Through independent research and innovation, the Filene Research Institute explores issues vital to the future of credit unions and consumer finance.
Last week, your research council and i3 group convened for a joint meeting to discuss the credit union system’s research and innovation priorities in Portland, Oregon. What follows is a summary of the meeting and some thoughts on potential next steps.
Why do many large credit unions grow rapidly and thrive, while others produce much slower growth in assets, membership, and earnings? Robert F. Hoel, Colorado State University Emeritus Professor of Business and a Filene Research Fellow, sought to answer that question by analyzing data from a five- year period beginning January 2002. The result is the report, Thriving Large Credit Unions.
categories » Lending, Life Cycle and Evolution of Credit Unions, Performance Measures, Small Credit Unions
Fill out your brackets, folks.
As huge financial institutions and governments work their way to a stressful sixteen and perhaps an awkward eight, the Filene Research Institute convenes a panel of research fellows in Portland to talk about the fallout. Instant updates and Q&A below …
(a full tongue-in-cheek bracket courtesy of the Wired Epicenter blog is attached in Comment #1 below)
categories » Consumer/Member Data, Market Structure and Field of Membership, Philosophy and Values, Research in Motion, Safety and Soundness
Ahhhh … Portland: Powell’s City of Books. The Willamette River. Microbrews.
What do you get when you put eight academics, 50 innovators, and 30 credit union CEOs in the same in the same Beaver State ballroom? Well, besides lav mikes and PowerPoint, a lot of good ideas.
Read on for some juicy tidbits …
categories » Filene News
The U.S. Treasury Department is asking every man, woman and child in the United States to contribute $2,300 to stabilize the financial markets, and by proxy, the entire economy. To help make sense of this historic situation, the Filene Research Institute is tapping the expertise of our Research Fellows, a blue ribbon panel of experts from the academic and consulting world.
categories » Filene News, Research in Motion
In its ongoing efforts to analyze issues affecting the future of consumer finance, we have released the second in a series of Consumer Finance Research Briefs, based on information derived from Ohio State University’s Consumer Finance Monthly (CFM) survey. Consumer Debt Stress and Credit Cards, by Filene Executive Director and CEO Mark Meyer, explores debt- related stress with a focus on credit card debt.
categories » Lending, Marketing, Consumer Behavior and Market Research
Credit unions need young adults, and young adults need credit unions. Nowhere is this more clear than from the financial headlines that have documented many lenders’ speedy withdrawal from the student loan business. Many student lenders, including some of the largest, have begun to pull back from lending to community college students. More than 40%—6.2 million out of 14.8 million—of American undergraduates attend community colleges. Even though secondary market funding has dried up during the credit crunch, the consumer need remains. This brief outlines the opportunity and how credit unions can position themselves to target young adults.
categories » CU Tomorrow, Young Adult Recruiting, Young Adults and Families
To discover the dominant views of credit union employees toward their organizations, we asked anthropologists John B. Gatewood, Lehigh University, and John W. Lowe, Cultural Analysis Group, to look into the matter. The result is a newly released report, Employee Perceptions of Credit Unions: Implications for Member Profitability. Listen to a podcast with the authors:
categories » Human Resource Issues, Marketing, Consumer Behavior and Market Research, Podcasts
Because no one sent me any gifts or bribes, I was forced to actually read the responses. And after much deliberation and long nights spent analyzing them, I have determined a winner. Now, without further ado….
categories » Filene News, Philosophy and Values
Imagine you have a well-known, influential opinion maker in the elevator with you on the ride up to your hotel room at your favorite credit union meet up. This opinion maker has been seeing credit union people all over the hotel the past few days. She looks at your name badge and asks, “What are credit unions and why should I care?”
categories » Life Cycle and Evolution of Credit Unions, Philosophy and Values