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.





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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 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.

CU2.0 Podcast Episode 28 Patrick Conway PCUA on Lobbying and Much More

Consider this podcast a crash course on credit union lobbying, 2019 style. Our instructor: Patrick Conway, CEO of the Pennsylvania Credit Union Association, a very large league with upwards of 370 members.

PCUA lobbies both in Harrisburg, the state capital, and in Washington, DC.

A lot of what PCUA does however could be considered credit union education. For instance, PCUA has played a lead role in the new Philadelphia ID card - designed to give Philadelphia residents a low cost ID card. Will it be adequate for opening a new account at a credit union? That's still being sorted out and PCUA is in the mix, offering education and counsel to its members.

PCUA is doing likewise with cannabis banking, a topic of significant interest to Pennsylvania credit unions.

Along the way we also talk about credit unions haves and the have nots and, in Pennsylvania, assured Conway, the big credit unions offer plenty of assistance to smaller institutions.

Other topics on the agenda: credit union tax exemption, the CUNA-league relationship, and what credit union can do to win greater consumer acceptance.

This is a rich podcast.  Give it several listens.

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 27 Hakan Nordfjell Gemalto on New Account Fraud

You want to make new account opening easy and fraudsters want to exploit that loophole to rob your credit union.

That is the gist of today's podcast with Hakan Nordfjell, head of digital banking at Gemalto.  He tells about fraudster tricks and also the way financial institutions are fighting back.

He also warns that all your personal information is on the dark web and ready for fraudsters to exploit.  PII - personally identifiable information - just isn't enough to open new accounts securely today. You need more weapons.  Nordfjell tells what.

This is information you need to know to protect your institution in what could be called the New Account Opening Wars.

Who's winning?

Listen up.



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 26 Carl Memnon, COO Grain Technology on an End to Overdraft Fees

Just say no more to overdraft fees.

And make this decision good for your members and also good for your credit union.

You may even grab a few customers away from Chase and the other money center banks.

That's the promise of fintech startup Grain Technology.

In this podcast Grain co-founder and COO Carl Memnon tells about the company's proprietary algorithm that lets it devise strategies for making fast loans to users who are about to trigger an overdraft charge and to also help those users find easy ways to start saving.

The latter is the why behind the company's name - users will see their assets and their credit score grow "grain by grain," said Memnon.

Memnon also talks about being in the Arizona fintech sandbox and the benefits for a small startup in playing in this sandbox.

Grain is actively seeking to align with credit unions that want to offer its overdraft protection service to members. In the podcast Memnon tells about the benefits to credit unions but a big plus is having cool technology that in effect let's the member know they will see no more overdraft fees.

Listen up, you'll find plenty of interest in this podcast.

Listen here.

BTW, the sirens you'll hear are ambient noise in New York where Memnon was during the call.  If you've spent any time in New York you won't even hear the siren. I couldn't scrub it out so decided just to enjoy the New York moments.



Like what you are hearing in this podcast? Find out how you can help sponsor the 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.