I hear a number of concerns from credit unions today:external forces such as slowing loan growth, squeezed margins,evidence of compliance and financial regulation bills arechallenging business as they look for new ways to drive growth.However, one force left off this list–while unassuming–is the mostimportant to the future of your business. It's competition fortoday's consumer. The evolution of technology is fundamentallychanging the way consumers want to interact and is creatingcompetition in places that never before existed. The good news:Within this new consumer class lies great opportunity for thosethat can capture their attention. The bad news: Today, you can loseyour member's loyalty at the push of a button. How can creditunions position themselves to stand out? Consider this consumer'sinteraction: 

Bob wakes up. His phone displays an SMS text reminder from hislocal florist: “Sue's birthday is tomorrow. Last year, you orderedthe medium bouquet. Upgrade your bouquet and receive 20% off.” Hetaps yes and completes the  transaction. The floristautomatically emails him a copy of his receipt that includes apromotional offer for a nice bottle of wine at the new localrestaurant. He checks out its website and then tweets a message tosee if anyone recommends it. Many do. He quickly goes to the linkon his receipt and reserves a table–redeeming his offer. The nextday, when Bob and Sue arrive, their table has a note wishing Sue ahappy birthday. After leaving the restaurant, he tweets about thegreat experience he had and sends out the restaurant's link.

Today, you can lose your member's loyalty in mere seconds andwith the push of a button. The window from the time a consumergathers information to the point at which the consumer makesdecisions has become exponentially smaller. Credit unions oncecompeted for the loyalty of your members against banks and otherfinancial institutions. Now, you must compete with every otherbusiness that is setting the bar ever higher with a digitallyempowered consumer experience.

Thankfully, your solution is rooted in what you have alwaysdone: think about your member first. However, to be relevant tothis new empowered consumer, you will need to leverage technologyto achieve your goals.

There are two concepts I'd like to introduce. One is aboutpreference and the other is about presence.

Preference is “What do you know about me?” “Do you know my age?”“Do you know whether I like to talk to a person or do it myself?”“Do you know what I've bought from you in the past?”

Presence is “Where am I at this moment?” “Am I currently in thecar going to my son's football game?” “Am I going to work?” “Am Iat work?” 

At the intersection of presence and preference you will findyour member's lifestyle. Can you cater to my lifestyle at 6 a.m. onthe train while I am on the way to the office? Can you meet myneeds at 6 p.m. when I'm on the bleachers at my son's footballgame? Or when I am on the beach on vacation? Can you be theretoo? 

Credit unions must master these two concepts–preference andpresence–if they are going to continue to retain and attractmembers. 

Consumers have grown accustomed to companies such as Amazon ande-Trade that offer instant gratification and can meet their needs24/7–wherever they are. Credit unions need to ensure that they areoffering fast, efficient, multichannel flexibility with numerous,alternative ways to make simple transactions, like depositchecks–at the branch, at the ATM, at home, at business andcommercial locations.

The ability to offer banking that saves time, like intelligentdeposit ATMs or online scheduling vs. something they have to workaround is key.

Are you providing your members with personalized informationthat is relevant to their particular lifestyle? While they may haveunlimited access and seek to inform themselves first, your membersare looking to you to provide them with the most valuable productsand solutions that are most relevant to their particularneeds. 

Imagine the power of using your own technology to be highlyaccessible, highly available and have the right conversations. AtNCR, we like to call this CxBanking–or consumer experience banking.It's banking that offers a seamless, converged channel experiencethat meets your members wherever they are, caters to theirpreferences and delivers value by offering solutions that arerelevant to their individual lifestyle.

We can learn lessons from a variety of industries on how todeliver value to the digitally empowered consumer. Doctors' officesprepare for patient appointments thanks to online self-schedulersoftware.

Airlines are helping time-starved consumers bypass check-inlines by delivering their boarding passes directly to their phones.Can your members use their mobile phones to bank with you? Grocerystores are putting DVD kiosks outside their stores, so thatcustomers can rent a movie whenever they want not just duringbusiness hours. How would your members respond if they could makeand clear deposits at the ATM even after the credit union hasclosed? From flights to flowers, businesses everywhere are adaptingto meet consumers at the intersection of their presence andpreference. So can you. 

Bill Nuti is chairman/CEO of NCR Corp.
Contact 212-589-8433 [email protected]