Credit unions (CUs) provide financial services to communities of members who are often connected by location, work, and education. While many CUs may not have the national or regional reach of a traditional bank, their members believe they can offer digital-first capabilities that can compete with those offered by for-profit financial institutions (FIs). I'm looking forward to it. Research shows that CUs are tackling this challenge, but some are doing it better than others. The first-of-its-kind index measures members' satisfaction with CU's current and future services and provides insight into what CU does well and where it needs to improve.
The most innovative CUs are divided into top 30 performing groups and match member preferences approximately 68% of the time. The bottom 30 performers match approximately 40% of CU members' wishes. Additionally, top performers invest 13% more in payment innovation than low performers, resulting in a 57% reduction in member churn. It is also in a favorable position to increase membership numbers.
These are just some of the findings from the study.2024 Credit Union Innovation Readiness Index” (CU-IRI), PYMNTS Intelligence and P.S.C.U. collaboration. This report examines how CUs can benefit from digital innovation to gain membership and reduce churn. This index is based on two of her studies. First, he surveyed 201 CU executives from October 4, 2023 to November 16, 2023 to learn about CU's current product and feature offerings, as well as plans for future innovations. was carried out. Next, we surveyed 4,525 U.S. consumers from November 2, 2023 to December 6, 2023 to find out what products and features consumers want and expect from CU. A national census balance survey was conducted.
Other key findings from the report include:
The most innovative CUs continue to outperform the less innovative CUs.
We found that 93% of IRI's top performers increased their total investment in payments innovation over the past year, compared to 58% of bottom performers. Top-performing CUs have more success investing in innovation than other companies, with 90% achieving a positive ROI from investments in payments innovation, while lower-performing CUs It was 63%. The most innovative CUs also performed well on other metrics this year.
Top performers invest in highly personalized user experiences.
Nearly three-quarters of top CUs say providing a highly personalized user experience will be essential to attracting more members over the next three years. Just over half of the bottom performers say the same thing. Rather, less innovative CUs are more likely to prioritize a simple and intuitive user experience. This suggests that CU may not be successful by prioritizing products with broad but general appeal.
Fundamental issues hinder the success of lower-performing CUs.
Low-performing CUs are more likely than medium- and high-performing CUs to cite regulatory and compliance issues and budget constraints as the most important challenges in bringing payments innovations to market. Masu. Budget concerns are his second most cited issue, but may be the most concerning. 16% of lower-performing CUs cited budget deficiencies, compared to just 3.3% of higher-performing CUs.
By increasing their investment in innovation, companies at the top of the index are clearly committed to delivering the products their members want. Download the report to find out how CUs are leveraging innovation. Digital first banking The experience consumers want.
