Podcast

by Robert McGarvey

You want to read James Robert Lay’s Banking on Digital Growth.  It’s a book not about digital tools but rather about the transformation of community financial institutions, credit unions included, into organizations that can compete with and win against the mega banks.

Too small to do that? Nope, says Lay. That size can be a strength. It means a credit union can turn on a dime – if it chooses to.

It starts with recognizing that the traditional branch first marketing model is broken. Today’s consumer is digital first. And yet at most credit unions digital is simply a bolt on onto the old branch model.

Time for a refresh. Think digital first. Flip the business model and that’s the path to success.

Lay also believes that “Covid is a wake up call.” He is not trivializing the damage it is doing to the health of the nation, or the finances of many of us. What he is saying is that this is the time to look for new opportunities. Many credit unions will fail because of Covid. Many others will find new prosperity.

Why haven’t more credit unions seen the need for big changes? Precisely because they have had a good 12 year run since 2008. Why fix what ain’t broken?

But now breaks are showing.

Make the most of opportunities.

This podcast is about digital transformation but what you won’t hear is propellerhead talk. Lay is a marketer at heart and that’s what you will hear. And it’s what you need to embrace to get ahead in 2020, a year of immense challenges.

Hear the Lay podcast here.Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.comAnd like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It’s a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

Do you have 10 minutes?

That’s all it will take to listen to this CU2.0 Fast Take on PPP Loan Forgiveness, a topic that suddenly is bedeviling thousands of credit unions as they confront the reality of how time consuming it is to navigate the loan forgiveness process.

Make no mistake: you want to get that loan forgiven. Best guesses are that many of the loans that aren’t forgiven will in fact default.

You don’t want that on your books.

How long does the loan forgiveness process take a credit union that manually tackles even loan?  Figure 10 to 20 hours.

That cannot work on a $100,000 or $50,000 loan.

No way.

Enter Capiform, where CEO Sherif Hassan tells in this Fast Take how to get the credit union staff time down to a few minutes, maybe an hour, max, per loan forgiveness application.

The secret: Capiform screens that guide the borrower as he/she inputs the needed data.

Call it a Tom Sawyer moment of brilliance.

And Capiform gamifies the process so it almost becomes fun for the borrower.

10 minutes.  Spend them wisely. Listen up.

Hear the full length Capiform podcast here.

Want more info? Contact Capiform at its website.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It’s a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

by Robert McGarvey

Steve Winninger is the man to talk with about credit union boards and governance.

A longtime credit union CEO – 20 years at Lake Trust – now a $1.6 billion institution based in Michigan – plus he also served as CEO at IBM Lexington and since retiring from Lake Trust he has put in stints as CEO at four credit unions (only one of which merged out of existence).

But Steve is a rare CEO.  He loves talking about the role of the board and – done right – a board should be crucial in a credit union’s prosperity.

But many CEOs grumble about board meddling. In other credit unions – mainly larger ones – it’s the board that grumbles that they are ignored.

Sigh.

Hear Winninger’s views on that dichotomy in this podcast.

In this podcast Winninger spells out the four steps a good board must take. Must. No exceptions.

We also talk about whether boards are ready and able to help in the immensely difficult decisions that loom as credit unions wrestle with the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In this podcast we talk about some writing I did on Partners Credit Union – click the link and read about it.  There’s a mention of Maine Harvest Credit Union, also the effort to form a student credit union at George Washington University.   Follow the links to hear the CU 2.0 Podcasts.

Listen to the Winninger podcast here.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It’s a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

by Robert McGarvey

Michigan Legacy Credit Union just may be a unique $220 million institution – it’s the product of five mergers in five years, said Carma Peters, the CEO.  And now she said the institution is on a huge digital push, an initiative that had been in the works but Covid-19 has intensified the effort.

One Michigan Legacy employee has died from Covid-19. So did a former member of the board.

All this hits Peters hard and, she said, she tells employees and also members that there is no rush to re-open the credit union’s six branches

“We sent out a strong message from the start of the pandemic that the safest way to bank was for members to use online and mobile banking and webchat, rather than coming into the branch,” Peters said. “While we were hopeful that members would comply, the shift to online banking has been dramatic, with 50,000 more online transactions in April than we had in March. That’s a 38% increase.”

Peters thinks that shift is permanent and she is deep into a total revamp of the branches. The remodeled ones will be around 1200 sq. ft apiece. “We are downsizing 35,000 sq. ft.” said Peters.

