Branching strategies are shifting quickly as well.

“Branches of the future will be smaller, streamlined to accommodate live lending services and equipped with self-service video kiosks (interactive teller machines) for all kinds of convenient transactions,” Tilbury said. Tablet-equipped employees untethered from teller lines can roam to help members in branches and even out into the community where new members exist.

Tilbury added that loan applications and processing will be one of the next big mobile deployments.

“Credit unions that can get their operations paperless and their origination processes tightly-integrated will be the ones to fill this gap,” he said.

The underlying IT strategy for the $131 million, Washington, Pa.-based Chrome FCU, formerly Washington Community FCU, is teaching members how to bank 100% digitally.

“We are really big on pushing out the online, cloud-based self-serviced digital model to our members. We want them to do everything online,” Chrome President/CEO Christopher George said.

He said the credit union is trying to create a simple, self-serve model that doesn't require a lot of member tutoring. However, when members do venture to Chrome locations, which the credit union calls stores rather than branches, the cooperative wants to mentor them.

“We want to educate members about services they can perform themselves such as remote deposit capture,” George said.

Amanda Lunger, vice president and chief brand officer, detailed how Chrome sees 2016 as the year of communication.

“We'll be doing very little traditional advertising,” she said. “Instead we'll be focusing primarily on educating and communicating to our existing customers.”

Chrome's digital team's goal, Lunger added, is to take digital messages to its existing member base, and instruct and train them on how to use the digital tools.

“If you come into our store, we want to try to help you never come back in again,” George explained. “That's our goal.”

Chrome is utilizing the Monett, Mo.-based Jack Henry's Banno Mobile Platform to unveil a cutting edge platform in the first quarter of 2016, which will include real-time core integration, remote deposit capture, bill pay, store appointment scheduling, a help desk and geolocation integration. The Banno Platform offers account-as-a-service technology, meaning it provides a single source for product marketing, delivery and service.

Because all of Chrome's technology solutions are outsourced, third-party security is another priority for the credit union.

“Chrome likes everything locked down,” George admitted. “We use a lot of geo-fencing [a program that identifies geographical boundaries]. We don't allow lot of people outside of our stores to get into our systems unless they are authorized.”

The $492 million, East Moline, Ill.-based Vibrant Credit Union, formerly DHCU, has already boosted member engagement this year by implementing new core, online and mobile technologies. Looking ahead, Vibrant plans system and data architecture upgrades for 2016.

“We are making a substantial investment in improving our overall system capabilities with a core system conversion, new consumer lending platform and new document imaging platform,” Matt McCombs, president/CEO for Vibrant, said. Vibrant invested in member-facing system upgrades in 2015, including in the online, mobile and remote deposit capture spaces, and plans to follow up with employee-facing system upgrades in 2016.

McCombs emphasized that because technology changes rapidly, it is critical for Vibrant to have systems in place with infrastructure capable of handling changes.

“Our overall move to DNA [from the Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv] is the most important and impactful investment being made by the credit union,” he noted.

DNA provides a real-time system designed around relationships, not accounts, and an open architecture in a service-oriented architecture framework onto which clients can add or customize products.

McCombs described how a significant investment in Vibrant's highway of connections facilitates its system.

“This investment is critical for cybersecurity, uptime and overall disaster recovery capabilities,” he said.

Meanwhile, the $111 million, Germantown, Md.-based Montgomery County Employees Federal Credit Union is continuing a mission to boost security and simplify its mobile banking platform. Using built-in fingerprint authentication technology, Touch ID allows members with iPhone apps to log into the credit union's mobile banking application without entering traditional login credentials.

“I believe the most important IT budget priorities in the next year for credit unions, and certainly for us at Montgomery County Employees Federal Credit Union, are the development and implementation of the newest security technologies, as well as improving the accessibility and ease of use when it comes to mobile banking,” Jim Norris, president/CEO of MC EFCU, said.

When it comes to security, MC EFCU recently implemented Touch ID functionality for its mobile banking applications through the Redwood City, Calif.-based Digital Insight, an NCR company. In addition, MC EFCU equipped all credit and debit cards with EMV technology to help prevent fraud and identity theft.

As for accessibility and ease of use of its mobile services, the credit union also incorporated Apple Watch compatibility into its mobile app for added member convenience.

“Each year, we work to add more and more functionality, both online and on our mobile app,” Norris stated. “It's not always convenient for our members to stop by a branch for a simple banking service and many prefer to do almost all of their banking online, which is why we want to make sure our members enjoy a seamless and secure user experience from their personal computers, tablets or mobile devices.”

MC EFCU is also revamping its website and taking a content-based marketing approach, which will include the use of marketing automation to increase efficiency and boost the effectiveness of cross-selling.

“We have continued to improve our members' mobile experience, and this in addition to a focused effort, has led to a 50% increase in members using mobile apps on a consistent basis, which in turn increases costs,” Norris said. “This is one of the areas that we are increasing for 2016.”

MC EFCU said it will also see an increase in mobile new account openings and mobile lending costs as more members become “mobile first” users.

Security is also a major focus for the $6.5 billion, Marlborough, Mass.-based Digital Federal Credit Union.

“A significant portion of DCU's budget and resources continue to be focused on the protection of credit union assets and our members to mitigate against cybersecurity threats,” David Araujo, vice president of information systems for DCU, said. “I'm sure this is a common theme throughout the industry, but we are always looking at additional resources that can help strengthen our security posture, as well as technology that can assist and stay current with the quickly changing landscape.”

In addition, DCU is always trying to find ways to improve the efficiencies of its security operations by ensuring all staff members have the tools they need to provide the best member experience possible.

“This can be accomplished by staying current on hardware, software automation and other straight-through processing opportunities,” Araujo stated.