Executive Summary
You will probably “consume” more than 100,000 words today. That’s according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego. Some of those words will come from your computer screen, others will be spoken through your television, still others you’ll see in a magazine or on your smartphone, and, of course, this paragraph just added about a hundred to your daily intake. And that’s just average consumers. Today’s business leaders are swimming in information.
We know that as a member you prize the Filene Research Institute’s contribution to your credit union. We also know that a typical Filene report adds anywhere from 3,000 to 50,000 words to your daily tally. This report is our attempt to make it up to you. We combed the last 12 months of our research in search of the most important, most relevant, most useful pieces of information. This report represents the best of the best in an easy-to-digest summary.
What is the research about?
In reviewing the year’s work and picking out the gems that run through our pipeline, we took stock of the topics that have obsessed us during the past year. The categories are broad, but within each of them, we found specific trends that can help you better understand the credit union ecosystem:
- Strategy and policy
- Credit unions as cooperatives
- Lending
- People
- Consumer behavior
- Marketing
- Credit union profitability
- Innovation
- Governance
What are the credit union implications?
This report is broad instead of deep, chunked instead of smooth. Open it up to the section that most intrigues you, or browse the sections and surprise yourself. We want you to treat it as an entry point: If something you see here intrigues you, follow it to the original report for more context and more insights. So, while we’re adding to your daily 100,000-word intake, we hope that this curated collection of insights will be among the most valuable you read today. And tomorrow.