There won’t be a teller line.  There will be a couple ATMs, also a drive-through teller.  And Michigan First will provide members with video banking (and she tells about a much more affordable option that she is installing in her credit union).

The big question: can credit unions the size of Michigan Legacy survive?

You bet, said Peters.  And she goes a step farther – she helps smaller credit unions survive by helping them with tasks that may be beyond their staff’s skills.  Why? It’s the credit union way: helping others.

This is an optimistic podcast about small credit union survival. Listen here

In this podcast, there’s mention of Jim Blaine (podcast here), also Randy Karnes (podcast here), and a video tool named Popi/o (linked here).

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It’s a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

Cybersecurity starts with you.

“It’s about people,” said Nabil Hannan, managing director at cybersecurity firm NetSPI when asked when cybersecurity goes right and when it goes wrong.  He added in this podcast that Covid-19 and credit union responses have triggered their own cybersecurity issues that are very particular to today.

But they also need timely responses to thwart hackers.

Case in point: some workers are instructed to take their desktop computer home to work.  Question: does that box have full disk encryption set up? Many office computers do not. But what if it is stolen from the home?

Maybe even worse, some organizations sent workers home with older machines running old versions of Windows – including XP – and the bad news is that hackers already have bots scouring the net looking for XP machines because there are readily available hacking scripts that effectively automate an attack. No computer skill is needed by the hacker who has found an XP machine.

Hannan also has worked on cybersecurity issues that arise when two institutions merge – something many experts believe will happen with accelerated frequency among credit unions dealing with the fallout of the Covid-19 impacts on the economy.

In one case he worked for 2-1/2 to 3 years sorting out cybersecurity issues that arose when two large financial institutions merged.

 Two credit unions probably won’t have that much complexity.  But even a merger of small credit unions raises cybersecurity complexities because generally the two institutions will have divergent approaches and a common ground has to be found and implemented. ASAP.  Because hackers hunt for gaps and exploit the ones they find.

A bottomline problem: too many credit unions see cybersecurity as a cost. Period.  It does cost. That’s a fact. But think of the enormous costs of a security failure.  What hurts more?

Don’t think this is a techie podcast. It’s not. It’s an enjoyable – intelligent – look a what a credit union executive needs to know about cybersecurity in today’s Covid-19 world.  It’s not just for propellerheads. It’s news you need to know.

Listen up.

Fyi: Hannan has his own podcast, Agent of Influence.  Hear it here.
Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.comFind out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It’s a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

America’s housing stock is old – often over 50 years of age in much of the nation and owners want, need, improvements to live in the home they want.

The problem: many buyers stretch to buy their home and they do not have that much equity built up, even after five or perhaps even ten years in the house. But now there are two more children, maybe a grandparent, added to the family and where does everybody sleep.

Historically, home improvement loans have ignored an obvious reality: many projects significantly increase the value of the home,

Sure, some do not – pools usually, saunas, a green house.

But add a bedroom,or a bathroom, or update a kitchen and that house is worth more money.

TV watchers know that from HGTV’s long-running “Love It Or List It” where after every reno, the realtor tells how much more the house is worth. Similar happens on “Fixer Upper.”

So why can’t a loan be created around the probable higher value of a home post renovation?

Why not indeed. That’s what the founders of Renofi asked and they now have created a fintech to help credit unions make loans based on that calculation.

In the process, Renofi has processes for calculating what value in fact a particular renovation will add in a specific market and also conducts due diligence on the contractor associated with the project.

Renofi already works with several credit unions – you will hear specifics in the podcast – and wants to hear from more.

Here’s what Renofi tells credit unions about itself: “RenoFi is a turn-key, end-to-end growth channel. We help our partner Credit Unions grow their loan portfolio by delivering highly-qualified new members seeking home renovation loans that meet your institution’s specific underwriting criteria.”

Sound good?

Listen to the podcast to learn more specifics.

And check out Renofi’s website.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.comFind out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It’s a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

Bill Kennedy has spent a credit union career moving from institution to institution. He has worked at 11 – “6 or 7 were turnarounds, 1 was a startup,” said Kennedy.

Often he’s been CFO, and he has also served as CEO. He’s seen a lot in his years at and near the top.

Know this about this podcast: Kennedy speaks his mind and he doesn’t soften his opinions.

And he has a very strong opinion about how many credit unions will close in the next year, mainly as a consequence of coronavirus.  It’s a big number. You want to hear it.

