New members have high expectations from your credit union. In addition to the long-standing persona of excellent service, members are conditioned for faster, more frictionless experiences. And your ability to deliver begins with onboarding. Let's take a closer look at a few best-in-class ways credit unions can exceed the expectations of new members when it comes to onboarding.

The financial sphere is a competitive space for attracting consumers and maintaining a steady influx of revenue. However, the process of cross-selling is a practical way to advance your credit union and offer the best, most personalized services to your members. Cross-selling is a sales technique that is truly one of the most profitable ways to retain credit union members and grow your credit union.

In the credit union and the banking industry, the importance of numbers can't be overstated. Whether it's net new deposits, loan growth, member retention rate, or any other credit union metric, your institution's story can often be told by the numbers. However, few key performance indicators can be as indicative of the financial health and resiliency of your credit union as the efficiency ratio. Let's take a deeper dive into the importance of the efficiency ratio.

As the pandemic presses on with no clear end in sight and consumer habits continue to change, businesses are being forced to adapt to the new climate at a rapid pace. Although vaccines give reason to be optimistic, it’s unlikely the world will return to “normal” any time soon, and doubtful it will ever completely return to how it once was. Instead, the coming years will likely be trying for many types of businesses, including credit unions.

A hallmark of any successful organization is efficiency - being able to achieve the most, in terms of results, with the least amount of wasted effort or resources. When gaining new members, a credit union shouldn't have to add staff at an equal pace. Technology should support your credit union, allowing you to maximize the effectiveness of each team member. If credit union member growth is leading to exploding operating costs then you may need to take a closer look under the hood. 

Surviving 2020 was no easy task for all sorts of businesses, including many credit unions. Those that were most effective found ways to be efficient, cut waste, adjust to changes in consumer habits and continue to provide their members with the essential services they need and expect. After all, credit unions were founded on the principles of collaboration and supporting members, and no year has seen more people in need of support than the previous one.

There are a variety of key metrics and performance ratios that credit unions should familiarize themselves with when evaluating their yearly performance. By analyzing certain metrics like the efficiency ratio, loan originations per employee, loan to deposit ratios and the cost of technology per member (among others), CUs can get a better idea about how they are performing overall.

One of the biggest factors that can affect a credit union’s bottom line is how they use their core system technologies. An efficient core data processing system can help expand member services and attract new members while keeping the underlying costs of running the CU low. Credit unions that use a large number of vendors and third-party technologies often pay too much for technology and have less user-friendly platforms.

Since the pandemic struck in March, credit unions have had to adjust to the times and reevaluate how they do business. While maintaining healthy relationships with members continues to be crucial, there are other factors that can also determine a CU’s success. One of the most vital factors for credit unions today is choosing the right technology to communicate with members, generate loans, and increase the overall efficiency and functioning of your CU.

Does your credit union have a back room that conjures images of haunted houses, lined with old squeaky file cabinets filled with paper documents? Is it the kind of room employees are afraid to visit, with cobwebs and the foulest stench in the air - the funk of 40,000 years? At this stage in the digital banking era, these cabinets are no thriller and should be set aside for your Halloween fun-fest. It’s time to significantly cut back on your paper reliance and join the modern world. Digitizing the lending process, as well as your other operational processes, can create efficiencies for both your members and your credit union.