Ittycheria added, "One of the most exciting developments over the last year was technology like CULedger, a blockchain powered distributed ledger technology dedicated specifically for the needs of credit unions. This whole notion of banding together and using innovative technology such as ledgers was the biggest movement of 2018."

Julie Esser

Julie Esser, chief engagement officer, CULedger, agreed stating, "New solutions geared towards credit unions and their members have made headlines throughout the year, and distributed ledger technology, the base of blockchain, made big waves in the industry as leaders began to learn all that DLT has to offer." Esser maintained DLT is quickly making inroads in the industry, reducing friction for credit unions and members.

Debbie Peace

The year also witnessed a heavier emphasis on attracting and retaining business members, according to Debbie Peace, CEO of ACH Alert, "Today's credit unions have a massive opportunity to attract more businesses and address their financial needs, such as protecting cash flow." In response, she indicated a large number of credit unions jumped into the treasury management space and it appears as if they understand that fraud prevention such as with Check and ACH Positive Pay are also necessary to compete with larger banks for business.

Mike Horrocks, vice president of product development, Baker Hill, suggested there is also huge opportunity for credit unions, especially in small business lending. "To compete with their non-Credit Union competitors, however, they must either build or partner to offer their own small business loan application."

Terry Ammons

Terry Ammons, systems partner for Porter Keadle Moore LLC observed, regulatory, compliance and security issues can be major stumbling blocks when it comes to credit union tech. "With increased oversight this year from regulators, greater due diligence has helped to ensure all processes holds up to this amplified scrutiny – a trend that will likely continue into 2019."

This year, credit union compliance teams, benefitted from stabilization of the compliance and regulatory environment, Leonard Ryan, founder and president, QuestSoft Corp. stated. Ryan noted this is the first year in recent memory that did not see a major new law or reform being scheduled or passed. "The most significant change – new HMDA regulations – is one that credit unions have been preparing for over the past year and a half."

Ryan added "Instead, 2018 was a year for credit unions to evaluate their compliance infrastructure to see if there were new tools or processes that could make their teams more efficient and cost-effective." Such as looking to workflow automation tools that enable them to deal with compliance issues in real time instead of waiting until after closing.

Vincent Brennan

Security remains a backbone element of the credit union experience, Vincent Brennan, president, credit union solutions, Fiserv, explained. "How we manage security, and member awareness of it, are evolving. Managed services that counter a wide array of threat types are allowing more credit unions to move forward with confidence while doing it for less overall cost".

Chuck Fagan

The successful deployment of EMV chip cards led to another type of fraud becoming more prevalent in 2018. "As EMV did a reasonably effective job in 2016 and 2017 at deterring counterfeit cards, what we expected absolutely played out and that was that the fraudsters went to the card-not-present world," Chuck Fagan, president/CEO of PSCU, said.

Fagan noted this created a new challenge for credit unions. He referred to PSCU's Eye on Payments study where 75% of members responding said they decided on payment primarily based on the most secure (and convenient) option available. "We're approving as an industry about 86% percent of card-not-present transactions. So, because of that aggressive shift into the card-not-present world we've really had to strengthen the security parameters around those transactions."

Steve Gilde

Steve Gilde, director of global product marketing, Paragon Application Systems stated no single tech trend stood out in another very hectic (and chaotic) year. "Ongoing legal and regulatory burdens, fraud and cybersecurity, data privacy issues, technology advances, a strong economy, rising interest rates, changing consumer behavior and competition from a variety of fintech disrupters continue to put pressure on credit unions and all financial services providers to operate as efficiently as possible."

Gilde acknowledged despite all the changes taking place within financial services, consumers are realizing that virtual suppliers will not and cannot meet all of their needs. "Credit unions are rediscovering the advantage that they have by being close to their members and have begun to make full use of all the technology that is becoming available to them." He maintained mobile, robotics and artificial intelligence have all advanced to a point where they are both affordable and manageable for credit unions, allowing them to compete more effectively with bigger financial institutions and fintechs. "Credit unions are well-positioned to provide an optimal mix of personalized services and technology (i.e. the right mix of physical and virtual) that is now being recognized as a superior go-to-market model."