The comfort of data-driven decisions
Recently, my wife and I were shopping for a mattress. We began the process by “trying out” mattresses by how they felt. My wife thought she preferred firm mattresses, while I thought I preferred soft [...]
News Archives
Data-driven prepaid strategy retains, attracts engaged cardholders
It’s not usual for a financial institution to discover most of the revenue generated by its prepaid card portfolio comes from a small number of cardholders. Here again, the 80-20 rule holds true. Yet [...]
How to deal with zombie debt
You can blame my impressionable mind or The Walking Dead for my reoccurring zombie theme, but unlike my last article, this one is quite a bit more serious. Zombie debt and those that try to [...]
How to use Facebook to engage your customers
As of 2016, 78 percent of U.S. Americans had a social media profile and there were almost 200 million Facebook users in the United States. The value of a social media presence has never [...]
Never use a shoe to do a hammer’s job
I once put together a bookcase with a shoe and a screwdriver. I was young(er), impulsive, and it was too late to go to the store to get a hammer. I was tired of [...]
A strategy for competing in the age of fintech
Credit unions are fully aware that there is a new kid in town and he isn’t playing by the traditional rules. His name is fintech. In the last five years, the global investment community [...]
How technology can help your Turkey Day
There are so many apps for our smartphones that sometimes it’s hard to know which ones are worth downloading. There is literally an app out there for everything, from communication and messaging, to gaming, [...]
Lead with an attitude of gratitude
Thanksgiving is the time of year to give thanks for our many blessings. We often forget to be thankful as we go about our hectic day-to-day lives, but it is important we take time to [...]
In an uncertain world, look for the silver lining
When it comes to putting the finishing touches on strategic plans and budgets for 2017, thinking through solutions to the industry’s on-going challenges can have even the most seasoned credit union management team shaking [...]
No rest for the weary: Musings on the cooling enforcement climate
Compliance leaders may have rubbed their eyes in amazement when they saw the figures recently released in the latest Banking Compliance Index (BCI), our quarterly tracking index that measures the incremental cost burden on financial [...]
Story telling: A powerful element in credit union staff training initiatives
Every day, somewhere in the credit union industry, a credit union, CUSO, league, or trade association welcomes a new employee. For many of these new additions to the extended credit union family, their onboarding may [...]
How gross pay becomes net pay
Anytime your pay changes, whether it be the result of a new job or a pay raise, you immediately wonder what that next paycheck is going to look like. It’d be nice if it [...]
7 ways to be happier
Help others One of the best ways to make yourself happier is to make someone else feel happy. We’ve all heard that’s it’s better to give than to receive. Many studies have [...]
Credit unions must redefine the digital experience
Over $12.6B was invested in FinTech1 in the first six months of this year, building on more than $19B of investment through 2015. The bar for digital disruption in the financial sector has been [...]
It’s not just business – it’s personal
One of my favorite movies of all time is “You’ve Got Mail” with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. I recall the scene where Tom Hanks says to Meg Ryan, “Its business – not personal.” I [...]