The Debanked: An update on unbanked consumers
by. Ron Shevlin Most of you are genuinely nice, caring people who sincerely want to help other people who may be in need. Whatever. But for too many of you, your view of what it [...]
News Archives
Burning down the house
by. Henry Meier Call me wacky, but I don’t think a convicted arsonist should be able to collect insurance for burning down his house. If you agree, you’ll understand why I am a [...]
Here’s the story of payday lending…
by Ken Agle The first Latin phrase I ever learned was caveat emptor. I learned this vocabulary from The Brady Bunch episode where Mike Brady (the father, as you know) intended to help his son [...]
Defending against pass-the-hash attacks
There is a nice article about this attack here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pass_the_hash. This is not a new attack as it was first described in 1997. But it is a relatively [...]
What your credit union needs to survive
Ongoing Operations has worked with hundreds of credit unions and seen numerous disaster recovery strategies brought to their knees by poor connectivity choices. In many ways, we would argue the most important technology decision you [...]
Your story, your future: A cooperative approach to regulatory advocacy
“One member, one vote,” has been one of the hallmarks of the credit union cooperative system. “One credit union, one comment” needs to become the hallmark of regulatory advocacy. With the deadline to comment on [...]
Man v. Cloud: 3 tips for migrating to the cloud
I love Man v. Food! The concept of some poor bloke pitting himself against the biggest, tastiest, spiciest foodstuffs that the United States of America can throw at him has an unending appeal for me. [...]
Quick tips for improving employee communications during a crisis
by. Robin Remines Incidents happen all the time (storms, power failures, network outages) and credit unions must be prepared. Risk mitigation is simply part of the job for every credit union employee. Our role is [...]
How prepaid competitors are (or will soon be) distributing their cards
by. Konrad Christensen A new report from Mercator Advisory Group says a solid distribution strategy is one of the most critical requirements of a prepaid program’s success. The report, Prepaid Distribution Strategies in the [...]
If you’re not mobile, you’re not banking
by. Henry Meier One of my favorite surveys (yes these are the type of things I look forward to) is the Federal Reserve’s Annual Survey of the use of mobile and smart phones (those [...]
Marketing gurus and marketing morons
by. Ron Shevlin Dr. John Dawes nails it. In a white paper titled Marketing Gurus and Fads – how to avoid them, Dawes writes: “Marketing abounds with ‘fads’ – which over-promise and under-deliver. These messages are sometimes [...]
Dodd-Frank: What does it mean for you?
by. Alan Jackson After the events of the last few years, not many would argue that the framework regulating American financial institutions was in need of reform. However, the main piece of legislation that was [...]
Five benefits of having a virtual customer service representative
There’s no denying the transition in our society from “being served” to “serving ourselves.” Gone are the days of pulling into a gas station and having an attendant come out to pump your gas. [...]
Brand and Culture: Evil twins or the perfect pair?
When synchronized, the promise your brand makes becomes validated by the culture in which members are serviced. Because member experience is driven by the culture your staff embraces as every day life, it is imperative [...]
Millennials: How to attract generation share
I’ve heard the term generation “me” placed on millennials in a not so positive light calling us self absorbed and entitled. I have to argue that generation “me” is really generation “we.” All that [...]