Schurr, who is TMG Financial Services' chief strategy officer, sees this trend vividly in the rise of e-commerce. Schurr cited a study released in February by Slice Intelligence that showed 11% of consumers' things-buying budget was spent online last year, and that number is expected to grow to 17% by 2022. That trend has been accelerated by the savvy of Amazon, which drew 43% of all online retail sales last year, up from 33% in 2015 and 25% in 2012.

Those numbers exclude spending for commodities like gasoline and services like restaurants. But Amazon has armed a new generation of consumers with new expectations.

The rise of Quicken Loans' Rocket Mortgage and Carvana's car buying service shows the spread of that trend into financial sectors. Like any trend, the rise of e-commerce presents both threats and opportunities.

“Forward-thinking credit unions are turning themselves from a financial institution that offers solely their products and services to a financial services portal that allows their members access to products and services that are best suited for them but not necessarily their own credit union's product or service,” Schurr said.

Security Service FCU of San Antonio offers a wide range of services from insurance to investment advice.

For example, Navy Federal Credit Union of Vienna, Va. ($82 billion in assets, 7.2 million members) offers insurance on its website.

“When you look at their auto insurance, it's not theirs, it's GEICO's,” Schurr said.

Becoming more integral to financial lives of members has the added benefit of allowing credit unions to rely less on net interest income and fees charged to members, and more on other operating income.

Total fee income has two general components: Fees charged to members and fees collected from anybody else.

The NCUA's “Fee Income” account comes from fees charged directly to members such as overdraft fees, ATM fees, checking fees and credit card fees.

The NCUA's “Other Operating Income” account includes interchange income from merchants on debit and credit card transactions, income from other lenders for servicing their loans, income from other credit unions or banks on sales of mortgages, endorsement fees, income from selling extended car warranties, and GAP insurance and unconsolidated CUSO income.

It also includes the fees paid by insurers, like GEICO, to credit unions that have arrangements to promote their products.

NCUA's all-in account for “Non-Interest Income” also has sub-accounts for one-time gains, one-time losses and non-operating income. They usually have little impact on industry-wide statistics.

Among credit unions, non-interest income as a percent of total income (net interest income plus noninterest income) gradually rose from 22% in 2000 to 36% in 2008. It fluctuated for a couple of years during the recession but has remained at about 36% since then.

Among the top 10 credit unions, that ratio was also 36% last year, ranging from 8% at Star One Credit Union of San Jose, Calif. ($9.3 billion in assets, 100,054 members) to 46% at Security Service Federal Credit Union of San Antonio, Texas ($9.6 billion in assets, 746,605 members).

Noninterest income has generally been a much larger portion of income at banks, but the ratio has varied more than at credit unions.

Among banks from the 1950s through the 1970s, noninterest income ranged from 18% to 20% of total income (net interest income plus noninterest income). Noninterest income started becoming a larger part of income in the 1980s and hit 44% in 2003, the highest ratio since FDIC records began in 1934.

Since then, the ratio has been trending down. Last year, FDIC reports showed noninterest income was 35% of income at banks, its lowest level since 1995 and slightly under the ratio for credit unions.

These days, when banks and credit unions are trying to increase noninterest income, the most attractive option is to find sources other than customers and members.

The top 10 have moved in that direction. They accounted for 16% of assets in 2016, but 8% of fee income and 18% of other operating income.

The disparity between noninterest income strategies between large and small credit unions can be seen in their dependence on fees from members.

Last year, member fees accounted for 48% of total fees for all credit unions. But it was 31% among the top 10, ranging from 10% at First Tech Federal Credit Union of Mountain View, Calif. ($10.6 billion in assets, 488,067 members) to 44% at Security Service.

Removing the top 10, fee income increased 258 basis points to account for 50% of total fees for the nation's other 5,892 federally-insured credit unions.

Credit unions typically measure noninterest income as fee income plus other operating income as a percentage of average assets. That ratio was 1.35% last year for all credit unions and 1.13% among the top 10, ranging from 0.10% at Star One to 1.68% at Navy Federal, the nation's largest credit union.

Smaller credit unions are also trying to strengthen their ties to members through services they need, and balance their income streams.

In 2013, Sterling Van Dyke Credit Union in Sterling Heights, Mich., was at a crossroads. It had been founded by United Auto Workers members at two nearby Ford plants in 1949, and had later obtained a community charter, allowing it to serve Michigan residents of Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties.

But its competition was stiff, the economy was still weak and its membership was aging. That meant there were fewer young families with heavier spending and borrowing needs than retirees. And that meant lighter fees, CEO Joseph F. Hallman said.

“If you don't have younger people using debit cards, and all you have are older members with savings accounts, you're not going to get that income,” Hallman said. “You can't do a lot of the things you need to do operationally if you don't have a second source of income.”

In 2013, the credit union put together a survival plan. It would return to its roots, concentrating solely on attracting union members. It built its relationships among union locals and rebranded itself as The Local Credit Union in 2014.

The credit union's assets declined from $105 million at the end of 2012 to $94.7 million in 2014. They stood at $96.2 million on June 30. However, membership has grown from just over 5,000 at the end of 2014 to 7,449 as of June 30, including a gain of more than 1,000 members in the previous 12 months.

When young people start apprentice programs, cooperating union locals provide paperwork to allow them to join the credit union. The credit union then follows up with its new members. Hallman estimates the average age of members has dropped 10 years.

The Local also began offering debt payment insurance, covering workers if they are disabled or laid off. It's called “Your Local Protection.”

The Local has been able to increase its noninterest income from 17% of income in 2014 to 26% in 2016. For the first half of this year, it was 35%, up from 24% a year earlier. As a percentage of average assets, total fees rose from 0.58% in 2015 to 0.80% last year. About half of noninterest income last year came from member fees, on par with the national average.

Schurr said many credit unions have the opportunity to provide unique help to families living one paycheck from disaster.

He cited a report released last year by the Federal Reserve that showed 31% of U.S. adults, or about 76 million people, are either “struggling” or “just getting by.” It found that 46% of adults didn't have the cash to cover a $400 emergency expense, like an illness or car breakdown, and instead would have to borrow money or sell something.

“Financially distressed is not necessarily someone who is scraping the bottom of the barrel,” he said. “A household with $75,000 annual income might be two people with three part-time jobs.”

As result, many people lack disability insurance, life insurance, health insurance or retirement savings plans.

“That's why it's important for credit unions to think holistically,” he said. “If your mission is to serve your field of membership and not compete against your peers, then you really need to understand your products and services.”

Schurr said credit unions can build on the trust they've established with members to offer a broader array of services, but they also have to be sure they align with their members' interests.

For example, many credit union executives who have expanded indirect car lending programs said they create a substantial stream of income by selling GAP insurance and extended warranties for members who want those products. But they also say their prices for those benefits are sharply lower than those offered by others.

“Our goal is not to maximize profits,” Schurr said. “Credit unions have to take it upon themselves to do some due diligence to present products that are a good value. Who else has that position of trust?”