The goal of any credit union is to satisfy the needs and wants of its members. Since the pandemic reshaped the world and transformed how we do business, member habits and behaviors have been changing and changing fast. It should be no surprise that as people try to avoid contagion, in-person interactions have declined significantly, and folks have turned to digital solutions to meet their needs. This trend has huge implications for credit unions around the country.

Although mobile banking and digital wallets existed before the pandemic, their capacity to enable contactless transactions has sent their usage soaring. Today people are buying groceries, sending money to friends, shopping and even applying for loans from their mobile phone, tablet, or computers.

Let’s take a look at why mobile banking and digital wallets have become so popular and why they are here to stay.

No one can deny this year has been unpredictable for both the world and American economies. From how we work and study, to how we watch sports, order food, and purchase daily goods, nearly every aspect of our lives has changed. To stay safe, more and more people have turned to conducting their business online. One area that has seen huge changes is the financial industry as people look for remote banking solutions.

In The Wizard of Oz, a simple farm girl living her normal black and white life gets transported by force to a bright and colorful new world where things she never expected were possible. Most people who know the story would argue that the storm opened up something good for her that she would've missed out on without the shove. COVID-19 came in like a storm and the changes that we've been forced to make as a result may not all be bad. The last few months have pushed a lot of folks to try things they might never have before, like grocery delivery, Zoom calls, and digital payments. While these types of services may have once been ignored by some, that storm has pushed a lot of us into a new reality.

Through no choice of their own, credit unions across the country have been forced to shutter their doors, left struggling with the "now what?" conundrum of trying to continue serving members with the same dedication and personal service as always. Members are traveling on a high-speed learning curve of how to accomplish their to-do lists, while not actually going anywhere. New services and options are popping up everywhere. COVID-19 has pushed companies--and people--to adapt quickly and try new things. The adoption curve is being forced to shift, and now is the time to show members that you already have the services they need.

From blisters to brake squealing, unless you're trying to start a fire, friction is rarely a good thing. Friction, as a force, works directly against motion. This type of interaction is becoming a very popular reference when it comes to user experience, or how consumers interact with your products and services. People are busy, people are on the move, and anything that slows them down runs the risk of being abandoned and a better solution being sought. The same can be said for payments. If your members feel that they have to take more steps than necessary to transact with your credit union, then they will look for financial solutions elsewhere. So, how can you reduce friction for your members?

Making members aware of Credit Union digital products & services is half the battle. Members will use the tools that they know about and when branch hours are limited or eliminated members need to be aware of their options. When people are coming into the branch less frequently, be sure to keep sharing messaging in other ways to keep them aware of your offering.

Credit card programs can be a smart way to grow your credit union, assuming your membership does one important thing: pay. There are many ways your members can make their credit card payments, some methods are more cumbersome and time-consuming than others. Eliminating hurdles to payment is an easy way to ensure your members don't get turned off by the process and pay on time. Here are some popular payment options offered by credit unions.

"The future isn't what it used to be!" This according to an anonymous IBM executive concerning predicted future trends in personal computing around 1992... clearly, a person in touch with both insight and sarcasm. Now, apply the same quote to mobile banking. It's predicted that the rapidly growing trend in mobile banking, at its current pace, will surpass in-branch banking, with 2021 being the tipping point. And with predictions of 71% of customers using mobile banking by 2024, the trend is not likely to slow down. Security concerns are also growing right alongside the demand for mobility. Finserv companies were already on high alert, having experienced a 147% increase in phishing attacks between January and September 2019 from scammers imitating financial organizations. Yet members are still prioritizing convenience while expecting their credit unions to do their due diligence to ensure member data is safe. With the rapid adoption of mobile banking apps, as well as the overwhelming presence of cyber-crime, credit unions must shift their focus to not only improving the mobile banking experience for members, but also to ensuring member data stays secure.

Technology Evolution is a theory that looks at the radical transformation of society due to technological developments, and is broken into 3 stages: It began with humans' use of tools, slowly evolving to their use of machines, and then rapidly progressing to automation and Artificial Intelligence. The evolution of the mobile banking app has undergone a similar, albeit on a much less grand scale, transformation. What started as a tool for early adopters to check balances and perhaps transfer funds from their cellular devices, mobile banking apps in their infancy still required members to perform the majority of their banking functions either online or in-branch. As the technology advanced, more and more features became available to members, where the app was put to work to perform banking tasks members used to have to do on a more manual basis. In the past couple of years, however, mobile apps have rapidly evolved to automate many parts of the banking experience for members. Integration of product features and a better user experience have become the expectation, not the exception, for members using your credit union's app.