Keeping Pace With Big Banks by Adopting Their Technology. Insights From Brenda DiMuro, Regional Sales Manager at CO-OP Financial Services

Episode Summary

In this episode of the Digital Banking Podcast, Josh DeTar discusses the impact of digitalization on the financial industry with his guest Brenda DiMuro, Regional Sales Manager at CO-OP Financial Services.

Not only do Brenda and her team at CO-OP service at least 50% of credit unions across the country, but they’re also currently working to enable Zelle for them. Due to its endorsement/adoption by major banks like Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo, Zelle is rapidly becoming the de facto standard for real-time, institution-to-institution P2P payments.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, it has become much clearer that digitalization is here to stay. According to Brenda, credit union members will not hesitate to look for other options if you don’t give them what they need.

If you want to hear more about the importance of continually updating your product offering, tune in to this episode of the Digital Banking Podcast with Brenda DiMuro.

Key Insights

⚡ Financial institutions have to be innovative to compete with new money movement solutions. In Brenda’s experience working within the financial sector, FIs have to recognize and seize every opportunity that’s given to them. If they’re not able to provide a certain service to their members, such as Zelle, their members will look for it elsewhere. ” We used to be a reseller; we used to do a lot of different things. And we’ve transitioned to a technology-first company, recognizing that we need to act more like a fintech for the credit unions because if we don’t, how can a lot of them compete?”

⚡ Unlike Venmo, Zelle has dispute resolution options and offers an extra level of security. Brenda and Josh chat about the advantages of Zelle over Venmo. They both agree that Zelle is a necessary element of being able to provide features that people are looking for. Brenda also explains that Zelle has an extra level of control and security, especially on the FI’s side. “You as the financial institution can go in and look at these transactions if someone was to call and say, ‘Hey, there was something weird going on.’ At the financial institution, they can go in and look at the account and pull things up and submit a case.”

⚡ COVID-19 has been a huge driver of digital transformation. People don’t want to deal with cash that much anymore, so it’s become much more sanitary to use digital money movement options. That’s why financial institutions must be prepared from a digital perspective. There’s no excuse for remaining stagnant when the world is changing rapidly.