The Lab at Filene: CU Leaders Gather to 'Shape Future Solutions'

MSUFCU Pres./CEO April Clobes at The Lab Symposium in San Francisco. (Photo: Romulo Ueda).

Numerous credit union and industry leaders met this month in San Francisco for a first-ever meeting to select ideas and products for The Lab at Filene to test in the coming year to help credit unions grow and thrive for its members and communities.

According to the Madison, Wis.-based Filene Research Institute, The Lab is a "platform for testing new tools, products and strategic solutions for their potential to help credit unions grow and deepen their impact." Credit union sponsors and stakeholders of Filene ultimately decide the tests run by The Lab.

Terry Katzur, president/CEO of ELGA Credit Union ($1.4 billion, Grand Blanc, Mich.) said, "Being a founding sponsor of The Lab at Filene provides ELGA Credit Union an opportunity to work with other forward-thinking credit unions. Together we can support and shape future solutions that have the potential to improve the financial well-being of our membership."

During Filene's Lab Symposium held earlier in August at Visa's San Francisco innovation center, attendees selected five areas for The Lab to test in 2023. According to a statement from Filene on Wednesday, those five areas include:

1. Financial Wellness as Engagement Strategy: How can credit unions expand member relationships by providing tailor-made plans to improve their financial well-being?

2. Re-thinking Physical Space: With digital transformation of financial services, how can credit unions leverage physical space to create value for members and communities?

3. Subscription-based Pricing Model: Could a subscription model for banking products and value-added services increase engagement with existing and prospective credit union members?

4. Virtual Credit/Debit Cards: Can virtual credit/debit cards help reduce fraud and create a "sticky" member service?

5. Digital Engagement for Indirect Lending: How can credit unions best relay what they can offer to indirect members and successfully expand their relationships?

"We're thrilled to reach this milestone and excited to work on these tests. We also look forward to continuing our work with The Lab sponsor community," Filene Senior Director of Incubation Josh Sledge said. "We have some fantastic leaders, innovators and supporters in the mix."

Attendees of The Lab at Filene in San Francisco. (Photo: Romulo Ueda).

One of the credit union leaders attending the Lab Symposium, Tonita Webb, CEO of Verity Credit Union ($789 million, Seattle) said, "This type of work sets credit unions up for success, pairing resources (that none of us have time to build out individually) with actionable results that enable us to better serve our members. We're excited to utilize The Lab on 'rethinking physical space' to look at our own branches and implement updates that address the needs and concerns of every member in our community."

According to Filene, the next steps for the work at The Lab includes creating detailed plans for each of the five testing concepts and then selecting which Lab sponsor organization will conduct tests on a specific concept. After that, "The Lab will conduct tests and produce actionable insights for credit unions to adopt proven solutions and expand their capacity for innovation," according to Filene's statement.

The director of enterprise project management at the $5.5 billion, Endwell, N.Y.-based Visions Federal Credit Union (also a Lab sponsor), Chad Williams, said, "Having a central hub for ideas to be tested and vetted will help all credit unions support members. In the end, that is what we are all here for, the members we support and serve."

Filene officials unveiled The Lab at Filene during the Filene Chair's Breakfast held during CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington, D.C. in February.

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Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.