In my previous blog post, I wrote about the need for action, not just talk. And I alluded to a few of the big topics discussed at the Credit Unions at the Crossroads Symposium, Aug. 10-12 at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.
One of the big topics was shared branching: How wouldn’t it be great if a CU member could walk into any credit union branch in the country and do their banking? Several in attendance (but not all) felt that 100 percent participation in a shared branch and ATM network would let credit unions compete with even the biggest banks on convenience.
Bill Handel, VP/research and product development at CUES Supplier member Raddon Financial Group, Lombard, Ill., shared a slide that compared credit unions’ main distinguishing factor to that of banks.
For CUs: 42 percent of members said price was the biggest distinguishing factor, 35 percent said convenience and 23 percent said service.
For banks: 61 percent of customers said convenience was the main factor, 23 percent said service (the same as for CUs, above!) and 16 percent said price.
To summarize, CUs beat banks on price, they are tied for service and are far behind on convenience.
Is an all-in approach to shared branching the way to solve the convenience problem? What is your take?
p.s. Bill Handel will lead a session called “The New Face of Credit Union Profitability” at CUES CEO/Executive Team Network, Nov. 6-9 in Las Vegas.
Theresa Witham is a CUES editor.
