Technology is and always will be one of the prime aspects to focus on in order to enable growth for your credit union. It helps simplify operations, reduce costs, increase efficiency, and so much more. All it takes is one look at the benefits gained from empowering technology to understand why a well-executed plan for digital transformation is a step to take with your own organization.
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Superior Efficiency
By far, one of the most important things to understand about technology is that it is changing everything--including credit unions. Over the next two decades, things will shift dramatically--to the point where a lot of employment roles will be filled that literally do not exist right now.
For credit unions to prepare for this Brave New World, they need a rock-solid foundation of technology upon which to start building today. For many, that will come down to their credit union core processing system. Moving to a modern system will give access to the new administrative tools, not to mention the innovative analytics, that ensure the most efficiency as possible.
Unbeatable Flexibility
In many ways, credit unions rose to success in the first place on the back of innovation. They simply positioned themselves to offer a level of personalized care and attention to detail to members that larger financial institutions could not. That trend must continue; therefore, your credit union should leverage technology to remain as flexible as possible in the wake of change.
Case in point: digital technology. This is transforming (and has transformed) the way people interact with credit unions and how credit unions operate at a base level all the time. Digital transformation proved to be especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic when most people were working remotely. It allows organizations to remain flexible, pivoting away from potential risks and leaning directly into the opportunities that are unfolding.
Undeniable Communication
Make no mistake: credit union success is all about communication. Members need to be able to communicate with a credit union to tell them what digital services they want and need. Employees need to be able to effectively communicate with one another to better serve those members. Organizational leaders need to be able to communicate to show how their organization is always headed in the right direction. The list goes on and on.
Technology trends like 5G and even virtualized software help with this enormously, streamlining the communication process and bringing everyone together, regardless of where they are.
According to one recent study, credit union membership growth occurred at a rate of 8.1% in Q1 2021, with a collective net worth increasing by 13.9%. Much of this began due to pent-up demand. For it to continue, credit unions need to act now--and technology like everything outlined above will be how they do it.
In the end, driving credit union growth is all about doing whatever you can to drive efficiency--and embracing modern technology. At FLEX, we've recently authored a piece about how to enable your credit union to be as productive as it can be. If you'd like to read it, or to find out more information, please click the button below to get started.
