NEW ORLEANS — With a promise to provide a series of intimate roundtables for open and sometimes brutally honest discussions on business services and the role CUSOs can play in meeting credit unions' needs, NACUSO recently held its third annual Business Services Collaborative.
More than 70 representatives from CUSOs, credit unions and third-party vendors attended the collaborative. Tom Davis, president/CEO of NACUSO, who continued promoting the association's message of collaboration, innovation, critical thinking and implementation, served as a facilitator during a session on the role of NACUSO for member business lending CUSOs. Attendees shared their thoughts on what was working as well as what was lacking in an area that is quickly becoming a key focus for credit unions.
Several ideas bandied about included having local and regional CUSOs, creating profiles of certain industries and identifying "best of breed." Creating a risk management group, conducting research studies for members with ties to the small business market and building CUSO credibility within the credit union were other suggestions.
"Is it still 'we versus them' with CUSOs and credit unions?" Davis asked the roundtable attendees.
One credit union representative responded that for the most part, CUSOs are still indeed viewed as the "landscaper" or "vendor." Others suggested that building credibility starts with the CEO of the credit union and even having a meeting of CUSO owners could be one way to get everyone on the same page. Since NCUA audits almost always bring CEOs and CUSOs together, building on that interaction might be another way to link the two even more, someone offered.
"It may take awhile to create awareness," said one attendee, adding many still think credit unions don't offer mortgages.
To provide a possible outlet to bring credit unions and CUSOs together, NACUSO threw out the idea of having a session on integrating the two with credit union CEOs as the target audience.
"It may help foster truth and faith…but you need some type of incentive to get [credit union CEOs] to come," one investment CUSO representative suggested.
–msamaad@cutimes.com
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