The CU2.0 Podcast

Robert McGarvey

This podcast explores contemporary, critical thinking and issues impacting the nation's credit unions. What do they need to be doing to not just survive but prosper?

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Episodes

CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 292 Nook and How to Build Better Member Relationships
6d ago
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 292 Nook and How to Build Better Member Relationships
Kirk Kordeleski, onetime CEO at Bethpage Federal Credit Union, said it and his endorsement in a Credit Union Times article was so glowing that I knew I had to talk with Austin Wentzlaff, CEO of startup Nook.  said Kordeleski: “I firmly believe that Nook is at the forefront of something truly exceptional for the credit union industry. Drawing from my experience as a former credit union CEO, I can attest that every credit union grapples with similar challenges related to member loyalty and engagement – precisely the issues that Nook was established to address.”  Just what is Nook?  It’s a content serving platform that helps credit unions build closer relationships - and maybe sell more pertinent products to - select consumer groups.Once upon a time credit unions had intimate ties with members and genuinely knew a lot about them.  When every member - and board member - worked at XYZ factory or newspaper or school it was rather easy to know them.Nowadays, as more credit unions have community charters and the SEG based institutions often have dozens of very different SEGs it’s gotten harder to know thy members.The degree of difficulty has escalated further as financial services have transitioned from in person transactions to remote, digital interactions.Nook’s aim is to use digital tools to build the same kind of strong ties credit unions used to have.Nook’s current clients include Dort Financial Credit Union ($1.6 billion, Grand Blanc, Mich.) and TopLine Financial Credit Union ($792 million, Maple Grove, Minn.)And it’s looking for more.Listen up.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  And 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
CU 2.0 Podcast Money Talks with Kirk Kordeleski - "Has the sky fallen?"
Mar 11 2024
CU 2.0 Podcast Money Talks with Kirk Kordeleski - "Has the sky fallen?"
The Callahan report on credit union financial performance in 2023 exploded like a bomb.  Credit Union Times shrieked: “Credit Union Earnings Fell to Record Low in 2023, Callahan Data Shows.” The publication added a kick with its subhead: “But CU results are even worse when the most recent three months are extracted for earnings and originations.”Had the sky in fact fallen?Then I saw a post on LinkedIn by Kirk Kordeleski, the onetime CEO of Bethpage Federal Credit Union, where he sought to add context to what Callahan had reported and what it in fact means for credit unions.I immediately contacted him and said we have to do a podcast.In this show, Kordeleski emphatically says the sky hasn’t fallen for credit unions, nor is it about to fall. In fact he remains very optimistic about the future for the credit unions who in fact comprehend the competitive landscape.This is not to say all is rosy for all.The podcast begins with thoughts about the many recent c-suite terminations and the moral of that story is that now, probably for the first time ever, many credit union boards are using competitive performance data to grade their institution’s performance - and they are firing CEOs who don’t measure up.That’s a tectonic shift for credit union leadership.  Kordeleski tells how this came about.But know this: as I said Kordeleski is very optimistic about the future. In the show he tells what a credit union CEO needs to be doing to succeed in today’s changing universe.Listen up.
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 291 Mahalo, Park View FCU and Neurodiverse Mobile Banking
Mar 6 2024
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 291 Mahalo, Park View FCU and Neurodiverse Mobile Banking
Maybe 15 to 20 percent of your members have a neurodiverse condition - anything from dyslexia to color blindness - and, surprise, that means they will face big challenges everytime they log into a mobile banking app because that technology just isn’t designed with such conditions in mind.  Enter Mahalo with its Thoughtful Banking mobile app which features a neurodiversity module. Mahalo elaborated on what this means: “Among the platform's new features are left and right-hand use modes, font color options for those with Dyslexia or visual impairments, and the ability to disable animations for individuals affected by Epilepsy.”On the show today to talk about neurodiversity and mobile banking are Denny Howell of Mahalo Banking and Tanya Holland of Park View Federal Credit Union, a $366 million institution in Virginia.It’s a provocative discussion and it leaves one wondering: why haven’t a lot more credit unions jumped aboard this neurodiversity issue?But understand this: the show is about a bigger issue which is how a credit union and a technology provider can collaborate to help solve a problem that impacts a lot of members and still wind up friends.  Listen up.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  And 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
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 290 Crux Analytics on How to Succeed at Engaging Small Business Members
Feb 28 2024
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 290 Crux Analytics on How to Succeed at Engaging Small Business Members
