REV FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
STREELMAN ON CREDIT UNION GROWTH AMID ECONOMIC DOWNTURN
Financial ecosystems are in an economic downturn . In the US , Silicon Valley Bank ( SVB ) collapsed , and there remains a lot of uncertainty .
Not so much for credit unions though , in fact , many credit union leaders expect to report growth this coming year through a series of fintech partnerships and acquisitions , and the benefits new technological capabilities will provide them .
Streelman gives his take on the ways credit unions are bucking an industry-wide trend of a faltering financial landscape .
“ In today ’ s financial economy , I think it ’ s really important to bifurcate the word FinTech into ‘ fin ’ and ‘ tech ’ because there are two types of fintechs , those that want to partner with us and those that want to replace us .
“ We want to build a connectivity ecosystem that welcomes the former and helps us compete with the latter because
that ’ s the reality of it in 2023 – product is not your differentiator in banking .
“ You could walk into any bank or any credit union probably and get a mortgage . You can get a car loan . There ’ s probably a little bit of variance on what you ’ re going to pay in rate or what your monthly payments are going to be , or maybe some of the terms and conditions , things like that .
“ But generally speaking , your products are going to be about the same . Today , nobody wants to just do transactional business like that . That ’ s why I think credit unions are experiencing or anticipating growth .
“ It ’ s not just because of new tech , it ’ s because members know they ’ re partnering with someone good in the community , who cares about the community and is part of your community .
“ Credit unions appeal to people ’ s sense of social responsibility . That ’ s our differentiator from traditional banking .”
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140 October 2023