In credit union land, we love our dashboards. Metrics, benchmarks, quarterly comparisons, these are our comfort blankets. ROA, loan-to-share, net worth ratio—we monitor them with the precision of NASA engineers. But here’s the problem: in a world accelerating toward economic, technological, and generational shifts, optimizing for yesterday’s metrics is a strategic liability.
Credit unions don’t have a relevance problem because they’re too small. They have a relevance problem because they’re too cautious.
Let’s be honest: many credit union boards and executive teams confuse “low-risk” with “no-change.” We pour resources into incremental gains—tweaking indirect lending strategies, testing rate offers, refining email subject lines—while the world around us is rewriting the playbook. Banks are buying fintechs. Fintechs are becoming banks. Meanwhile, we’re still debating whether to post on TikTok.
There’s a reason Gen Z is more likely to download a neobank app than walk into a branch. It’s not just marketing—it’s mindset. Credit unions often act like institutions, but market like mission-driven rebels. The disconnect is obvious.
Many credit union leaders are trapped in what Clay Christensen called “the innovator’s dilemma.” Our institutions were built to avoid risk. But in avoiding today’s risk, we walk straight into tomorrow’s obsolescence.
Credit unions launch financial literacy programs instead of rethinking product design. We run one-year pilots where startups would prototype in a weekend. We split hairs over regulatory interpretations while fintechs launch full-stack digital banks under industrial loan charters.
Mind you, this isn’t an argument for recklessness, it’s an argument for relevance. And relevance requires risk. Not financial risk, necessarily. But political risk. Cultural risk. Reputational risk. Credit unions need to get comfortable with being a little uncomfortable.
Instead of asking:
“How can we improve our indirect lending by 0.5%?”
Ask:
“What would lending look like if we designed it like Spotify—on-demand, personalized, and built around life moments instead of loan types?”
Instead of asking:
“How can we get more engagement on our financial tips blog?”
Ask:
“What would it look like to co-create a financial app with our members?”
Instead of asking:
“How can we better cross-sell credit cards?”
Ask:
“Should we be in the credit card business at all, or build something truly ethical to replace it?”
There are credit unions breaking the mold. Some are reimagining credit scoring using alternative data. Others are exploring community wealth-building strategies—like co-financing worker cooperatives or launching in-house incubators. A few are testing decentralized identity tools and blockchain-based back-office systems.
The common thread? They’re not waiting for permission. They’re not trapped in the “But what if compliance says no?” feedback loop. They’re designing for the member of 2030—not the one who visits a branch twice a year.
We don’t need another DEI task force with no budget. We need to dismantle the systems that created the disparities. We don’t need to “modernize” our brand. We need to modernize our thinking. We don’t need to write another strategic plan. We need to write a new playbook.
This industry was built on rebellion—on people coming together to say, “We’ll build our own system.” That same spirit is needed now more than ever. In the end, credit unions don’t need to play it safe. They need to play it smart, fast, and a little bit fearless. The future isn’t going to wait for our next strategic planning retreat.
