MADISON, Wis. – Technology whizzes looking for a new niche mightwant to consider a key finding in the “Credit Union E-Metrics Study– 2003.” The report, the culmination of a six-month study by theUniversity of Wisconsin E-Business Consortium, found a shortage ofavailable software tools credit unions can use to measure theeffectiveness of their online business strategies. The report wasreleased in late February based on a survey conducted by theuniversity, the CUNA Mutual Group, CUNA & Affiliates and theCUNA Technology Council, with help from the InformationTechnologies Credit Union Association. The nationwide survey, alongwith follow-up focus group sessions, gathered results from 88credit unions of various sizes and locations on such topics as pagehits, visit frequency, page views, Web site security and activepages and then aimed to analyze those results in terms of memberservice and effectiveness. Here's one observation: “Credit unionsare constantly attempting to increase customer value whileobtaining a reasonable ROI through their Web-based services.However, Web metrics that reveal business value have a very lowdeployment rate and few plans exist to increase their use. “Ourfocus group for this study noted the lack of available/affordabletools to capture necessary e-metrics data for this purpose.” Buildit and they might come, the study continues: “Successful Web-basedservice implementation stories demonstrate how the balanced use ofinternal metrics and customer-focused measurements provide asustainable advantage in the e-business journey,” it said, addingthat technological constraints noted from core processor and otherapplication service providers would have to be overcome. About onein four credit unions, primarily larger ones, now use formal toolsfor such purposes, the study found, although all the respondentswere using the most basic of online solutions: deposit accountfunctionality. Automatic transfers, bill payment and loan productsfollowed, with adoption rates of 77% to 94%. Lower adoption rateswere found for such consumer services as electronic statements,bill presentment and alert messages, but the trend was movingtoward offering more of those, beginning with larger credit unions,the study found. “The good news in this study is that credit unionscontinue to make progress in the ever-changing and challenginge-commerce arena, due in large part to the way they are leveragingtechnology advancements,” said Jeff Milbrath, vice president of Webchannel development at CUNA Mutual. “However, it appears that mostcredit unions still have a ways to go before they fully understandwhether investments in their Web sites are paying off,” he said.The report is available online at the following sponsor Web sites:www.cuna.org, www.cunamutal.com and www.uwebc.org. “Credit unionsthat are considering implementing new online services will findthis report helpful in developing their implementation strategy,and those that have already implemented these services will findthe results useful in validating their current strategy,” Milbrathsaid. -

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