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Be in the Know About Members' Preferences

happy woman with smiley face on her cell phone screen showing her good experiences
By Ryon Packer

2 minutes

What do members want out of their credit union experiences?

Sponsored by Fiserv

As members begin to expect big-tech experiences from every organization they interact with, the only way to stay on top is to have a keen understanding of exactly what it is they are looking for in their credit union experience.

This is why Fiserv continues to poll and publish one of the longest-running consumer studies in the financial services industry, Expectations and Experiences. In our latest installment of this ongoing research series—2018 Expectations & Experiences: Household Finances—we help credit union professionals dive deep into consumer attitudes toward their own finances—and, by extension, the opportunities they might have to make their experiences better in key channels.

Financial well-being is the bedrock of what members want out of their credit union experience—and only 37 percent of them are satisfied with where they are financially. Their attitudes about their own financial health inform the types of solutions a credit union can implement to meet their needs, both spoken and unspoken. For example, the study indicates that members want help with things like making money management faster and easier, and members are expecting it sooner rather than later. Importantly, they are looking for practical solutions that have clear value—not necessarily bells and whistles like functionality on wearables.

Instead, consumers are after things like better money management tools—including centralized information—and streamlined experiences with things like paying the rent, paying the bills or paying at the store.

These fundamental member attitudes are the baseline for other specific areas, like payments. It is important to view these ancillary channel strategies not as piecemeal efforts, but rather as holistic-minded pieces that join together to create winning member experiences, based on member financial realities.

No matter what, keeping up with member preferences is a critical step for credit unions to take. When combined with the right partners and mindset, there is considerable success to enjoy if credit union leaders take a data-rich, pragmatic view of their members’ financial lives—and what they need to make them better.

Ryon Packer is SVP/strategy and marketing for CUES Supplier member Fiserv, Brookfield, Wis., where he leads product strategy for credit union solutions, defining product priorities, marketing and positioning to enable Fiserv clients to deliver solutions aligned to how people live and work today.

If you liked this post, you might like Payments University and CUES School of Member Experience™, both in Denver.

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