Credit Unions’ Future: Thriving Through Collaboration

Many business decisions and products start with a business analysis of investment: time, capital, resources needed, and, ultimately, the financial return on that investment. These can be tricky, especially for smaller companies that may not have the personnel, expertise or assets to evolve their business. 

As technology continues to pervade the financial industry, how can smaller institutions, such as credit unions, remain relevant? 

The answer is simple: collaboration. 

Credit Union Service Organizations are credit unions’ secret weapon for efficiency, speed to market and increased relevance (aka survival). CUSOs are experts in their fields, backed by credit unions that understand exactly what you’re going through, like compressed interest margins, keeping up with the financial services ‘Joneses’ and providing unique opportunities to thrive. CUSOs work with multiple credit unions, so they understand what’s happening in the market, plus they possess the scale and specialized expertise to help your credit union execute on your goals.

Take a look at some of the many benefits of outsourcing for expertise at scale:

  • Use the credit unions’ collaborative model to invest in the high-price experts and resources for a fraction of the cost to offer better services to your members or create back-office efficiencies. Furthermore, the expertise you’re looking for may not be available on the job market. For example, the national average base pay for a card portfolio manager is more than $81K per year according to Glassdoor but not if you’re spreading that expense across multiple credit unions.
  • Lower your credit union’s overhead by leveraging the negotiating power of multiple credit unions or sharing resources across multiple credit unions. Member Support Services client credit unions collaboratively negotiate with business partners at multiple times their individual sizes, and these credit unions have succeeded in cutting their annual expenses by 24%
  • Gain scale, no matter your size. Many solutions, especially in tech, are sold per user or per transaction. As these volumes increase, the cost per unit significantly drops. By partnering with multiple credit unions, those volumes that once seemed unreachable can be attained. For example, a FTC report shows that group purchasing saved the healthcare industry more than 18% of revenue.
  • Diversify risk. Lowered cost and additional expertise drive down the total cost of ownership, resulting in a substantially lowered risk, allowing credit unions to provide a greater return to its members and focus on its purpose rather than attempting to build complex solutions.

Lowering costs and risk alleviates capital challenges and returns more to your bottom line.

Small- to mid-size credit unions cannot afford to go it alone. With continued low interest rates and tightened net interest margins for the foreseeable future, it’s time for credit unions to take action to not only survive but thrive!

Member Support Services can help your small- to mid-size credit union leverage the credit union community’s cooperative spirit to everyone’s success. Reach out to us today to learn more about how we can partner with your credit union to remain financially sound and relevant to your membership. Member Support Services allows you to focus on what’s important: serving your members.

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Building I, ste 102
Cranbury, NJ, 08512

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