CO-OP Launches Payments Playbook, Helping CUs Grow Wallet Relationships
“That volume alone tells us that payments can be one of the credit union’s most powerful drivers of revenue and membership growth."
Credit unions should strive to become the primary destination consumers go to when it comes to making payments, according to a new guide from the payments CUSO CO-OP Financial Services.
To that end, CO-OP has pitched a new strategy that seeks to make credit unions the “primary financial relationship” consumers have with financial institutions. And the way to do that is through the payments consumers make to banks and credit unions, per CO-OP.
“Payments already represent the vast majority of member interactions with the institution that holds their primary financial relationship,” Todd Clark, president/CEO of CO-OP, said in a press release. “Think about the dozen times per day, year-round, that a member dips, taps or clicks to pay, and how that everyday interaction can lead to more opportunities within your credit union – from lending to selling other products and services.”
Clark said his company processes more than eight billion transactions a year.
“That volume alone tells us that payments can be one of the credit union’s most powerful drivers of revenue and membership growth,” he added.
CO-OP in its guide offered multiple suggestions credit unions can follow in order to boost their appeal to consumers. For one, credit unions need to develop a technological infrastructure that would allow consumers to use their phones as a mobile wallet, use their payment cards without having to touch anything, or use their phones to pay people directly.
A credit union’s payment apparatus should be on par with Google, Amazon and Uber’s apps, CO-OP recommended.
“Members expect that kind of experience with payments,” CO-OP said in its guide. “To keep up with that expectation, credit unions must focus on delivering a payment experience that is instantaneous, invisible and free to the end user both during point-of-sale and digital transactions.”
Additionally, credit unions also have to be prepared to deal with bad consumer experiences, like having to deal with unexpected fees or dispute charges, CO-OP said. Disputes and chargebacks are the top issues facing credit unions, and CO-OP said it’s building a system to help credit unions with those items.