There's a new book out there called Untapped — Creating Value in Underserved Markets. If you haven't read it, you should. It never mentions credit unions; but it's all about credit unions. Untapped provides specific examples of how businesses around the world have had success reaching and growing business among underserved communities that previously were not considered viable customers.

The basic premise put forth in Untapped is that there is massive opportunity to provide products and services to underserved communities at the BOP–"bottom of the pyramid." This is the 4-5 billion households worldwide that live on $2 a day or less. C.K. Prahalad of the University of Michigan, Untapped author John Weiser of Brody-Weiser-Burns, and other leading thinkers believe this to be the case. There is a growing body of knowledge and real-world examples pointing to the viability of this new paradigm.

During my short time in the credit union movement, I've seen the discussion about serving low-wealth households move from something credit unions need to do in order to satisfy Congress, to a discussion focusing on how serving low-wealth households can and in most cases should be part of a credit union's strategy for growth.