Credit Union Management

The $779 million Charter Oak FCU in Groton, Conn., will grow by 600 members with June 30 merger.

CHICAGO Credit union executives attending CO-OP Financial Services recent THINK 2013 Conference heard two teams of executives and a panel of experts debate whether the credit union industry needs to make measured changes to face future challenges or massive changes.

Concierge banking is usually for the rich and famous at the high-end banks. Alamo Federal Credit Union doesnt see it that way. They want their members to feel pampered and taken care of. Alamo FCU is going the extra mile to take members beyond satisfaction to elationliterally.

For Stacie Wyss-Schoenborn, vice president of member solutions at BECU, the term status quo simply isnt in her vocabulary.

Over the years, I have seen the mission and values of the credit union industry expressed in the service brought to its members. I find that looking at the roots of an institution can remind us of its mission and values and connect us to those who have gone before...

The one clear fact in the raging debate about the role of branches for credit unions is that the voices are getting louder on both sides, with some insisting that clinging to branches is strangling the industrys profitability while others say that the personalization is what makes credit unions different.