Executive Summary
Credit union leaders know that there is untapped value in their organization’s data—but accessing and using it to achieve transformational business outcomes requires deep cultural change. How can credit unions become organizations that routinely make decisions based on widespread access to real-time, high-quality data? This case study of Kinecta Federal Credit Union suggests that the most successful credit unions will have:
- Strong leadership that is committed to shaping a data-informed culture—encouraging employees to experiment and learn, while maintaining robust policies around data governance and management.
- A hybrid organizational structure whereby data and business unit employees can collaborate to share knowledge and identify use cases for generating value with analytics.
- An investment in human capital—including training, building data literacy, and identifying and nurturing “power users” who have the knowledge and enthusiasm to use analytics tools to achieve outcomes in their areas of operations.
Why It Matters—A Credit Union Perspective
It’s not the technology. It’s the people. You’ve heard these promises before: data will transform financial services. Data will drive more informed decision-making. Data will create back-office efficiencies. Data will enhance marketing outreach. Data will allow credit union staff to know and serve members digitally with high-touch personalization.
Credit unions, like so many other organizations, have bought into these promises and are remaking their organizations from the inside out, investing in new technologies and integrating existing infrastructures. But this case study teaches us that you will not derive value from data until you successfully marry technology with strategy, invest in people and culture, and connect your business intelligence infrastructures with organizational process.
You will not derive value from data until you successfully marry technology with strategy, invest in people and culture, and connect your business intelligence infrastructures with organizational process.
Kinecta Federal Credit Union
What kind of value can credit unions expect to see from their investments in data analytics capabilities? It depends on how ready your organization is top to bottom to leverage those capabilities. If credit unions want to create value, leaders need to think beyond dashboards and reports. Instead, push to embed business intelligence in how and where you make business decisions and pilot predictive capabilities. The goal is to create new insights that will inform your strategy proactively and improve processes, products, and member experiences.
To put this research into practice, download the report now.
Filene's Center for Data Analytics & the Future of Financial Services is generously funded by:
