Credit unions have a wealth of insightful information trappedinside their core and technology platforms. This has always been the case,but until recently, comprehensive views of the data were notreadily available. Today, decision makers have access to tools thatanalyze data from disparate sources and provide summaries acrossmultiple levels, from executive dashboards to drill-down detailedreporting. 

Perhaps even more importantly, data is now available right away,offering insights into yesterday's activities as opposed to lastmonth's. To properly leverage this goldmine, one must know whatdata to track, how to track it and how to react. 

The first thing to understand about reporting is its value.Settling for only partial reporting, or whatever comes built-inwith the core platform, can mislead decision-makers. Rather, creditunions should look for data analysis tools that provide morethorough assessments and customizable reports, enabling them tosegment information as needed and to filter it by variousparameters. 

Having the ability to drill down to the factors that matter mostto each unique credit union is paramount. In order to do this,reports must include more than just core data. It is also importantto have third-party vendor information to ensure a comprehensiveview into particular performance areas of the credit union. Creditcards and mortgage loans are two products that are often outsourced.These loans need to be integrated, measured and accurately reportedalong with in-house loans. 

Once a credit union decides what is important to track for theirunique business plan, it must determine how to track it. Many reports may be best geared toward day-over-day,month-over-month, year-over-year trends and comparisons. In thiscase, measuring changes by percentages offers a better perspectivefor what type of growth, or fluctuations in demand, are actuallybeing represented. For instance, adoption of a product thatincreased by 20 members over the last three months may not seemsignificant, but if it represents solid 10% growth, then it may befar more substantial than at first glance. 

Beyond time-trending analysis, member demographic data canprovide a picture of service adoption across age ranges, deliverychannels or geographic areas. It can be highly beneficial whenplanning  targeted product and service promotions, andidentifying cross-sell or up-sell opportunities. 

Once executives have a comprehensive, accurate view of thetrends in their credit union, actions should be taken to maximizethe effectiveness of business plans. Measuring and reviewing keydata on a daily basis enables decision-makers to make frequent,incremental adjustments to programs and offerings and keep them ontrack for continued long-term success. Furthermore, decisions willbe made based on what is best for the credit union and its businessplan, rather than what the nearest competitor isoffering. 

With properly leveraged data, credit unions can immediatelyimprove how they take action in three primary areas.

Lending. In the past, decision-makers were often delayed inreceiving access to useful, summarized delinquency and charge-off reports. Now, credit unions have theopportunity to assign additional resources, change policies oradjust rates to hold the line on loan losses. They can also closelymonitor their application pipeline, in addition to recently fundedloans, to ensure they are not exceeding policy maximums forspecific loan products, such as real estate.  

Profitability. Executives can quickly and efficiently analyzethe areas that have the greatest potential to generate revenue andreact accordingly. This may mean fine-tuning pricing to balance thesource and use of funds. For example, finding out sooner versuslater that a welcomed increase in member loan demand is occurringhelps executives get a jump on the best way to attract deposits forfunding loans.

Branch and ATM resources. Knowing where, when and how oftenmembers access financial services can help increase efficiencyacross branches and plan for ATMs. Staffing is a major budget lineitem, but having insight into the volume and type of branchactivity enables branch managers to plan ahead and prevent hours ofdowntime. Branch analysis also helps managers adjust activities,rates, or promotions to achieve monthly goals. 

Credit unions have the tools available to turn data intodecision-making information and to arm themselves to answerfundamental business questions. Once data is analyzed andpresented, credit unions can identify their highest potentialopportunities and risks and adjust accordingly. The most noticeableimpact will be to the bottom line.

Sue Chriest is director of R&D and operations at SymitarCruise Core
Contact 1-888-796-4827 [email protected]