New Credit Union Members Ditching the Branch

For many people, their first in-person visit to a credit union branch is critical – it’s where all the new membership forms usually are, after all. But thanks to smartphones and computers, fewer prospective members may be willing to make the trek to a branch just to join a credit union. That’s raising questions about whether credit unions should invest more in digital-only membership applications and onboarding processes, and less in traditional face-to-face, paper-based systems.

However, taking the new membership process digital can be tricky. A recent study from Citi found that mobile banking apps are now one of the three most-used types of smartphone apps, and a PwC study recently found that 46% of consumers now do all their banking digitally – almost double the number in 2012 (27%). A J.D. Power study found, however, that “digital-only” customers – those who use only online or mobile channels for banking – were the least satisfied group of banking consumers.

Pleasing members has always been tough work, but in today’s digital age, credit unions don’t necessarily have to meet new members face-to-face in order to thrive. Here is what two industry pros said are some common misperceptions that frequently deter credit unions from going digital on their new membership processes.

1. My credit union’s new membership process is too unique to do digitally.

Probably not, according to Sam Brownell, who is founder and CEO of the Washington-based CUCollaborate, an association that analyzes credit union membership data, among other things. Joining a credit union typically involves three basic steps: Becoming aware of the credit union, validating membership eligibility and filling out an application, he said. Credit unions need to make the process as simple as possible, he added.

“Forty percent of consumers don’t think they’re eligible to join a single credit union,” Brownell explained, citing research by CUNA. “They hear the words ‘credit union’ and mentally check out. So even considering a credit union – you’re already working with only 60% of the audience.”

He added, “They’re taking a chance and trying to get something from a credit union. Anything that you throw up that causes confusion or serves as a roadblock just gets those people to abandon the process,” he added.

About 40% of consumers successfully open an account with a bank through online channels, but only 16% of people who try to do so online at a credit union succeed, Brownell noted.

2. “The rules” say the person has to come to a branch to become a member.

Not true, said Terrance Larkin, who is vice president of member experience at the Wyomissing, Penn.-based Utilities Employees Credit Union. The credit union, which has $1.2 billion in assets and about 48,000 members, is a full-service virtual credit union. Forty percent of its new members arrive online by filling out an electronic version of the membership application; another 30% join by contacting the call center.

“The idea here is to be able to service you on a virtual model, so you never have to step foot in the branch,” Larkin said. “We have the necessary systems in place to do verification, and it can be as easy as a couple of minutes to be able to become a member.”

Utilities Employees CU usually collects what Larkin described as general personal information: Names, Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, and more detailed information such as a driver’s license number and expiration date.

“Under the Patriot Act, we’re required to obtain and verify information to identify an individual who’s opened up a membership account. And so that’s the information that we need to do that,” he explained.

3. Enrolling new members without meeting them in person is a fraud risk.

Fraud is a valid concern, but it’s not a reason to avoid giving members what they want, Brownell said.

“There’s a risk-reward to all these things. And I think that obviously you need to price in potential fraudulent applications as much as possible, but you also need to have a certain degree of tolerance for risk to let yourself grow,” he explained.

Larkin also thinks a lot about fraud.

“We take that very seriously. Our entire online account opening process has comprehensive verification checks to validate the true identity of anybody who’s trying to join. We use several third-party vendors to help us support that process,” he said.

For Brownell, the key is balance. “There are technology solutions out there that can reduce the risk of fraud, but never probably really get rid of it completely,” he said.

According to him, the cost of buying and integrating the technology are the real barriers for many credit unions.

“From the [technology options] that I have seen, there isn’t one that out of the box puts everything together and is affordable,” Brownell said. “You can get anything that starts from a secure membership form all the way to a full, complete online experience, but incrementally moving up in each tier involves an additional cost. And then, you know, does that technology provider integrate to your core? How does all of the necessary technology work together?”

4. My target market won’t want to join online.

Any credit union that has members with smartphones, wants to appear technologically current or has a wide geographical reach should be thinking about how to enroll new members digitally, the pros said.

“Your marketing effectiveness is determined, at least in large part, by the call to action. So you need to make sure that you’re giving the person an easy thing to do,” Brownell said. “…[If] you’re spending money on trying to get new people to join your credit union through your website, then it’s definitely something you should be focused on.”

“As you look at the millennials and Gen Y – if you hope to capture that, you really need to be focusing on technology,” Larkin added. Gen X also has technological expectations of credit unions, he added.

5. Digital new membership processes will cannibalize my branch operations.

“If that’s your mentality, you’re already in trouble,” Brownell said. “This is a big reason that fintechs have disrupted banking and credit unions.”

“I think the thing that fintechs have done so well is put themselves in the shoes of a consumer, and I do think that’s something that credit unions in general have struggled with,” he explained. “If consumers want something, you should provide it to them.”

The digital sign-up process has become so ubiquitous outside the credit union industry, in fact, that adding it has become a way to keep a credit union’s head above water rather than jump ahead, Brownell warned.

“One of the things that people have found in terms of what’s driven people to places like Lending Tree, Prosper, those types of things, is just how easy and how little time it takes. If your process is not competitive with those types of providers, you’re at a disadvantage. So, I’m not sure it’s going to give you a competitive advantage to beat those people – but it will at least keep you relevant,” he said.