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Remember the “plain label” craze from the late ’70s and early ’80s? Everything from cereal to beer (really!) was packaged in plain white containers, labeled in black, and sold at a discount. The products were usually, well, tolerable. Plain label products died out quickly — there’s a limit to how many boxes of funny-tasting cereal kids will tolerate.
We work with credit unions all across the country, and I’m always amazed by the incredible diversity in business models and in the people. It’s one of the things that makes working with credit unions a lot more fun than other industries.
From the bizarre goings-on at NCUA to the expensive “consumer protection” legislation coming online, the only thing that’s certain is that things are changing fast for CUs. Sources of fee income are shrinking, expenses are rising, and margins are squeezed tighter than ever. Things are getting Weird with a capital “W”. It’s time to think the unthinkable and mull the outrageous.
I went grocery shopping last week, and I learned something the hard way. After 10:00 pm, the Kroger supermarket near me closes down all their human-staffed checkouts, forcing everyone to to scan and bag their own groceries.
When the new opt-in law for overdraft protection on ATM and debit transactions goes into effect on August 15, will your credit union be ready? At a recent CFO conference, only about a third of those attending said that they were already taking action to encourage members to opt in to overdraft protection for ATM and debit transactions.
“Maybe the reason it seems that price is all your customers care about is that you haven’t given them anything else to care about.”
-Seth Godin
I always find it interesting the kinds of answers you get when you ask people what makes a credit union different. It usually comes down to something about having better service and better rates (infer…than banks).
Passage of the health care finance legislation last week filled the news, and the opinion columns are overflowing. Whether you’re ranting, overjoyed, or just plain confused, it’s safe to say that no one knows exactly what the future will hold. We have years of politicking, legislation, and regulation ahead of us before the intended and unintended effects of the legislation become clear.
When you think about it, credit unions are one of the rarest types of organizations — outside of being self-sufficient, they have absolutely no purpose other than making things better for the people around them. Whatever you call it — Goodness, Quality, Grooviness, or Positive Mojo — credit unions sure do manufacture a lot of it.
A group of my friends (all in our mid-twenties) were sitting around reflecting on the financial crisis. We discussed our disdain for how the government handled the issue. We’re infuriated that our tax dollars were used to pad the pockets of those responsible for the whole fiasco. We’re disgusted by the murmurs of reform and oversight that were quelled by apathetic law makers and powerful lobbyists. The status quo is unacceptable. We demand a change.
I’ll be honest. The past few months have been some of the toughest of my life. I’ve been filled with worry and doubt, unsure if I’m making the right decision.
So, I thought I’d share the lessons I’ve learned from the whole ordeal:
Remember those Kraft Macaroni and Cheese commercials a while back, where kids exclaimed “It’s more cheesier”? I cringed every time I heard this phrase, and so did thousands of other writers and English majors.
Remember the Joneses? You know those neighbors that had it all. The big house, the fancy cars, and the 2.5 kids. They took exotic Caribbean vacations and managed to always have the latest whiz bang gadget, whether it was a big screen TV or a cell phone the size of stick of chewing gum. They were the envy of everyone because their purchasing habits signified success.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”
-Martin Luther King, Jr
Earlier in the week I had the great pleasure of cohosting the CU Later 2009: Roasts and Toasts blog radio show with Denise Wymore and Christopher Morris. We roasted and toasted the best and worst of 2009.
You’ve probably heard the term “eating your own dog food” before. It means that everyone on your team also needs to be a consumer or user of your product, whether it’s dog food or checking accounts.