You’re a credit union, therefore you want more business members. Business members bring a lot of revenue into an institution. Many credit unions in recent years have made a push for more small business members.  Many have fallen well short of their goals.There are many reasons why but there also is a big reality: most credit unions need outside help to achieve those goals. They need to work with outsiders who truly get what building relationships with small businesses is all about.Enter Crux Analytics.  They tell their story on their website: “We started Crux because we believe in the power of small business. We have experienced first-hand the challenges owners face and understand the role they serve in our lives and our economy. We have seen the current systems driving small business banking fall short for both owners and financial institutions. Small businesses need access to relevant, quality banking services to thrive. Financial institutions want to be able to engage more with small businesses, who are loyal, valuable, long-term customers. Crux is bridging the gap.”On the show today is Jacob Bennett, a Crux Analytics co-founder, who tells why Crux Analytics just may be what your credit union needs to really master how to serve small businesses - and, while doing that, genuinely benefiting your community because, honestly, much of America revolves around healthy small businesses.Crux is seeking credit unions to join a pilot.  Hear how towards the end of the show.This is  a show that will leave you feeling optimistic.Listen upLike what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com  And 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
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 289 DoubleCheck on Overdrafts Hero or Villain - Which Do You Want to Be
Feb 21 2024
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 289 DoubleCheck on Overdrafts Hero or Villain - Which Do You Want to Be
Hero or villain? It’s your choice.  When a member writes a check, or swipes a debit card, but lacks the funds for the transaction a credit union has a choice: it can play the part of the villain and slap a big fee on the member or the credit union could use the patented toolset from DoubleCheck to resolve the situation in ways that can benefit both the member and the credit union.Face facts: you may not have long to decide what to do.  The two dozen biggest credit unions - ones with assets over $10 billion - already are confronting a CFPB that seems to determined to change how they handle overdrafts.A bigger bomb dropped when NCUA weighed in with its idea to supervise how overdrafts are handled at credit unions with assets of $1 billion or more.  That impacts some 500 credit unions.A revolution is afoot regarding overdrafts.  Credit unions simply have to accept that changes are coming.That’s where DoubleCheck comes in.On the show today is Joel Schwartz, founder and Co CEO of DoubleCheck.  He tells all you need to know about what’s happening in the world of overdrafts and how DoubleCheck can help credit unions who want to manage these changes in ways that will benefit members and the credit unions and satisfy regulators.  Schwartz has been on the show twice before - in February 2022 and earlier in February 2021.  He’s a good, lively guest and he knows this overdraft world.You need to know about it too.Listen up,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  And 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
CU 2.0 Podcast Greatest Hits 1 Credit Union - Bank Mergers with Michael Bell
Feb 12 2024
CU 2.0 Podcast Greatest Hits 1 Credit Union - Bank Mergers with Michael Bell
Welcome to the CU 2.0 Podcast Greatest Hits show.There are over 300 shows in the library and yet a reality in the podcast business is that few of us ever even look at more than maybe the half dozen most recent shows.That’s why we are going to resurface some of the best and most popular shows as Greatest Hits,The first Greatest Hit - originally #277 - is with Michael Bell, the attorney who has been key in credit union - bank mergers. You probably are much more familiar with credit union - credit union mergers.But Bell believes - he explains in the show - that there are excellent reasons for a credit union to look at banks as merger partners. And know that many community banks - possibly most - are keen to get bought.This show is what you need to know.And the reason we are posting this show to kick off our Greatest Hits is this headline from a recent American Banker: “Midwest deal marks fifth credit union - bank combination of 2024.”  The date on that story: February 7, 2024. That’s a merger a week.Will the pace continue?Listen up.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 And 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
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 287 How Givio Brings Fintech to Charitable Giving
Feb 7 2024
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 287 How Givio Brings Fintech to Charitable Giving
Credit unions and their members are givers - that’s just a fact but that fact also is central to the self identity of credit unions and how they see their role in their communities.Enter Givio, an entirely different kind of fintech.  Over the years of this show we’ve poked into all manner of fintechs but Givio is different, it’s something we haven’t seen before and it is exciting because Givio (as the name hints) is a new take on giving.I became acquainted with Givio when a longtime friend asked me to take a look at Dig Deep Vermont, a grassroots effort to raise $45 million to help farmers across Vermont deal with the massive damages done to agriculture by recent flooding and extreme weather.  Vermont is a state where farming matters, to the economy and also to the aesthetics. Vermont farms are just pretty.  Most are still family owned and operated.  And now some 350 Vermont farm families are fighting to survive.Enter Dig Deep Vermont, which is backed by a cross section of important local institutions, from the state’s ski resorts to the Association of Vermont Credit Unions (and there’s a show in the library with Joe Bergeron, CEO of the Association, who tells why Vermont credit unions are involved in Dig Deep.  Here’s the link).  How would people who want to help those farmers donate? That’s where Givio enters the story.  Literally within a couple days of entering the project Givio had created 15 website buttons that direct donations to 14 Vermont counties along with a state fund.  Donations pass through a 501 C 3, meaning they are tax deductible.Requests for aid also are vetted before money is turned over.Find the donate button here and see how smooth this transaction is.  Know you'll also be helping Vermont's needy farmers.As I learned about this I knew I had to talk with Gary Carr, Givio’s CEO - and I had a question to ask him: Could Givio’s tools help any credit union in the US raise donations to help cope with a disaster in its community?The answer is yes - and a mechanism can be set up literally in a day or two.There’s also Givio’s app - available in the leading app stores - which is free and it allows users to direct donations to literally thousands of charities with a few clicks on the screen.  Givio also has a donation tool - now installed at 30+ credit unions and banks, including Visions in New York State, Stanford Federal Credit Union, and American Airlines Federal Credit Union.  This version of Givio is behind the institution’s firewall - accessible only by members - and it can be deployed in various ways including a targeted campaign to assist a specific organization or a la carte donations by a member to his/her favorite charities.  Costs of installing Givio at a credit union are very, very low.Remember, credit unions and their members are givers. Givio makes it easy to give and to give wisely.Listen up.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 And 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 tak
CU 2.0 Podcast Money Talks with Kirk Kordeleski Episode 19
Feb 5 2024
CU 2.0 Podcast Money Talks with Kirk Kordeleski Episode 19
Exactly what is the path to becoming a credit union CEO?  In this show, Kirk Kordeleski, onetime CEO at Bethpage Federal Credit Union, tells the route to take to get there - and it’s a must listen for the ambitious.Kordeleski also talks about the stresses that come with the job and asks if you are really ready for them.  Be honest. There’s no shame in stopping the climb at CFO or likewise and the stresses at that level are much lower than in the CEO’s big chair.Are you aware that - increasingly - headhunters, executive recruiters as they call themselves, are a big part of the search for CEOs at the nation’s largest credit unions? How do you get on their radar? Kordeleski offers tips.One more topic that’s investigated is the changing character and background of the emerging new generation of CU CEOs. They are better educated, much more comfortable with technology and the digital than were their predecessors.  In many cases, too, they are more overtly competitive.Lastly, do you want to be on a credit union board? Alternatively: what should a CEOs relationship with the board involve?  Answers in the show.Listen upHear episode one in Money Talks here.  Episode 2 is here. Episode 3 is here. Episode 4 is here. Episode 5 is here. Episode 6 is here. Episode 7 is here. Episode 8 is here.  Episode 9 is here. Episode 10 is here.  11 is here. Episode 12 is here.  Episode 13 is here.  Episode 14 is here and that’s one you don’t want to miss because it is part 1 of So You Want to Be a Credit Union CEO? Part 2 of Becoming a CEO is here. Kordeleski on making events work for you is here.  Kordeleski on the first news about the creation of PARC Street is here - it’s a detailed explanation of the why and how this just might be a benefit to credit union clients. Episode 17 is here. Episode 18 is hereLike what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com  And 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
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 286 Fonta Gilliam on Social Finance Software and the Wellthi App
Jan 31 2024
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 286 Fonta Gilliam on Social Finance Software and the Wellthi App
Three words: social finance software.By the end of this podcast you will know what the phrase means and why an embrace of social fiance software just might be a brilliant move on the part of many credit unions, a move that could benefit the communities that are served and also the credit unions who grasp that social finance software just might be a path to winning many more young members.On the show today is Fonta Gilliam, and it is her passionate mission to spread the gospel of social finance software.She’s the CEO and founder of Wellthi, an app that is built with the credit’s union name, brand and voice.  Wellthi explains itself on the company’s website: “Wellthi is a fintech social enterprise. Our technology helps customers structure their financial goals with family and friends through your mobile banking app. Our company has over half a dozen industry awards and recognitions from organizations like the FDIC, Mastercard, Nerd Wallet, Discover and the Independent Community Bankers of America.”This is a lively show and, along the way, we also hear a first person account of how to get venture funding.Listen up.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  And 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
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 285 BankingON's Boucoup and a New Approach to Teen Banking
Jan 24 2024
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 285 BankingON's Boucoup and a New Approach to Teen Banking
