Reimagining Financial Products Is Not the Sole Domain of Digital Brands

Anytime a digital brand like Amazon infiltrates a traditionally analog space, people take notice. Opening brick-and-mortar stores or acquiring a large national grocery chain, for example, are strategic initiatives that seem to fly in the face of Amazon’s e-commerce roots. Upon closer inspection, however, we can see these are actually additional ways for digital companies to reimagine the way things have always been done.

Apple is doing the same with the launch of the Apple Card, which the digital company calls “a new kind of credit card.”

Consumers are naturally intrigued. Amazon, Apple and brands like them have proven they can deliver exceptional experiences around things that are entirely new. How will they do with things that are decidedly old?

Early adopters will be the first to find out. Credit union members are likely to be among them. And while experimenting with a new kind of grocery store is one thing, trying out a new kind of credit card is quite another. Credit unions, especially those with experience in the card issuing space, are well-positioned to walk alongside members who chose to give the Apple Card a try.

While young digital brands may have nailed the consumer experience, they have perhaps not nailed people-centricity. Although consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable sharing financial information and even funds with digital brands, the majority of consumers understand what drives these companies forward, many of which are now publicly-held and answering to shareholders. That opens the door even wider for credit unions to emphasize the people-helping-people foundation that lies beneath every financial product offered to members.

This is not to say credit unions should discourage member use of emerging financial products. In fact, it’s arguably more responsible to get to know those products through the lens of the member and to enable them when the innovation is indeed a good fit with the credit union mission.

There may even be times when credit union products become the perfect complement to financial innovations. It’s the rare individual who has just one credit card in his or her wallet – digital or otherwise. A credit union credit card may be well-suited to fill the gaps opened by Apple or another newcomer to the payments space. Just take interest rates, for example. Apple cites “low” interest rates, but then mentions 24.24% as a possible APR. The product can also not be used internationally today.

Credit unions should leverage the launch of financial innovations from digital brands to educate members about the value they bring in general, with a special emphasis on member support, privacy and security, and consistency. They may also choose to use digital product announcements as a motivator to check in on products and programs that need a little innovation love. Credit cards are very nuanced, offering great potential for incremental improvements. From simplifying the application process to modernizing rewards and incentives, there are hundreds of small ways to improve the way card-holding members experience their credit union credit card in a digital world.

Disruption of traditional solutions and experiences is not the sole domain of digital brands. In fact, credit unions have been innovating, iterating, and improving mainstream financial products and services since their inception. By harnessing that historic spirit of disruption, the nation’s cooperatives will continue to reimagine the way things have always been done while supporting members as they try out new methods for living their best financial lives.

Yvonne Stelpflug is Vice President, Credit Products for CO-OP Financial Services. She can be reached at 800-782-9042.