Do credit unions trust each other enough to make collaboration happen? In the face of diminishing margins, increasing expenses, fierce competition, and declining memberships, credit unions must trust each other and collaborate to survive. Connecting the Dots on Credit Union Collaboration: A Colloquium at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, summarizes the key findings of a 2007 colloquium of academics, practitioners and consultants, which was sponsored by Filene in conjunction with the Wharton School.
Insights included:
- Shared technology and trust are key enablers for collaboration.
- Collaboration is a phased process that occurs in steps, not leaps.
- Success stories in collaboration vary from networking opportunities, building a shared back office, or the establishment of a large cooperative unit such as Desjardins Group
So, what is your credit union doing to collaborate? What are the rewards and challenges?
View the presentations from our colloquium presenters.
Comments
2
I’ve been trying to get people here at Maine State CU participating on Everything CU (one of my favorite sources of CU collaboration).
Also, our league here in Maine has set up a forum on their web site to help facilitate the exchange of info and ideas. Unfortunately it doesn’t see much traffic apart from a me and a few of my coworkers. I’m not sure if its because people just don’t feel like collaborating or if it is a matter of people being unaware of the resource.
Link to this comment
We’ve been collaborating with FORUM Credit Union for the past two years. As a result, both organizations have the best MRM system that rivals the industry leaders. Yet, both organizations are using the technology in different ways. We knew that working together and the result speaks to that.
I don’t believe the issue is so much about the collaborative process. It’s much to do about the execution of the collaborative result(s).
In regards to large scale collaboration, I think it begs the question….how large is large?
Link to this comment