Credit unions have long held a reputation for excellent member retention rates. Members are genuinely loyal to their credit unions. Yet, while they maintain their loyalty in the form of a car loan or mortgage, members are increasingly seeking out different FI's for their primary provider. While historically credit unions have been heavily focused on consumer lending by providing the lowest rates to members, it's time to step out of the past, and look beyond the present. Look beyond the lending department and consider the payments opportunity. In the top 3 US banks, for example, credit cards represent roughly 26 percent of loan volume, whereas for credit unions, cards represent just a little over 6 percent! It's time for CU's to look at how their members' lifestyles and spending habits have evolved, and evolve along with them.

You may try, and you may try, and you may try... but members can't get no satisfaction from a credit card that doesn't offer rewards and easily understood benefits. According to a J.D. Power 2019 Credit Card Satisfaction Study, rewards are what drive member satisfaction with credit cards, as has been the case for several years now. Issuing credit unions have continued to improve upon rewards programs but often struggle to find the right rewards offering for their member base, as well as a simple approach to understanding and redeeming rewards. The same JD Power study found that only 66 percent of members fully grasp their reward program offerings, and only about a third say they completely understood all the benefits available to them.

As if! Compare how members make payments today to how they made payments 25 years ago. In the 1990's, bills were paid primarily through snail mail by check, or perhaps paid in person with cash at a designated payment location. Many people still received traditional paychecks, and it was not uncommon to be stuck behind someone paying for groceries with a paper check. A stolen credit card could be as detrimental to your cash reserves as misplacing a highly valued beanie baby. Whatever! How times have changed.

More and more, members are reliant upon online shopping and payments, just as more and more hackers are targeting the sites where members shop. With the adoption of EMV (chip card) technology, face-to-face payment fraud has lessened. Conversely, digital transaction fraud and online card theft have increased. And while tools such as point-to-point encryption and tokenization are largely in place on e-commerce sites to safeguard buyers and merchants alike, it is important for consumers to be aware of where their data is most vulnerable. When shopping online, certain payment methods may be better than others, depending on the circumstances.

Credit cards are a lucrative industry, and with nearly 40 billion credit card transactions in the US last year, the trend is not expected to stop. Even with economists predicting an overdue economic downturn, volume is still projected to remain high.  A credit card program is a great way to keep members engaged with your products and services, and a rewards program can certainly boost its popularity. You may have cards issued and people using the program, but is the program benefiting both the member and the CU? Here are five best practices for every credit card program in a credit union to help ensure it is running well while offering benefits for members and the CU as a whole:

Members love perks. Feeling like they're getting something extra can be a great incentive to sign up for just about anything. If your credit union offers a credit card,  consider what kind of extras you can offer, in addition to interest rates, that will bring members to you instead of going for their airline miles or rewards credit cards. There is no shortage of reward options, so you need to stand out with a better carrot and stick than the rest. Here are five best practices to make sure your rewards program is a success.

When EMV was introduced and widely adopted in the United States, there was no question that initial payments fraud was lessened and risks mitigated. However, there was also little doubt that eventually attacks would rise in different areas of the transaction as criminals would be forced to get more sophisticated in their methods. As we are in the full swing of the holiday season, it is a best practice for a credit union to remind their members to remain vigilant about their credit card accounts and payment methods, especially when shopping online.  The latest trend in eCommerce espionage targets loyalty programs associated with many credit cards.

Has the time come to bring your credit cards in-house? How do you know? Credit unions today are proactively evaluating their credit card program needs with the goal to have more control of both member services and cost. While there's a lot to take into consideration, the right core processor can make it seamless and efficient. It gives the credit union the ability to better protect data, while also providing a better experience for members.

Credit unions have long realized that by offering credit cards they can further deepen member relationships. They serve as another point of contact and open up another line of business, while also delivering high yields. Moving credit cards in-house means being able to eliminate third-party processing, which reduces expenses and delays. The key to being successful when moving credit card processing in-house is to work with a technology vendor that can handle the day-to-day activities efficiently, while providing capabilities that are cutting-edge and keep you competitive and relevant.

The month of July is here and with it brings the mid-summer shopping frenzy. Credit cards get a work-out as consumers join the melee of sales, deals and offers too good to resist. The traditional Christmas in July sales offer consumers great deals on big ticket items like cars, laptops and electronics, among other in-store and online deals. Those sales are further boosted by vacation and travel spending (gas, hotels, car rentals, airline, and amusement park tickets) and the eventual back-to-school shopping. Adding to this mix for the last 5 years is a new consumer shopping phenomenon - Amazon Prime Days.

To date, credit unions have been faced with the choice of providing credit card processing in-house or outsourcing. Historically, only big credit unions ran in-house credit card processing. Smaller CUs shied away from credit card processing due to a variety of factors: It was expensive to do so in-house, and outsourcing was often difficult to integrate with the core. Furthermore, the rewards programs were not up to par with those of banks and larger FIs, which made them less desirable to members. Now, with increases in integration capabilities and decreases in cost, credit unions of all sizes are incorporating integrated processing capabilities. Here’s why credit unions big and small have opted for integrated credit card processing.