The Key to Mobile Lending

“People say that money is not the key to happiness, but I always figured if you have enough money, you can have a key made.” -- Joan Rivers

It’s true. One key to happiness for credit unions is a good mobile lending strategy and enough money can certainly help one achieve it. However, spending money does not always equate to success, and a good credit union mobile banking strategy is not just something you buy. Before seeking answers from industry experts and technology providers, credit unions should first carefully consider the right questions.We want to fund more loans. No question there! But here are some questions every credit union should be asking:

• What are we willing to sacrifice to achieve it?
• Will this new credit union mobile lending channel replace our internet lending channel, or complement it?
• Will it operate outside of our mobile banking solutions and strategy, or work within it?
• Which aspects of our lending process on the core should this solution enhance, or be permitted to undermine?
• How will it affect cross-selling systems, loan activity reporting, or loan officer workload?
• What effect will our decisions have upon our ability to efficiently support online document execution/funding or management of loan documents?

The problem with a “shop and see” approach is that everyone’s got an angle. Mobile banking providers play to their own strengths, elevating both fears and priorities that may not be yours. Some appeal to your marketing sense, promising the inside track to car buyers or social media users. Others push their product like candy on the street, offering abstract highs like improved wallet share or return on member. The cheapest products are often the most dangerous because they hook users into a path of add-on acquisitions that are ultimately destructive to core system efficiency.

“Reality is just a crutch for people who can't handle drugs.” – Robin Williams

The key to a successful mobile banking and lending strategy is the same as for any business strategy. Embrace reality. Get ahold of the big picture. Know your strengths and opportunities, many of which are determined by your core. Then identify those solutions that are best positioned to serve your objectives and your members.

If you are a credit union that values efficiency, you should consider a mobile lending solution that is tightly integrated into your core lending platform, rather than one that will pull you away from it. Members will feel more at home, and more connected, submitting loan applications from within the mobile banking solution they use every day. Staff will have fewer systems to navigate and fewer systems to maintain. Integrated systems will benefit from features on the core, such as cross-selling, loan decision automation, and paperless integration; and the benefits compound as those systems evolve.

Mobile lending is indeed an important channel, but it is part of a larger, more critical system. Design this key to fit all of the doors in your credit union.

Download our lending eBook and discover how your mobile lending strategy can be seamlessly integrated with all of your lending services.