If you asked 100 different people what it took to effectively grow a credit union, you'd probably get 100 different answers. Some would say that boosting membership was the key. Others might emphasize cross-selling or up-selling services. There are those who might focus on building a better marketing strategy. While all of these things are certainly valuable, they pale in comparison to what may be the most important objective of all: Increasing efficiency as much as possible.

Obviously, one of the most important priorities for any credit union is growth. Now, new research seems to suggest that this emphasis has been paying off in spades. According to the experts at CUNA, credit unions can see loan growth of 20% on average by the end of 2022. To put that into perspective, it is the highest rate of growth of its type since 1984. All told, research suggests that credit union loan balances for members grew by 16% in 2022 compared to 2022. Not only that, but they were also up 10.2% from the beginning of the year.

A successful credit union is one that steadily grows based on good member acquisition and retention practices. Not only will achieving this help your credit union expand it will also help weather economic downturns by having a strongly-developed membership base that supports your services.

How to grow your credit union efficiently is a topic that has been discussed in the past - but at the same time, conditions within the larger market are constantly changing. You need to take the techniques that have historically worked well and match them up with the expectations of current and even future members. Only then will you be able to achieve the best possible rate of credit union growth, not just in 2023, but for years to come.

One of the most important things to understand about operating a credit union is that increasing efficiency is usually less the product of any one major move and is more about a series of smaller and more strategic ones.

When it comes to operating a modern-day credit union, one critical idea to understand is that any investment in technology that reduces costs needs to simplify efficiency at the exact same time. Not only is this crucial for keeping up with an ever-changing marketplace, but it also assists with long-term stability as well.

The modern banking landscape continues to move ever deeper towards mobile banking apps, purely digital financial services, and frictionless services that require less physical presence by customers. The pandemic put even more focus than before on delivering access to financial services of all kinds without obligating an in-person visit.

A credit union can't continue to do what it's always done. In the modern world we live in: member expectations change all the time. This, coupled with increased competition, cause fluctuations in the financial industry on a regular basis. Therefore, for credit unions to succeed within this context, they need to remain efficient enough to pivot at a moment's notice.

When it comes to operational efficiency, credit unions have room for growth. According to a McKinsey & Company study, credit unions are repeatedly more inefficient when compared to similarly sized banks. The causes of this operational efficiency variance can range, but it almost always boils down to certain processes draining valuable resources. Ask yourself:

The expectations of credit union members are constantly evolving, and it's up to savvy organizations to evolve right along with them. For most, the careful application of the right type of technology is how they do it.