Fintech Talents

Fintech Talents

Kallyas is an ultra-premium, responsive theme built for today websites.

T (212) 555 55 00
Email: sales@yourwebsite.com

Your Company LTD
Street nr 100, 4536534, Chicago, US


Content

STAY TUNED

The Credit Union View

by Lisa Moyle / Tuesday 09 February 2021 / Published in Community & Events, Content, Featured, Fintech, FinTECHTalents, Innovation, Opinion

In the run up to Fintech Talents North America, we are speaking to credit unions and community banks across North America to gather their views on how they see the future unfolding in their corner of the financial services sector.

This week we hear from Kelly Wagner-Grull, Director of Innovation at the Credit Union of Colorado and Fintech Talents Steering Committee member. Looking ahead, she notes that ‘credit union and community banks’ traditional income streams will be tested and require innovative thinking and leaps of faith on creative solutions… ultimately forced change will come from pressures of non-traditional financial service providers and sophisticated/nimble FinTechs.’

Kelly also points to fascinating trends to which credit unions (along with all providers) must respond. Read the full interview below and also find out how the credit union of Colorado feels about it members. It will make you 😊 – I promise.

What community does your Credit Union /Community Bank serve?

Credit Union of Colorado has the great pleasure of serving 146,000+ people, from all walks of life, who enjoy the benefits of membership in a credit union that is worth over $1.63 billion in assets. Founded in 1934, and formally known as Colorado State Employees Credit Union, we continue to welcome and support our broad and diverse membership. With more than 80 years of experience, we’re proud of our strength, stability, and history as a member-owned financial institution and equally excited for what’s next.

Do you think the role of credit unions/ community banks is changing?

The financial landscape is evolving rapidly, and I anticipate our industry will look very different in five, seven, or ten years from now. The weight of technological disturbances, growing consumer behaviours, rising non-traditional providers entering the industry, competition for business, and amplified regulatory demands will force redefinition of our financial ecosystems and business models.

Credit union and community banks’ traditional income streams will be tested and require innovative thinking and leaps of faith on creative solutions. Lending channels continue to be vulnerable to disruption and ultimately forced change will come from pressures of non-traditional financial service providers and sophisticated/nimble FinTechs.

This is already in motion within the payments space, where digital payments (and the future of cryptocurrencies and tokenization) may be table stakes to most FI’s ongoing existence. The financial commitment to deploy technology that will satisfy members, explicitly to meet the younger member’s expectations, will naturally require many of the smaller FI’s to conform into more niche offerings, mergers or risk-forced acquisitions.

What are some of the challenges you face in what is a fast-changing industry?

It is no longer novel to say consumer’s expectations are growing, as the new norm has an upward trajectory with no limits in sight. These elevated expectations create inherent challenges for any financial institution to keep pace with experiences being offered by large tech-based organizations, such as Amazon. Credit Union of Colorado understands that our technology interactions with our members must be intuitive, easy, and consultative experiences. Levering data is and will continue to be a key tool necessary to be able to create meaningful, actionable and memorable member insights.

The financial landscape will continue to change, and the name of the game will be to anticipate the growing needs around product features, self-service options, and leveraging regulation as a competitive advantage. Millennials and future generations are already redefining how money works within our ecosystems. Their approach to autos and home ownership looks very different than that of previous generational borrowers. Their desire to be less debt driven and open to a more collaborative consumption model where autonomous vehicles, “uberization” of services and goods are all key indicators to how we need to evolve our business model beyond “a checking or loan” provider.

What are some of the challenges you face in what is a fast-changing industry? (Continued)

Our future creative lending solutions become the decree of member service with on-demand access to autonomous vehicle services, diverse multigenerational housing loans supported and have vast resolutions to increasing student debt balances. Above all, being “always open” to provide services seamlessly and customized to each member is obligatory. The differentiator becomes the level of sophisticated algorithms and automation invested in, ensuring members have superior decision making and problem-solving tool. This will assure the partnership between member and CU priceless and sustainable.

How has the pandemic impacted the way you operate and your future strategy?

The pandemic has reinforced the importance of our core values and strengthened our commitment to be a safe, secure, and stable financial partner with our members. The current times allow our corporate social responsibility to shine in how members and our larger community are supported. Creating trust and relationships with our members is who we are and even when we come across hard times, we continue to do the right thing.

For times when job losses arise, death, or other traumatic life challenges occur, we will continue to operate in consistent, safe and relevant ways. Ensuring that our members can access these services in a remote way is required and was highlighted by the current pandemic. In many ways, the pandemic is a great example of being able to capitalize on some of the pre-work which was already in play with our remote work strategy, digital service improvements, and adaptability to shift resources based on member demand.

Is working with partners part of your strategy?

Given that many credit unions and community banks do not have endless technology budgets, partnership is a key strategy to meeting rapidly increasing member’s technology interaction demands. The collaborative credit union industry allows for many credit union service organizations (CUSO’s) to thrive and leverage a buy vs. build mentality, which can aid in staying in step with the pace of the industry.

