It’s a wrap! To those of you who joined us in San Diego for big.bright.minds. 2024, it was wonderful to see you. To those who couldn’t make it, we would love to see you next year, where we’ll be discussing the most pressing trends and exploring the most cutting-edge innovations shaping the future of credit unions and consumer finance.
Four top takeaways from big.bright.minds. 2024.
1. Bold and courageous leadership
The need for bold and courageous leadership is greater than ever.
In an environment of profound uncertainty, everyone can be a leader who models the way with insight, care, and courage. What does it take to lead courageously?
Dr. Quinetta Roberson, Filene Fellow for the Center for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, kicked off big.bright.minds. 2024 with a compelling definition of courage as a function of inner conviction divided by penalty potential—that is, taking action in the face of not only uncertainty but personal risk. Dr. Roberson called on credit union leaders to embrace moments of challenge and crisis to initiate and lead change, normalize vulnerability and foster trust, build support networks, and proactively cultivate a culture of collective engagement.
Dr. Amy Hillman, Filene Fellow for the Center for Leadership, Strategy, and Governance, turned a mirror on the audience to ask them what’s holding their credit unions back. Could it be, perhaps, in the immortal words of Taylor Swift, that “hi, I’m the problem, it’s me?” If so, it’s time to reconnect with your strategy, not simply invest in operational effectiveness; invest in your leadership, not just manage the business; and align your board of directors, not only as fiduciaries but as strategic assets for the credit union.
2. Credit unions are still looking to grow
Credit unions are still looking to grow…but don’t neglect the opportunity to engage existing members more deeply.
Despite potential headwinds, credit union leaders remain optimistic about opportunities for growth. In a post-conference survey, we asked credit union attendees how they would describe their organization’s current strategic footing. An overwhelming majority—94%!—said they are looking to make gains in their current market. Most are thinking about how to grow strategically, being careful not to overextend existing resources as they pursue both new member growth and deeper member engagement in 2025.
54% of big.bright.minds. attendees said they are looking to grow their footprint with young adults, and Kim Lear, Filene Fellow of the Center for the Next Generation of Member Growth, led a panel of under-30 consumers to dig more deeply into what young people want from their financial service providers. One big takeaway: While social media is indeed a significant source of information and guidance for young people, “all sales are intergenerational sales,” as Kim puts it, because Gen Z consumers in particular frequently rely on their parents for advice when it comes to money and banking.
New member growth may not be as valuable, however, as more engaged members. Mike Higgins, Partner at Mike Higgins & Associates, argued that credit unions should be focused on—and should seek to measure, even roughly—member profitability. Walking attendees through hands-on examples (with spreadsheets!), Mike showed how credit unions can align value for the credit union with value for members by focusing efforts on deepening relationships with engaged members who will drive the credit union’s economic engine.
3. Focus is a priority and a challenge
Focus remains a priority—and a roadblock—for credit unions.
Even while credit unions are looking to make gains, maintaining strategic focus in an increasingly noisy world remains both a priority and a challenge for many. Almost 60% of big.bright.minds. attendees said that a general lack of focus is keeping their organizations from accomplishing their goals, and 1 in 5 credit union attendees reported that their organization didn’t have a particular member or market focus area identified for 2025. As too many things pull credit union leaders in too many directions, it is critical for credit unions to still find the time to prioritize both strategy creation and strategy execution.
Former Filene Fellow Dr. Dennis Campbell described a classic approach to strategy from his work at Harvard Business School. Dr. Campbell defined strategy as “the smallest set of choices that guide all other choices”—a strategic framework that ultimately requires leaders to choose to focus and embrace trade-offs. The four key questions for credit union leaders to ask are:
- Who are your primary members?
- What do they value most?
- What would it take to reliably give them those things?
- What would we need to give up in return?
Identifying the right strategy is only half the battle. In a panel discussion with Filene Fellow Dr. Lamont Black and credit union leaders from Chartway FCU and MSUFCU, Velera’s Carrie Stapp presented research conducted in partnership with Filene on the “implementation gap” that many credit unions are experiencing between strategy creation and strategy execution. Stapp talked through six common barriers that can be flipped to become bridges to successful strategic execution, from product experience to tech stack and partnership ecosystem. But lack of alignment around strategic focus threatens to undermine these critical credit union implementation capabilities.
Also, do some DIY education with Dr. Campbell’s research on credit union member compatibility and experience strategy (part 1, part 2, part 3).
4. Leveraging data to innovate
Leveraging data, credit unions see opportunities for innovation in both member-facing solutions and internal capabilities.
During roundtable discussions, breakout sessions, and hallway collisions, we heard over and over again about how credit unions are looking for better ways to leverage data to improve member experience, enhance operational efficiencies, and bring new solutions to market. Surveying attendees, several specific areas of interest emerged, including new payment solutions and member financial well-being supports. At the same time, over 40% of credit union attendees are looking to grow their data analytics capabilities, and about a third are looking to strengthen internal organizational culture.
Risk avoidance can stand in the way of the exploration and experimentation that fuels innovation. Credit unions are increasingly looking to manage risk through partnerships. Filene’s Megan Freshour and a panel of credit union and fintech leaders reviewed results from the second year of testing in the lab* at Filene for a variety of solutions: helping credit unions grow indirect membership using predictive modeling, exploring subscription-based pricing models, using AI to identify gaps in credit union internal processes and improve member experience, and more!
Big.bright.minds. is also always a forum for the work of teams in Filene’s innovation leadership training program i3, and 2024 did not disappoint, with exciting ideas for credit unions to better serve specific markets, from low-income populations to first responders.
Finally, Dr. Lamont Black, Filene Fellow for the Center for the Credit Union of the Future, treated attendees to an overview of credit union past, present, and future, touching on opportunities for credit unions to innovate through enhanced data-driven underwriting, real-time payments, and secondary loan markets using the matching capabilities of distributed ledgers.
Final Thoughts
Today, credit union leaders recognize the need to take a step back to understand how strategic choices—both conscious and subconscious—are shaping their organizations. So Filene’s big.bright.minds. event is, first and foremost, an opportunity for credit union leaders from across the country to press pause on the demands of day-to-day operations, learn about the latest research and insights from Filene, and then—we hope!—take action.
But we at Filene learn just as much from all of you. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we want to say thank you to all the credit union and industry professionals and practitioners whose willingness to connect with us, share your ideas, and thinking alongside us fuels our ability to stay at the leading edge of change in financial services.
- Join us for our final webinar of 2024, in which we’ll look back on our biggest learnings from the past year and look ahead to the most exciting new projects to expect in 2025.
We hope to see you at our next big.bright.minds. in 2025! If your organization is a Filene member, you can pre-register for the conference here. If you’re not a member, reach out to [email protected] to learn about options for joining us in Nashville!
—AB & TN
