First and foremost, two computer nerds in their mom's basement can't match the Googles and Apples of the world in any significant way – not in technical resources, not in financial resources, not in marketing resources, and certainly not in their ability to influence major public opinion just by speaking to their own customers. The Apple way isn't always the way.

Additionally, there's a context issue here for even the well-funded, well-executed startup – and for the aforementioned monsters of disruption. Today's fintech company seems to believe that every consumer's financial needs can be reduced to a software function.

They have no respect for the value of the relationship between the community financial institution and the consumer, and they don't value the roles of the financial institution and consumer in that relationship as cornerstones of economic stability, financial health and fiscal responsibility. In other words, they've completely ignored the human element of financial services.

That leads to an even bigger issue: Lack of community. In the minds of these fintech disruptors, each person, strapped with a smartphone, is a "community" of one. These modern tech firms are fostering the next techno-financial bubble by operating on an instinct of radical individualism – an idea incompatible with credit unions and their historical roots.

Out in the real world, men and women of all ages get together and create actual communities. These communities tend to form where people gather to spend money and socialize with each other – the pub, the donut shop, youth sporting events, the local bookstore, the farmers' market, the craft show, church, local charities and other non-profits.

This is where credit unions have the huge edge. Your credit union isn't on the outside of the community looking in; your credit union is an integral part of the community – a contributor to and supporter of the local economy. You can and should find ways to disrupt the disrupters by leveraging your stronghold in the community, and by working with like-minded partners to offer products and services to people where they want them: In their community.

What does it all mean, though? What steps can you take to counter this global attack on your business?

If you're a CEO and you've entrusted your entire technology strategy to your chief information officer, you've already missed the boat. If you're a chief information officer and you think technology is still just about having the "right" core or the "right" mobile banking, you're standing on the dock with your CEO. You both need to see the new fintech as the biggest threat with which you're currently faced.

Here's a little secret about technology: It's fairly easy to replicate, at least in broad function. For all these technology innovators that want to eat your proverbial lunch, there are others that recognize and respect the role of the community financial institution in the local economy, and want to help you create value that these fintech startups just can't.

Take P2P, for example. There's no shortage of standalone P2P apps. Check the App Store or Google Play. But they can't bring the value to P2P that you can. They can't merge P2P into a unified financial experience for your members or think toward P2P as just one version of a mobile transaction alongside others that would benefit the local economy.

The same goes for merchant apps. You know your local businesses. Would they rather get a merchant app from some website in India, or from a trusted community resource like your credit union? Can the independent tech firm provide a retailer app for local businesses that packages modern transaction tools with much needed broader, financial products and services?

So who ya gonna call? Your core processor? Is that who you're going to count on to disrupt the disruptors? Those are the companies that are being disrupted along with you!

The disruptors are able to disrupt because they are smaller, nimbler, more agile, more adaptable and more dynamic than the corporate giants they seek to displace. Quite frankly, then, you need to fight fire with fire.

As I noted earlier, there's a new breed of technology innovators – innovators not intent on taking over the world, but intent on helping you take back your community. These are the companies you need to work with. These are the companies that will help you ensure that one day on Wikipedia, the fintech bubble will be a footnote right alongside the dot-com bubble. And these same companies can work alongside your credit union to ensure that a linked entry in Wikipedia reads: "Too local to fail! The resurgence of the local financial institution as a trusted partner in the internet and mobile commerce era." But the time to act is now.

Jon Ungerland is founding partner and CEO for DaLand Solutions. He can be reached at 800-699-0910 or [email protected]