LOS ANGELES – In an industry sometimes permeated by a “this ishow we've always done it” attitude, innovation can easily fall intothe nice-to-have category. However, in today's hectic financialmarketplace, innovation has become a strategic and competitiveimperative.

This point was driven home Tuesday by two consecutive sessionsat the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues' REACHconference.

The first was a panel discussion called IndustryInnovations which was moderated by Mollie Bell, chiefengagement officer at the Filene Research Institute. The panelistswere Sarah Canepa Bang, chief strategy officer at CO-OP SharedBranching, Eric Cotter, vice-president of Automotive Products andInnovation at CU Direct and Erik Vandermause, vice-president ofTruStage Innovation and Channels at CUNA Mutual Group.