Credit Union of Colorado continues to build relationships with start-ups, FinTech’s and will consider use cases where outsourcing and/or alternative third-party solutions can enhance our ability to experiment with options to move more nimbly. This includes prototyping, piloting and iterative design of solutions.

Digital channels or branches – which is more important?

Tough question… Physical branches in my opinion will always have an important role and may shock us at how relevant they are in, say 10 years. While saying this, becoming a fully digital delivery channel must compliment the branching model. The gift of choice between branch and digital will become one interaction, with a seamless cross between channel, resulting in a “hybrid” member. Measurement of success and longevity will come from the ability to offer superior end-to-end experiences, without a human interaction, yet if needed is one button (or branch) away.

The best thing about being part of a credit union/ community bank is….

We love our Members- like really love them! At the Credit Union of Colorado, our members are co-owners and their voice, needs and trust matters. I believe our lasting commitment to offering personalized service, without heavy sales pitches and unfulfilled expectations, are balanced by our honest transparency, commitment to community needs, and ultimately the ability to do the right thing, in all times.


Tagged under: community bank, Credit Union, North America, Splash

Recent Posts

  • Empowering Members, One Loan at a Time: A Conversation with Ciara Davies, CEO of Metro MoneyWise Credit Union

    Who says that credit unions can’t innovat...
  • Lending through change: A conversation with Simon Taylor, Melton Building Society

    Data, niches, and AI: Simon Taylor on the evolu...
  • Registration now open for the 2025 edition of the FTT Fintech Festival

    2nd June 2025, London: Registration for the 202...
  • From complex to seamless: A chat with Roger Vincent, Bourn

    Built for growth, designed for simplicity At FT...
  • Smarter lending through open banking: A chat with Matthew Barr, Moneyhub

    Empowering lenders with real-time insights: The...


  • Home
  • Call for speakers
  • View all events
  • Fintech Talents events
    • FTT Fintech Festival 2025
    • FTT AI Transformation 2025
    • FTT Mutuals 2025
    • Breakfast briefing: Lending with intelligence 2025
    • FTT Financial Services Futures 2025
    • FTT Lending 2026
    • FTT Payments 2026
    • Fintech Talents Road Trip 2026
    • Fintech Talents North America 2026
  • FTT Embedded Finance & Super-Apps events
    • FTT Embedded Finance & Super-Apps Europe 2026
    • Customer Alpha Europe 2026
    • FTT Embedded Finance & Super-Apps North America East Coast 2026
    • Customer Alpha North America East Coast 2026
    • FTT Embedded Finance & Super-Apps North America West Coast 2026
    • Customer Alpha North America West Coast 2026
  • Future Identity events
    • Future Identity Festival 2025
    • FID Fraud & FinCrime – Fall Europe 2025
    • Future Identity Finance Europe 2026
    • FID Fraud & FinCrime – Spring Europe 2026
    • Future Identity Customer Europe 2026
    • FID Fraud & FinCrime – Summer Europe 2026
    • Future Identity Finance North America 2026
    • Future Identity Customer North America 2026
  • Past events
    • Fraud prevention & customer experience webinar 2025
    • Open Finance & Consumer Duty webinar 2024
    • FTT SME Banking 2023
    • Unboxing the Next Generation of Embedded Finance 2023
    • FTT AI Transformation webinar 2024
  • Content
    • All Content
    • Interviews
    • Opinion
    • Videos
    • Digital Reports
  • VC INNOVATIONS – Accelerated Marketing

GET IN TOUCH

T +44 203 835 2829
Email: marketing@vcinnovations.co.uk

LONDON
85 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4TQ
Open in Google Maps

NEW YORK
477 Broadway, 2nd Floor, Suite 1033, New York, NY 10013
Open in Google Maps

QUICK LINKS

  • Home
  • About VC INNOVATIONS
  • Events
  • FAQs
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

RECENT POSTS

  • Empowering Members, One Loan at a Time: A Conversation with Ciara Davies, CEO of Metro MoneyWise Credit Union

    Who says that credit unions can’t innovat...
  • Lending through change: A conversation with Simon Taylor, Melton Building Society

    Data, niches, and AI: Simon Taylor on the evolu...
  • Registration now open for the 2025 edition of the FTT Fintech Festival

    2nd June 2025, London: Registration for the 202...
  • Privacy Policy

© VC Innovations 2018. All Rights Reserved.



TOP
 
SAVE £700 WITH THE SUPER EARLY BIRD BEFORE 4th JULY
BOOK TODAY
 
 
SAVE £700 WITH THE SUPER EARLY BIRD BEFORE 4th JULY
BOOK TODAY
 
 
SAVE £700 WITH THE SUPER EARLY BIRD BEFORE 4th JULY
BOOK TODAY
 
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
Get involved


FTT Payments 2025 - Download previous attendee list


Download now


Press & Media Pass


Get involved



FTT Mutuals 2025 - Download previous attendee list


FTT AI Transformation 2025 - Download previous attendee list


Get involved


Get involved