With the emergence of financial services industry disrupters — FinTechs— the battle for the hearts, minds, and wallets of credit union members is fiercer than ever. Unlike these firms, however, your credit union's core value statement isn't necessarily centered around trendy technology. But you can leverage state-of-the-art solutions to drive membership growth, and do so in a way aligned with your core value proposition. Here are three ways you can do just that in 2022.
Robust Cybersecurity Can Help Grow Membership Across All Generations
The COVID-19 pandemic created the perfect storm for increased fraud, with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reporting a 54% increase in complaints in 2020 compared to 2019. While it's still focus COVID-related fraud today, the cause may be entirely different tomorrow. No matter the case, you can differentiate your credit union with a proactive approach to fraud prevention and cybersecurity.
In fact, implementing a robust cybersecurity program can be one of the keys that unlock member growth across all generations. Although each generation has unique banking concerns, security ranked as the number one concern across all cohorts according to an Adobe Analytics study:
- 32% of Generation Z ranked security as number 1
- 30% of Millennials ranked security as number 1
- 36% of Generation X ranked security as number 1
- 30% of Baby Boomers ranked security as number 1
Leveraging a cybersecurity-first approach can be one of the keys to unlocking membership growth in 2022 and beyond.
Taking a Data-Driven Approach to Membership Growth
Arguably, your most valuable asset is the treasure trove of member insights and data you house. However, large volumes of this data are never put to use in the credit union industry. Based on 2018 research by Best Innovation Group and OnApproach, 45% of credit unions lacked a data strategy. And credit unions with a strategy reported it would take anywhere from three to five years to activate.
Fortunately, there is room to grow. Starting out with clean data can empower your institution with insights to alter this narrative. It's more important than ever for credit unions to leverage internal and external data to inform strategic decisions while driving loyalty and growth. Simultaneously, credit unions must leverage this data to create unique, highly-personalized experiences.
Taking a Personalized Approach to Membership Growth
Once you leverage the digital assets at your disposal with the right systems, you can begin to create targeted, personalized member journeys. How important are personalized journeys? According to a report from Hubspot, 44% of consumers skip search engines entirely. Instead, they enter their needs on Amazon for highly-personalized, relevant, and speedy results—made possible by demographic segmentation and machine learning.
Following suit, credit unions must capture the needs of existing members through personalized member journeys. Utilizing them can open the door to more opportunities for upselling and cross-selling members at inflection points. Inflection points are when your members are looking to purchase a new vehicle, move into a new home, or engage in another life event. During these inflection points, your members will be on the lookout for institutions that will offer them the right services and products at the right time. Will your credit union be up to the task?
Unlock Membership Growth in 2022
Simply put, FinTechs have transformed the financial services landscape. And for credit unions to thrive in this environment, technology must be successfully integrated into your core value positioning. Fortunately, FLEX credit union core technology can help. Designed exclusively for credit unions, FLEX core processing can equip your credit union with advanced tools to help you create more secure banking environments, harness data-driven insights, and create personalized member journeys. Check out our strategies to Member Onboarding to help you get started.
