Typically, Filene’s Research Council convenes twice a year to review proposed and soon-to-be released research projects. Considering the times we live in, the Spring Research Council meeting took on an open format with literally no agenda. Using this open approach, we simply posed the question: “What are the future opportunities and challenges for the credit union system?” to a group of progressive, industry leaders.
While you can certainly read the detailed notes of these discussions here, the most useful thoughts are summarized as follows:- Boards: This is the major Achilles heel of credit unions. A governance upgrade is needed through new blood, educational requirements and perhaps a lawsuit (ouch!) to shock the system into recognizing the need to upgrade boards’ competency level.
- Capital: The system’s once strong capital position is slipping through our fingers. New sources of capital must be identified.
- Regulator: There was palpable anger expressed against the NCUA. The system wants a more competent, accountable and influential regulator, now.
- Differentiation: Credit unions are different but they haven’t been able to tell their story. A compelling and dramatic message is essential which highlights the systems’ differences. This compelling message should focus on emotional, not functional attributes.
- Collaboration: The cost of running a credit union is increasing and nearly everyone intellectually agrees with the concept of CU-to-CU collaboration. To make collaboration go from theory to practice, a 3rd Party SWAT Team should be mobilized to illustrate how collaboration can work in the real world.
Determining how and if Filene will contribute to these important issues is what will occupy my time for the foreseeable future. I welcome your input on this list and others. This is crisis time folks, will we waste the opportunity?
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