Along the way he says a huge credit union problem is poor board quality – and he does not mince words about that.

He also is worried about the industry’s comparative inability to attract smart young professionals as employees – the industry is aging out at a time when communicating with young consumers is paramount.

He asks as well how many young professionals you have mentored. He says he has mentored 80+ in the past 25 years.

That will be critical because he predicts around half of senior credit union executives will retire in the next few years. Who is on deck to fill their jobs? At many credit unions the answer is nobody – and that, by the way, is another reason many credit unions will close.  There will be a shortage of qualified senior executives.

Think this is a bleak podcast? It’s not a cheerful one. But Kennedy’s are provocative ideas you need to hear.

Hear the Kennedy podcast here.

Mentioned in this podcast is retired SECU CEO Jim Blaine – his podcast is here.

For a different perspective on boards, there’s the John Pembroke, CUES, podcast.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.comFind out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It’s a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

From the future of branches (maybe brighter than you fear) to the profound impacts Covid-19 may have on your credit union, this conversation with longtime banking analyst Bob Meara, now a senior analyst with consulting firm Celent, will get you thinking.

For starters, accept that very probably Covid-19 will work lasting changes on how your credit union does business – and very probably there will be growing acceptance of digital tools that will last beyond the pandemic.

Face to face as a primary interaction will lessen as a result of the virus, he said.

But Meara also is something of a branch optimist, especially regarding credit unions.  Some mega banks are unquestionably over branched, he admits, but few credit unions are.  What he sees is that many credit unions need to make progress in deploying branches more effectively as tools for relationship building.

Members don’t need branches for transactions.

But many still want them for relationships, advice, help.

Along the way, Meara tells why video tellers have been something of a failure, and also why digital only banks mainly have sputtered.

But he also talks about where credit unions need to play catch up – think digital transformation and, especially, digital account origination (opening a new account needn’t necessitate a branch visit!).

Hear the Meara podcast here.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.comFind out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It’s a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

Bob Fisher, recently retired longtime CEO of $2.8 billion Grow Credit Union in Tampa, opens this podcast by relating a call he had a few weeks ago with the present CEO.  Bob said he told him, “I’m calling you with glee. I am so glad I am not in your chair now” and that’s because of coronavirus, the global recession, and the upheaval that has remade the world.

And yet you can hear this in Fisher’s voice: he truly believes smart credit union CEOs will see opportunities, even amid this chaos, they will seize it and their institutions will prosper.

“CEOs need to be dreamers,” said Fisher. Think big. Think how you can do it better. Think how you can invent the next way to bank before the others see it.

That’s success.

Fisher’s philosophy is plain: basically you grow or you die.  When he took over Grow it was in NCUA’s doghouse and it had around $240 million in assets.

Now it is a star even in the competitive Florida environment.

You will hear how he did that in this podcast and you will also hear why he views NCUA as a credit union’s friend.

You’ll also hear why you cannot build a credit union around Baby Boomers, not one that will thrive.

There is a long, provocative discussion about the board and governance and how management needs to work with its board.

Want to know how to make indirect lending work? Listen to this podcast. Fisher tells how.

He also explains the institution’s expansion into South Carolina (go Clemson!).

There’s a lot to unpack in this podcast and it’s all inspiring.

You will hear mention of prior CU2.0 Podcast guests – Bucky Sebastian, longtime BECU CEO Gary Oakland, and SECU CEO Jim Blaine.  Listen to the quartet and get an education from four of the industry’s best leaders in the past quarter century.

Hear the Fisher podcast here.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It’s a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

You have never heard a CU2.0 Podcast like this one.  This is a podcast where sacred cows are roasted on an open spit, criticisms are hurled at regulators, huge questions are raised about the wisdom of credit unions emulating bankers, and then there is the giant question about the industry’s future.

Welcome to the CU2.0 Podcast. This is your host, Robert McGarvey.  Today’s guest, Bill Brooks, presently serving as a credit union doctor who is helping to save an institution in Maryland.  Earlier he worked as an NCUA examiner.

Brooks knows where the bodies are buried and here he draws us a map.

He also talks abut the why of the 2008-2010 mortgage meltdown, the looming meltdown in car loans, and why many credit unions have betrayed their core mission of focusing on members of modest means.

Double whew.

Hear the Brooks podcast here.

In this podcast there are references to multiple guests on earlier podcasts including Jim Blaine, Bucky Sebastian, Maine Harvest, Bill Bynum, and Cliff Rosenthal. 

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It’s a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto