While it may seem unfathomable to think about a world without a credit union, it is not wholly unreasonable.
When you think about the function that credit union has in the overall US banking system, it is simply an intermediary. It is a lovely and supportive but albeit pass-through for members to keep their money in a safe place and get loans for homes, cars, and vacations (i.e., via the credit card). This is essentially the function of modern banking as it we know it.
Banking has been around for an exceptionally long time. The oldest bank in existence is Banca Monte Dei Paschi di Siena, headquartered in Siena, Italy, opening its doors in 1472. This is the 20 years before Christopher Columbus did his mighty expedition to find "America" To say that the world is a very different place since then is an understatement. As crazy as it may seem, the fundamental function of financial intermediaries has been around for centuries. It has only been in the last 30 - ish years, with the shift from traditional banking to internet banking, the landscape started to change. Financial Technology
(FinTechs) has helped escalate the shift from traditional banking by offering new ways to access funds, make payments, and more. The need to have a "pass-thru" was still there but not as strong. This landscape of traditional and nonbank finance became even more blurry with the recent advent of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is a digital asset. This means that while you can play with it, it is not issued by a central banking system, so it is categorized as decentralized. This means it is unregulated, and the result is the shifting in volatility.
In January of 2021, Anchorage Digital became the first crypto firm to receive a banking charter. In March, they teamed up with a crypto trading platform Prometheum to launch a fully regulated alternative trading system specifically for professional crypto investors.
Why is this a big deal?
Because cryptocurrency has the unique ability to democratize finance and replace a credit union with peer-to-peer relationships, so there is no need to have your money stored in a "holding tank" when you can directly pay in crypto. This new way of banking is called DeFi, short for decentralized finance. While it is still in its infancy, the future looks bright.
The biggest question to ask here is how is your credit union preparing for DeFi?
The answer lies in your data strategy. Here are four questions to help assess your organization's data strategy's current condition to provide clarity on the direction in this new world.
#1 Is the enterprise data vision relevant?
Does your organization have a data vision? If so, take a moment to review the organization's data vision. What was the business problem identified that data will solve? Does it seem relevant? How should it be adjusted or altogether scrapped? If your organization does not have a data vision, think about creating one. The enterprise data vision is the overarching data destination that the credit union is aspiring to achieve.
#2 What friction do your members/customers experience doing business with your organization?
Your members/customers are engaging with your organization in ways they may not have before. It is essential to identify areas of friction that members may have doing business with your organization. If the friction is too much, members will take flight, so the quicker these friction points can be identified, the better. Please note that changes do not need to be massive process overhauls. In most cases, smaller, iterative changes are better. The quicker your organization can reduce member/customer friction, the faster you will experience short and long-term rewards.
#3 How has our current data culture change?
Taking a moment to identify the good, the bad, and the ugly of your culture will help bring clarity to positive aspects of your organization's culture and continue to encourage, foster and feed.
#4 What is the current state of our organizational data maturity?
Take a moment to review the current state of your organizations' data maturity. What does your organizations' data maturity look like? Do you have a formal data governance program? If data maturity feels like a low priority, then please take a moment to adjust your thinking. Data maturity is the foundation, the blueprint, the architectural renderings to your dream data home. Most home building experts will never head to an open piece of land and just digging and hope to create a home. Why would you do that with your data?
Now is a perfect time to align the data vision to the friction and create a plan to leverage the new culture and focus on achieving impactful member relationships.
Curious about the current state of data at your
credit union?
Take this quick
Data Success Assessment to find out!
Found at the bottom of the page.
Where can I fill my data knowledge gaps?
With a stop at the
Data Education Center.
We believe that data transformation doesn't have to feel overwhelming or expensive to be impactful. After helping over 600 credit union leaders launch their data journeys, we have identified several consistent knowledge gaps. We have worked hard to fill these gaps with a variety of educational artifacts:
NEW! Read the Data Education White Paper (found at the bottom of the page)
What if I want something more? Does someone offer data education classes with real-world applications?
Yep, that is what we do, of course, and so much more. To learn more, please review our data transformation institute