At last month’s World Credit Union Conference and America's Credit Union Conference in Denver, Luke Williams (author of Disrupt: Think the Unthinkable to Spark Transformation in Your Business) encouraged attendees to escape their comfort zones and cultivate an instinct for innovation.
In the face of accelerating disruption across all industries, Williams challenged credit union leaders to find ways to "be" the disruptive change, starting with disrupting how credit unions think. "If you have a vested interest in growth," said Williams, "you have to have a vested interest in innovation because innovation drives growth."
We have frequently discussed how credit union innovation is changing the future of banking as technology is providing methods to increase member satisfaction and improve efficiencies. Innovation is one of the keys to growing credit union membership, and Williams reinforced that need for modernization. He told the attendees that analysis is not the only answer. "Data is important but it will only get you 50 percent of the way there. The other 50 percent has to come from human imagination," he said. By surfacing clichés, credit unions can decide which to invert, deny and scale. And we agree with him 100%.
Since we're talking clichés, I won't reinvent the wheel on prior advice and just simply say: Having the foresight to develop fully integrated mobile apps and teller capture check-21 within your credit union core technology, and to work with a core provider that embraces the challenges of new technology, will make you an industry leader and give you a competitive edge.
