Credit Unions Can’t Afford to Hold off on Mobile Banking

by. Aaron Passman

If your credit union is still taking a wait-and-see approach to mobile banking, you are in danger of missing the boat if you don’t act quickly.

“The boat is getting pretty dang close to leaving the dock,” said Brian Abele, senior vice president of product management at Q2ebanking. “It’s really critical for credit unions to make sure they start jumping into this. Not only are we seeing that mobile is becoming more of a standard across the board for every institution, but we’re starting to get to the next level of functionality and services—like mobile deposit capture—and once they’re rolled out to members they’re adapted very quickly and are some of the most engaging services for members.”

For a time, many credit unions felt they could get by with optimizing their online banking website for a mobile device rather than a dedicated app, but many analysts that spoke to Credit Union Journal said those days have passed.

It’s about membership engagement, Abele said, and the realization that the credit union isn’t the only one engaging with them. “Once the members really start to see what’s going on around them and at other institutions and see the commercials on TV, they start asking questions about being able to add those additional services,” he suggested.

Plus, said Mickey Goldwasser, Q2’s VP of marketing, the demographics have changed. Mobile adoption initially was driven by younger consumers, but now “people from age 35 to in their fifties are steadily adopting these technologies.” In other words, the same age demographic as the traditional credit union member.

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