Today, credit union members and consumers have more ways than ever to pay for goods and services, including Buy Now Pay Later, automated clearing houses, mobile wallets, and peer-to-peer payments. At the same time, payment methods are getting smarter.

There was a time when on-demand (also referred to as "instant issue") cards were one of those "nice to have" benefits for credit union members. They were fast, convenient, and efficient - but they weren't necessarily a "must have" feature like mobile banking.

According to one recent study, the annual inflation rate in the United States grew to 9.1% by June 2022 - the highest rate since 1981. As a result, how people shop for things like credit cards is changing. This is especially true as not just inflation rises, but the prices of fuel and other essential items do as well.

The value of offering your credit union members credit cards has never and will never be in question. Credit cards have become a fundamental linchpin in consumer lending strategies for credit unions. However, not all credit card offerings and strategies are created equally. Specifically, the changing credit card industry makes selecting the best sourcing model more important than ever for credit unions.

Credit cards play a critical role in credit unions' consumer lending strategies, but many credit unions have hesitated to switch to in-house cards. This has mostly been due to the unique characteristics of credit cards and inadequate core systems. However, today's credit unions must rise to the challenge and implement an efficient card management system, which will ultimately benefit both their CU and its members. Throughout this article, we'll show you the top six key advantages of a core-integrated card payment solution.

Did you know that, according to 2021 fourth-quarter data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Americans have over $856 billion worth of credit card debt? The amount rose tremendously from the third quarter of 2021, increasing by $52 billion. It is the most significant quarterly increase the U.S. has seen within the past 22 years and the third and only spike since the start of 2020.

As a credit union, providing your community's small businesses with the deposit and lending products they need is imperative to all you do. But are you currently meeting their merchant services needs? It's a fair estimate that credit card processing is a vital cornerstone for most businesses. And if you're not offering your members merchant services, you're missing out on a huge opportunity to deepen the relationship and increase your credit union's wallet share.

As a credit union, it's imperative that you offer merchant card services to local small businesses. Why? Because credit card payment processing is at the very core of small-scale companies, and of course, one of your credit union's goals should be to help them prosper.

Today, consumers have access to more ways than ever to pay for goods and services. Whether it's convenient Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), Cash App, Venmo, PayPal, or embedded payments—they all represent easier, frictionless payment methods for consumers. But that's not all they share in common: they all pale in comparison to the popularity of credit and debit card solutions.

The term "digital wallet" has been floating around for the past few years. This technology doesn't require a physical credit or debit card and lets consumers pay for products and services using card information stored in a device such as a smartphone or a computer. In fact, according to a 2021 survey, around 150 million Americans have used a digital wallet at least once. Will this intangible payment method put credit cards out of commission? And what does this mean for your credit union?