1.  Thorny Core Provider Relationships

Credit union leaders are bursting with ideas for ways their mobile banking apps could increase noninterest income. They want to make it easier for people to join credit unions and open accounts with their phones. They want in-app lending to be more robust on mobile. They also want to present customized offers to mobile users, and they want to give members more personal financial management options on the mobile platform.

But because most credit unions rely on core providers for their mobile banking technology, adding new capabilities to mobile apps can be a huge challenge, Achim Griesel, president of consulting firm Haberfeld in Lincoln, Neb., said.

"The way it works best for the core system is if not every single credit union wants a customized solution. [Core providers] have got to have standard solutions," he explained. "From a technology perspective, core systems provide a really good base. They're not necessarily the ones that provide the exceptional solution. That's not why they are there; they're not there to do a one-off solution for you."

Kris Kovacs, president/CEO of the Raleigh, N.C.-based digital financial services firm Constellation, said trying to add those hot new mobile features that steal the spotlight at tradeshows often leads to eye-opening conversations with core providers.

"You have to go back to [the core provider] and you have to negotiate with them an expensive deal in order to make an integration for one service. And they may look at you and say, 'You know what? I have a competing product, so I'm not interested in that.' Or, they may look at you and say, 'You know what? That's not on our quote-unquote road map, so you're going to have to write me a check for $200,000 in order to do that integration.' And that's what credit unions have been told time and time and time and time again," he said.

2.  Poor Design Chops

Boosting noninterest income via mobile apps begins with raising engagement on those mobile apps. That doesn't happen if the mobile app is frustrating or hard to use, and that situation is often the result of misunderstanding the user experience and underinvesting in tech talent.

"If you have a form that's 50 questions long … and you basically say, 'You've gotta give me these 50 things and then I'll open your account,' then it's probably never going to work," Griesel said. "It will kill mobile account openings … it's so user-unfriendly."

Credit union mobile consultant Jonathan Stark said the issue is often related to a lack of in-house talent, too.

"I hate to paint with a really broad brush, but the vast majority of credit unions have not invested in their technical talent; they outsource everything to third parties. Most of them use the same third parties that create lightly rebranded white-label applications for them. It's not really a point of differentiation, because everybody's using the same app with different logos on it," he explained.

3.  The Wrong Mindset

Credit unions could make mobile banking apps work harder for them if they also avoid being held back by their own thinking, the experts said.

There may be fraud and regulatory risks to worry about, for example, but for Cornerstone Advisors Senior Director Jim Burson, that's not a good-enough excuse to avoid pushing mobile app innovation in the credit union industry.

"We are in the business of managing risk, and yes, there are risks when you're dealing with member non-presence, if you will," he explained. "But there are tools to do that … if Capital One 360 does it all day long, and if Ally Financial does it all day long … what are you thinking that they're not? So no, I don't find [risk] an acceptable excuse. Now, I do think you have to manage the risk. Leveraging things like out-of-hand authentication and fraud tools, and all of those things to make sure you're dealing with a potential member or an existing member who is who they say they are – but those tools exist to do that."

Another mindset issue revolves around aging notions of what consumers expect and the almost complete lack of innovation in the space, according to Stark.

"The definition of good customer service – which is what credit unions pride themselves on – back in the day, the front lines of that was smiling tellers and getting a human on the phone. That was cutting-edge at the time. I think now, folks are confusing those tactics with a good member experience," he added. "If you have to get someone on the phone to reset a password, it's nothing to brag about."

Putting so much focus on mobile may feel uncomfortable, but credit unions that fail to pay attention do so at their own peril, Stark added.

"When you don't innovate – when an industry doesn't innovate for a long time – you end up with razor-thin margins. I think what we have is a generation of managers at the top, not leaders," he said. "What we need are some leaders who are willing to do something very scary, which is take a risk and actually make an investment in the reality, which is that everyone is on mobile."