At this year’s Financial Brand Forum, we had the privilege of delivering four high-impact sessions focused on one of the most pressing challenges credit unions face today: implementing the right technology stack across every member touchpoint. From in-branch and drive-thru experiences to digital platforms like mobile apps and online banking, today’s credit unions must not only invest in the right tools, but also deploy them strategically.
In each of our sessions, we emphasized one critical theme: the future of credit union success lies in holistic, channel-integrated technology strategies. And we weren’t alone in that message. We were honored to collaborate with forward-thinking partners, including Wasatch Peaks Credit Union, United Heritage Credit Union, and Engage FI, who each brought real-world insights and examples to the conversation.
These partnerships helped spotlight the importance of more than just tech selection. They reinforced that having the right guide—a partner who can walk with you through evaluation, selection, implementation, and optimization—is essential. Too often, organizations chase shiny solutions without first stepping back to ask: How will this work across every channel? Will it integrate? Does it align with how our members actually use our services?
A key point of emphasis across the sessions was data—specifically, gathering data about member behavior and transaction types. Understanding how your members are interacting with technology today should shape the decisions you make for tomorrow. Are they leaning into self-service? What transactions still drive them to the branch? How does the drive-thru experience compare to the mobile app journey? These insights become the blueprint for a unified, efficient, and scalable tech strategy.
When credit unions approach technology with this kind of intentionality, they don’t just modernize systems—they enhance the total member experience and improve operational efficiency. That’s the power of strategy: it transforms technology from a cost center into a growth engine.
For those who couldn’t attend or want to dig deeper, many of the insights shared in our sessions are captured in our latest white paper, The Future of Branching: Smaller Footprints, Scalable Solutions, and Efficient Operations. Download it today at level5.com/insights.
