Although the pandemic made it clear financial institutions were all in the same storm, each credit union's boat was entirely different. For instance, some credit unions have been able to capitalize on rapid digitization, while others may not have been as fortunate. In either case, it's important to learn from the lessons doled out over the last two years and use them to strategically plan for the future. Let's look at three New Year's Resolutions credit unions can use to drive growth in 2022 and beyond.

As a credit union (CU), you want to offer your members the highest level of financial services, including seamless onboarding. Although you might already have an efficient digital banking system, it won't matter unless you attract and retain new members. To help your CU, let's explore several ways your credit union can go from average to excellent in onboarding and member growth in 2022.

There have been so many changes in the credit union world over the past few years, sometimes it’s a good idea to take a breath and reevaluate what’s happened and where the future might take us. One thing that’s occurred that cannot be ignored is the huge role digital technologies have begun to play in banking and nearly all aspects of our lives.

One thing is for certain—your credit union members have options; and they are not afraid to use them. For instance, Accenture reports credit unions and banks lose up to 25% of new customers during the first year. Failing to master this type of customer churn can easily put a healthy credit union in a crunch, considering the average new credit union member costs $442.

With the lowest mortgage rates in years, it’s no surprise that mortgage originations and refinancings are soaring around the nation. This is good news for credit unions. However, advancement in digital technologies and the rise of fintech companies into the lending space also means that the competition in the mortgage lending market is as tough as ever.

Although credit unions in the U.S. hold a small share of the total mortgage volume, mortgage lending is an important part of doing business for credit unions of all sizes. Since the pandemic and the lowering of interest rates has no doubt put a squeeze on the mortgage lending business and made it more competitive, credit unions that wish to thrive in this environment must leverage their digital technologies, data, and member services to attract new members, generate loans and continue their growth.

With a booming housing market and the challenges facing credit unions to keep up, simplifying the home buying process is critical to delivering outstanding member service and growing the loan origination business for your credit union.

Over the last couple of years, the rapid changes taking place in digital banking have put pressure on many credit unions to improve their digital platforms. One of the most important elements of creating any successful digital banking platform is making sure you can offer a frictionless Digital Member Service (DMS) experience to your members. Today, when members need help, they expect efficient, fast and user-friendly member services.

In 2020, credit unions and all sorts of businesses were forced to adapt and change the way they provided member services. Obviously, one of the biggest changes was finding a way to provide services and transactions that were once conducted in-person and make them digital. As member expectations and needs changed, CUs and other businesses were forced to enhance their digital platforms at an alarmingly fast rate.

Credit unions pride themselves on the quality of member service and the personalized attention they give their members. However, as the world moves toward digitalization and a large part of member service is now conducted online, credit unions must do everything they can to create high-quality digital member services (DMS).