Top 5 reasons to invest in business intelligence in 2022
So, you bit the bullet. You hired data managers and IT pros and purchased all the shiny analytics tools required to transform data into dollars for your credit union. What’s your next move?
If you’re feeling uncertain, you aren’t alone. You’ve joined the ranks of many businesses, including credit unions, that have found the treasure chest– but are still looking for the right key. Making the right data moves can feel overwhelming and nerve-racking, especially for credit unions that have been traditionally slower to change.
With the other pieces in place, the master key to unlocking your data treasure chest can be found in a good quality business intelligence system. What may now seem garbled and confusing can quickly become usable, simplified, and actionable information. With 2022 expected to be a year of “data literacy,” here are the top five reasons to implement a business intelligence solution in 2022.
- Simplifying Data Gathering
2022 will see more growth in third-party solutions for credit card, mortgage origination and online banking. This means more data silos separate from core system data, and a much less complete picture of your credit union’s current and future health.
Business intelligence programs bring multiple and disparate data sources into a holistic view of your credit union. The resulting insights are generated far more accurately and quickly, offering a real competitive advantage.
- Data In = Insights Out
As COVID drives more online transactions and digital member engagement, it is critical to not only capture this online data but be able to transform it into a deeper strategic understanding. Newer business intelligence technology has greatly streamlined dash-boarding and reporting suites that can more easily reveal complex data insights your credit union may have never previously experienced. It can quickly guide you to the key performance indicators that pinpoint your successes and areas for improvement.
Business intelligence in 2022 will be all about moving credit unions from descriptive to predictive and prescriptive uses of their data. Business intelligence will even enable another key trend for 2022 – real-time data analytics.
- Strengthen Member Relationships
Online banking is the present and the future. But every credit union knows that doesn’t mean personal relationships no longer play a starring role. It’s where credit unions have always had an advantage in the financial services industry. An effective business intelligence strategy only strengthens this edge by helping credit unions understand and meet member needs – before they even realize they have them!
For example, ACH transaction analysis can look deeply into members’ spending habits to identify new product opportunities and build targeted and truly effective marketing campaigns. It fortifies relationships with existing members when they see how well you are prepared to address their needs.
- Identify New Trends
Easy access to historical performance data is critical to understanding the current and future success of your credit union. The forward-thinking powers of business intelligence identify new business and data evolutions and help you understand why these trends are happening. Business intelligence combines and organizes data so it makes sense, revealing what was not otherwise obvious. By astutely looking at both the past and future, business intelligence brings clarity to the next right move. In 2022, it will become easier and faster to get those insights than ever before.
- Advancing with AI
State-of-the-art business intelligence can be combined with artificial intelligence and produce powerful, advanced insights not possible even a few short years ago.
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing how we interpret data. It has opened the door to predicting the future as opposed to simply analyzing the past, providing crucial intelligence for business decisions. Forecasts and predictive results become more and more accurate with the right business intelligence programs, allowing credit unions to take advantage of these exciting new technologies with a much smaller learning curve than ever before.
Many credit unions are beginning 2022 with the understanding that both technology and trends are changing faster and more often than they can keep up with on their own. The introduction of business intelligence will keep your credit union on the leading edge allowing you to give the most and best to your members quickly and easily. Make 2022 your most intelligent year yet.
Co-author – Lorrie West
Suchit Shah and Lorrie West are the vice president and senior manager of professional services at Trellance. They will lead a free, live webinar on January 19 at 2:00 PM EST that explores business intelligence strategies for 2022.
