Almost Half of CU Executives Fear Member Losses Due to Weak Card Programs
“There is no underestimating the importance of a solid payments program to a credit union’s reputation..."
The growing ubiquity of instantaneous account access is prompting many credit unions to prioritize their credit and debit card programs above many of their other offerings in order to retain members, according to a new study by Seattle-based card processing aggregator Member Access Processing.
The company’s survey of 212 U.S. credit union executives found that nearly a third (29%) were happiest about their card payments programs and believed card payments was the most important service their credit unions offered. Almost half (45%) said they were very concerned that members would leave if their card services didn’t have the latest features or mobile access. More than half (55%) said they felt that their card processor was very important to the success of their credit union.
“These numbers continue an upward trend in the importance role that up-to-the-minute credit and debit card service plays in member retention across all credit unions,” the company said.
Only 20% of the respondents said online banking was the service they were happiest with today, followed by mobile banking (18%), member lending and business lending (10%), mortgages and home loans (6%), investment services (4%) and community service and outreach (3%). Those numbers, Member Access Processing noted, reflected a reordering of priorities for members who want instant account access.
“There is no underestimating the importance of a solid payments program to a credit union’s reputation and its long-term relationship with its membership,” Member Access Processing President and CEO Cyndie Martini added.
Just over half the respondents said they were very happy with their debit card programs (56%) and credit card programs (57%), according to the data.
“Not surprising, those that were very happy with their processor were also very confident in their performance (77.4%), viewed their processor’s innovation as cutting edge (77.3%), and rated their provider as very easy to talk to via phone of email (80.3%),” Member Access Processing said.
The company said the survey respondents included executives and department directors in credit union operations, card management, risk management, lending, finance and information technology.