2003.

But for most credit unions it is safe to say their significant involvement in social media dates back maybe a handful of years.

And the media themselves evolve and change.  

That's why you want to hear from Michelle Asher,  a marketing manager with a specific focus on social media at ENT, the nation's 25th largest credit union with assets of $6.7 billion.

Asher is the first fulltime manager for social media at ENT but she came to the job with 25 years of experience in public relations and communications.

In the podcast she talks about the learning curve involved in joining the credit union industry - not so hard at ENT, she says, because there are many knowledgeable, helpful staff.  She also talks about when and how legal and compliance weigh in on her content.

Along the way, Asher talks about a social media policy for employees - and know that there are times and places where an employee post can bring risks to a credit inion, even when the post is on an employee's personal account.  If you haven't thought about that issue, now is the time.

We also find out how the various social media channels differ - and what works on Facebook might fail on both LinkedIn and Twitter.  That's why professionals do not post the same content on multiple channels.  Who knew?

Of course new channels keep emerging - think Tik Tok and ENT is not presently on it.  Asher tells why.

This is an approachable conversation - but it has plenty of content both for credit unions with well oiled social media programs and those that are just dabbling in it.

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.