Meet the next generation of teen banking featuring a hefty dose of parental involvement.  That’s the gist of Boucoup by BankingON and you know BankingON. It’s the team behind the technology that powers Bank Dora, the innovative mobile banking app.About now your hand is probably waving because you want to point out a spelling error.Put the hand down.Boucoup looks like a spelling mistake, but, says Alexey Krasnoriadtsev, co-founder and CEO of BankingON, it’s no mistake. He picked the errant spelling because it’s a word that can be trademarked, the misspelling might per se win a little attention just because it is, and I’d add few Americans actually can correctly spell the French word anyway.But we all can kind of say it. And we know it means plenty.Right now lots of financial apps are targeting teens, even Chase is in the hunt.  But Boucoup is different in key respects from the main fintech products.  It’s white label, meaning the credit union name goes on it.It also gives parents tools to help teach teens about finance.There are gamification aspects as well.Also on the show is BankingON’s Aaron VillarrealListen upLike what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com  And 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
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 284 Barry Kirby of Union Credit on How to Attract Younger Members...Really
Jan 17 2024
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 284 Barry Kirby of Union Credit on How to Attract Younger Members...Really
You want more young members. That’s because credit unions have an aging problem - the average member age is mid 50s and yet the median age in the US is late 30s.Worse, as people enter their late 50s most have diminished interest in loans but they have high interest in big returns on their ready cash.Which brings us back to the young who of course often have an appetite for borrowing.Enter Barry Kirby of Union Credit.  A veteran of CuneXus, which was founded to help credit unions put more products in the hands of members, at Union Credit Kirby now is helping credit unions bring in new members, especially younger members.How? In the show Kirby talks about three tactics that he says are helping credit unions attract  the members they covet.Of course he’s aware of the ”liquidity crisis” that credit unions obsess about today but that “crisis” will vanish as we move into the next segment of the cycle.What will remain the same is the credit union failure to entice the young with what they want from an FI.Listen up to hear the how to.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  And 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
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 283 Cinchy's Ty Robbins on the Data Collaboration Revolution
Jan 10 2024
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 283 Cinchy's Ty Robbins on the Data Collaboration Revolution
Your credit union has the data. The insight you need is in there…some place.Enter Cinchy, which promises to deliver new ways to get more collaborative insights out of data.  That will also ease the pains - and costs - of data integration projects that often give credit unions more frustration than satisfaction.Sounds too good to be true?  The skepticism is understandable but on the show today to tell how Cinchy works is Ty Robbins, Field CTO.  But it’s the title Robbins used to have that jumpstarted my interest in listening to him.He came to Cinchy from First Service Credit Union where he had been Chief Data Officer and before that he had been SVP and CIO at People’s Trust Federal Credit Union.  Ty Robbins knows credit unions and their data, both the pains and the potentials, on an intimate basis.  Before joining Cinchy he had been a customer at First Service.He says he made the leap to Cinchy to spread the news about these tools to more credit unions.Face reality: credit unions are at an existential moment with data. Big banks use data to win. Credit unions need to get the same from their data.Robbins and Cinchy say they know how.Listen up.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  And 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
CU 2.0 Podcast Money Talks with Kirk Kordeleski Episode 18
Jan 4 2024
CU 2.0 Podcast Money Talks with Kirk Kordeleski Episode 18
What’s the anxiety level inside the credit union board room? If you’re like me you probably have few conversations with credit union board members and that’s why you want to tune into what Kirk Kordeleski, former CEO at Bethpage Federal Credit Union and now a go-to retirement planning expert for credit union c-suiters, tells us about what’s happening at the board level.Kordeleski talks with a lot of board members every week, he knows what’s on their minds.  For instance: mergers are probably the hot topic.  Sure, there’s more talk than action but know that just about every credit union is discussing merger right now.Also up for discussion: AI.  Board members know it’s coming. And they have a lot of thoughts about it, says Kordeleski.Along the way we discuss the death of the single SEG credit union and how that demise has triggered broad cultural and business changes in the industry.Another topic: Kordeleski’s focus on creating good, solid retirement plans for c-suiters at small credit unions.  This isn’t fantasy. It’s coming soon and it will help many credit unions retain their senior talent.There’s still more in this idea packed show.Listen upHear episode one in Money Talks here.  Episode 2 is here. Episode 3 is here. Episode 4 is here. Episode 5 is here. Episode 6 is here. Episode 7 is here. Episode 8 is here.  Episode 9 is here. Episode 10 is here.  11 is here. Episode 12 is here.  Episode 13 is here.  Episode 14 is here and that’s one you don’t want to miss because it is part 1 of So You Want to Be a Credit Union CEO? Part 2 of Becoming a CEO is here. Kordeleski on making events work for you is here.  Kordeleski on the first news about the creation of PARC Street is here - it’s a detailed explanation of the why and how this just might be a benefit to credit union clients. Episode 17 is hereLike what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com  And 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