In October, a Canadian Senate committee recommended a change to allow credit unions to continue using the "bank" verbs, and the community is now awaiting an announcement; Pigeon said he is cautiously optimistic.

Creating an 'Easy Button' for Members

These days, most consumers feel making more than a minimal effort to receive a product or service is unacceptable. For example, they know exactly when their Amazon package is going to arrive, and when they order an Uber, they can see exactly where their driver is in real-time.

And credit unions are hearing more from their members about competing financial services providers compared to two or three years ago, according to Constance Anderson, president/CEO of Constance Anderson & Associates in Jersey City, N.J. "Members are saying things like, 'If my credit card company can do this, why can't you?'" Anderson said.

She noted credit unions especially need to focus on improving the member experience when it comes to serving younger members, as baby boomers tend to be more patient and "expect things to be difficult," she found in recent research.

Amy Zimmer, director of mortgage lending for the $555 million ELGA Credit Union in Burton, Mich., offered an example of how she eased the mortgage lending experience for members. First, she identified three pain points in the mortgage process: Wait times, having to move between channels and a lack of transparency of what to expect.

Next, the credit union appointed a mortgage committee as part of a pilot program intended to speed up the mortgage loan decisioning process. It now provides same-day decisioning on 99% of mortgage applications, and has since received zero complaints from members on wait times, Zimmer said.