As COVID-19 continues to impact our lives, your members need you now more than ever before. How can credit unions continue to do more for their members, not just by helping them bank better but improving their financial wellness, especially when so many are in crisis? Consumers today have access to countless financial tools, services and products from their phone; what they don’t have, in many cases, is a Primary Financial Relationship (“PFR”) with their financial institution to help them when times are tough.
Building a Primary Financial Relationship with your members is about giving them the tools they need to improve their daily financial lives. In the current climate, that means helping members instantly move and manage their money, keep track of their spending and budget when their income just got impacted, and access the appropriate loans and credit products they need quickly. Even after the economy starts to stabilize and rebound, members will continue to lean into using more self-service digital banking apps versus in-person transactions. They will think less about the traditional lending partner and more about who can offer them the best loan terms for their individual needs.
Payments, when tactfully leveraged across the entire member relationship, can help credit unions develop more frequent touchpoints while also delivering greater value to their members. By focusing on achieving PFR status, credit unions can continue to maintain the trust and loyalty of their members while fueling growth in every area of their business.
The need for credit unions to play a bigger role in their members’ daily lives has never been more vital, and CO-OP believes the best way to do this is by leveraging day-to-day engagement with a strong payments strategy.
That is why we have just released a new premium content piece: “The Payments Playbook: A Credit Union CEO’s Guide to Winning the Payments Game”. This playbook is designed to provide you with everything you need to understand how payments are impacting your credit union and how to maximize your payments strategy for growth.
We hope you find it helpful as you begin your journey towards mastering your payments strategy.
