an opportunity to share their experiences . We have people from our call center from our branch network , from our accounting team , and several other departments . The combination of diverse experience helps us look at the different solutions holistically .

“ We ’ re also looking to gather and nurture employee ideas as well . We have an internal program within The Lab called CU Innovate where we solicit ideas from our employees ,” said Maxim .

EXECUTIVE PROFILE :

Not only are employees brought into The Lab to contribute ideas and encourage innovation , they also vote on which projects should make it to the pilot stage .

The desire to innovate , Maxim admits , has been driven by a change in member behavior . Where once people came to the university and felt it made sense to “ check out the branch near campus ”, the rise of fintech superstars , such as Chime or PayPal , has introduced competition , and the large

81 Title : Assistant Vice President of Digital Strategy and Innovation Company : Michigan State University Federal Credit Union ( MSUFCU )

Benjamin Maxim joined MSU Federal Credit Union in 2007 and currently serves as Assistant Vice President of Digital Strategy and Innovation . He is responsible for assessing emerging business trends and technologies , facilitating innovation throughout the Credit Union , and providing strategic direction for existing and future digital channels . Maxim began work initially as a Web Developer and in 2014 , he became E-Commerce Manager before moving into roles including Assistant Vice President of Programming and Development and Assistant Vice President of Software Development . He earned a bachelor ’ s degree from Michigan State University . fintechmagazine . com