CUProdigy’s Community-Oriented Approach to Digital Banking for Credit Unions
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“If everything we rely on is housed by one or two or three large organizations whose sole purpose is to just make a lot of money, [it] feels scary as a consumer that I would be at their mercy to that degree — versus my local and community banks who have ties to our community, who have a vested interest in making sure communities survive events like that, and can continue to thrive and have small businesses available and provide opportunity.”
Episode Summary
Credit unions are uniquely able to create intimate relationships with members, especially in rural towns where access to critical resources is limited.
A passionate advocate and CEO of CUProdigy, Amber Harsin understands that better than most. She’s committed much of her career to credit unions — she credits working in branch after high school with providing unique opportunities to discover her full potential.
Now, she ensures CUProdigy, a core data processor vendor, can help credit unions empower the financial stability of their members through seamless multi-channel user experiences.
Between navigating a global pandemic and a series of earthquakes, Amber’s first six months of her latest role with the Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) have been a rollercoaster.
Still, in this episode of the Digital Banking podcast with host and Tyfone’s VP of Sales and Marketing Josh DeTar, Amber shares her enthusiasm to help credit unions help others.
Technology plays a significant role in supporting credit unions to change business models, so it’s important that providers modernize their core infrastructure and architecture.
And to get ahead of 2020’s ripple effects, credit unions should apply these tools to offer digital financial services in creative ways, like placing kiosks in local hubs to give the people-first experience they’re known for.
During our conversation, Amber also tells the CUProdigy origin story, how the CUSO approaches servicing credit unions and what would happen if community banks disappeared from small towns.
Plus, how can credit unions differentiate themselves from competing conglomerates that cash in on convenience?
Key Insights
⚡Technology providers like CUProdigy enable credit unions to highlight their differentiators against the PayPal’s and Venmo’s of the financial world, and that’s crucial: ”If every single thing about how we live and operate is run by Google or Amazon, what does that really mean for us stability wise?” asks Amber.
⚡Credit unions, your community presence strategy should include more than just physical approaches. Get creative to figure how to create person-less touchpoints that still allow you to have a presence beyond an ATM machine — Amber suggests placing a thinking kiosk at local high schools or churches.
⚡Amber frequently reminds her team that she doesn’t view their members as clients or users — no technology provider should. Instead, service credit unions longterm by prioritizing personal connections and treating members like family. That’s the people-helping-helping approach.
