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.

The process of switching financial institutions tends to be scary for members. Realizing your billing information is out of date can haunt a member, and getting hit with several months worth of delinquent bills is a fright. In the case of recurring payments, there will come a time when billing information needs to be updated, and unfortunately, updating it can be a nightmare. This may shock members because the whole reason they chose a recurring payment method is for convenience, and ironically, updates are anything but. If a credit union wants to be a member's primary financial institution, which most if not all do, updates to the recurring payment process should be easy. Here are some things to consider about recurring payments to avoid spooking your members.