What Leaders Need to Know to Future-Proof Their Credit Unions

Each year, we survey Jack Henry™ clients to uncover the top strategic priorities shaping the future of financial institutions.

For credit union leaders, the 2025 Strategy Benchmark offers actionable insights and peer comparisons to support your strategic planning—helping you identify emerging opportunities and drive innovation with your members at the center.

Here are a few key takeaways:

Leverage AI and Data to Streamline Operations

Improving operational efficiency is the top priority for credit union CEOs over the next two years. Economic uncertainty and heightened competition pressure financial service providers to do more with less. Therefore, taking a concerted stance on technology planning is critical. If that’s your focus, invest in digital banking, fraud prevention, and automation to streamline operations.

Use your existing data to power AI-driven solutions like automated loan underwriting, decision engines, and funding processes. But to truly unlock AI’s potential, you need a strong data strategy. Open banking plays a critical role here, giving you access to the real-time, high-quality data needed to fuel these innovations.

To move forward, ask yourself:

1. Do we have the right data? If not, where can we get it?
2. Do we have enough data? If not, how can we collect more?
3. Can we access the right data in real time? What infrastructure or integrations are needed to make that possible?

Enhance SMB Services to Grow Membership and Deepen Value

With 72% of credit unions planning to expand small to mid-sized business (SMB) services, now is the time to act.

Many small businesses are realizing the need for digitizing their banking and accounting processes. You can attract and retain small business members by offering convenient payment options, digital self-service tools, and a broader range of credit and lending products.

Use your data to identify existing retail members who are also small business owners; they’re often hidden in plain sight. With the right analytics and core data, you can automate approvals, offer cash flow tools, streamline onboarding, and provide a one-stop solution that helps SMBs manage payables, optimize deposits, and grow with confidence.

To enhance payment services, focus on implementing FedNow®, ACH origination, and tools that help SMBs accept payments and automate workflows. Open banking can support these efforts.

In lending, AI can improve efficiency through smarter underwriting, automated decisioning, and personalized short-term financing based on cash flow data.

Ultimately, these tools not only improve operations and help you grow membership—they also deepen your value to business members.

Enable Growth by Attracting Younger Members With Seamless Digital Experiences

Member acquisition remains a top concern, especially when it comes to Gen Z. To win their loyalty, offer a mobile-first, streamlined account opening experience powered by open banking and fast, secure processes.

Gen Z prefers debit cards and expects seamless digital experiences. By delivering fast onboarding, efficient payment tools, and standout service, you can capture this growing market and build long-term relationships.

Utilize Education and Open Banking to Address Rising Fraud

Fraud and cyberattacks are growing threats. The most pressing concerns include account takeover (ATO), authorized push payment (APP) fraud, and counterfeit checks. Phishing tops the list of cybersecurity threats, followed by ransomware and malware.

To protect your credit union and your members, embrace open banking to aggregate data for real-time anomaly detection and stronger authentication. Implementing passkeys based on FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) standards can help prevent credential-based attacks like ATO.

And don’t underestimate the power of education: regular training helps staff and members recognize and resist social engineering and phishing attacks. To further strengthen your security posture, combine simulation-based training alongside robust authentication, especially as legacy systems remain a common target.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Download the full 2025 Strategy Benchmark to uncover bold strategies and unlock opportunities for your credit union.

Jennifer Geis, Senior Strategic Advisor, Research and Payments at Jack Henry™, spearheads primary research for the corporate strategy team at Jack Henry, leveraging her deep expertise in the payments and analytics sectors. As the liaison between product and executive teams, Geis plays a key role in shaping the payments strategy. She also provides valuable recommendations for product enhancements and vendor relationships and forecasts emerging payment trends.