June 5, 2024
Is Your Credit Union Core Built for 2024?
Even if we’re midway through 2024, we may still reflect on the past year, thinking about personal resolutions we kept and those we did not. Did we stick to our new gym routine, save money each week in a “vacation fund,” or reduce our screen time every day?
And what about the business goals we set? It’s not too late in the year to ask yourself, “Did my credit union meet the needs of our members in 2023, and is my credit union core helping to meet their demands in 2024?”
Your answer may help you jumpstart the discovery process of determining what your members expect from your credit union. Often, modern technology can help satisfy members’ banking requirements—aka your core. Sharetec Velocity, a fully web-based core chock-full of features and an Open API for integrations you need can help you achieve your business and member goals.
What Members Expect
With so many financial institutions to choose from today, you need to keep that competitive edge – and this does go beyond just technology and a core processor. What are your neighboring institutions offering that you’re not? More importantly, what are your neighboring credit unions offering?
Members stay loyal when they feel secure and trust in your CU’s offerings. Maintaining that trust means keeping the lines of communication open, being consistent with your messaging/branding, growing to provide the best services, and offering continuous support. As a modern financial institution, you must provide minimal, simple, quick, and secure online banking features and core technology solutions!
Communication
Communicate with your membership regularly regarding any service changes, potential service outages, upcoming events/closings, and anything else that directly affects your membership. The last thing you want is for a member to discover online banking is temporarily offline when they go to log in!
You need to provide advanced notice whenever possible to avoid misunderstandings, service delays, and other frustrations. Communication can be a bit “old school,” with flyers and posters hung around the physical branch, but depending on your core, you can leverage push notifications for mobile and pop-up messages for desktop.
Consistency
Branding takes a lot of time and effort, and once you’ve launched your brand strategy, your members will get used to your look, feel, and communication style. So, it’s imperative to be consistent in your messaging (frequency, type, platform) and your branding.
If you usually advertise events on Facebook, and you only inform members of an upcoming event via email, you’ll likely have members who miss out on the event. “It wasn’t on Facebook,” is a complaint you could hear. They don’t want to hear how else you advertised it; they’ll want to know why you didn’t advertise it the way you always have. So, if you post events on Facebook, keep doing it (and complement these notifications with emails).
The same is true for your branding. If your CU is known for advertising with animated graphics and you send a notice using a photograph with different colors and fonts, the message could be skipped because it doesn’t look like it came from you. Also, a member could get the impression that the credit union is making bigger changes that could directly affect them, such as merging with another institution.
Growth
Growth is also imperative to member retention. If your current online banking platform requires multiple, time-consuming steps or constantly gives members issues, you need to be willing to upgrade in order to retain them. They expect you to grow with the times. Your members may venture elsewhere if another CU has a more up-to-date application process or simpler banking portal. Don’t just assume your members will stay with you even if you don’t offer new services; growth is key to future success.
Support
As a partner to growth, your CU needs to be ready and able to support members. If you change your online banking platform, ensure members know who to contact with questions or concerns. The same goes for implementing new services. Provide FAQ information via email and on your website so members can walk themselves through any service changes. Put together a webinar that explains how to use the new technology.
How is Sharetec Velocity a core built for 2024 that will help achieve member goals?
Sharetec is constantly working to provide credit unions with the best core processing solutions. Our web-based core integrates seamlessly with numerous top-of-the-line integrations, making credit union and member lives easier.
Why are we calling our core technology “Sharetec Velocity?” Because our core is constantly evolving and going full speed toward the future; never assuming perfection or settling for the mediocre. The goal is consistently providing bold strategies, powerful technology, and caring support to our credit union partners. To achieve this in an ever-changing financial and technological landscape, we are prepared to take on the inevitable challenges of change and growth so our partners can rest easy knowing we will always be there to help them win!
Our Core Technology Solutions
Sharetec’s core is built for 2024 because it is packed with modern solutions aligned with 2024 (and beyond) needs, including eServices, member services, lending and accounting solutions, back office services, and reporting tools.
eServices
Your members are looking for something new to compete against all the competition. Sharetec’s eServices provide cutting-edge technology to help you interact with your members beyond the confines of your credit union.
With eServices from Sharetec, you can offer your members a wide range of convenient, easy-to-use services that are available 24/7. From online banking and mobile banking to online member enrollment and credit card single sign-on, Sharetec’s eServices give your members the tools they need to manage their finances on their terms.
Member Services
All the tools your employees need to handle daily transactions and tasks are combined into one easy-to-use interface. They can work more quickly and accurately with access to several automated tasks and cross-selling opportunities. As a result, your credit union will run smoother and more efficiently overall.
Lending
Your lenders require accurate data, clear standards, and an efficient application process. The Sharetec Lending Workspace’s data tracking tools and decision screens are its main strengths because they put all the right information in the right place at the right time to simplify decisions and track changes. It’s the logical choice for anybody seeking to make complicated things easier.
Accounting
Sharetec accounting solutions provide a thorough approach to financial management. Sharetec streamlines processes and minimizes difficulty with streamlined methods and maximum ease of use. In addition, reporting capabilities allow you to fulfill NCUA reporting requirements for investments and quarterly 5300 call reports. It’s about maximizing freedom and efficiency while putting information at your fingertips.
Back Office
The Sharetec back-office solutions offer various features that streamline processes, increase productivity, and add value to member relationships. They are designed to help credit unions provide a better experience for their members.
We know the importance of providing fast, accurate information to our credit union partners. That’s why we’ve developed various back-office solutions to simplify your job. From automated processing to interest refund tracking, Sharetec has the tools to keep your credit union running like a well-oiled machine.
Third-Party Integrations
Sharetec provides a vast and growing array of integrations to simplify your credit union’s daily processes, secure and streamlined! Some examples that our current CU partners love include Plaid, Larky, and SavvyMoney.
Plaid
Your members – new and current – like speed and security and want a reliable way to fund their account applications. They do not want to waste time manually entering account information and don’t want to wait days for those funds to appear. Enter Plaid. Members can connect a funding account within seven seconds with their new member or current member application.
Larky
Larky empowers financial institutions to connect with their audience in the right place at the right time via push notifications. Everyone’s connected to their smartphones and what better place to meet members than where they’re already spending their time? From scheduled marketing notifications to targeted push notifications via geo-location, Larky will keep you in touch. We’re excited to offer Larky Nudge integrated directly into your CU’s financial app.
SavvyMoney
Sharetec has a deep-rooted partnership and integration with SavvyMoney, a fin-tech industry innovator and credit-scoring platform. SavvyMoney provides comprehensive credit score analysis, full credit reporting, monitoring, and personalized offers – all accessible in one dashboard!
Does your credit union core offer all this and more? The answer may be no. And if it is? No worries! You can schedule a demo today and get the ball rolling for the latter half of the year (and beyond).
This article was originally published on December 8, 2023, and updated on June 5, 2024.