We're back from the 2022 Corelation Client Conference and in true fashion, this event delivered insights into the latest trends affecting credit unions.
While it’s darn near impossible to share all the Information shared, here are three key takeaways we absorbed from this year's lineup of keynotes and breakout sessions.
"Operational Efficiency" was a term mentioned frequently throughout the three-day conference. Technology geared towards improving credit unions' operational efficiency and productivity are the major driving forces behind future success. Technology infrastructure needs to change to effectively deliver services that meet the expectations of credit union members. Understanding the member purchase and service journey associated with credit union products and using this data to implement digital solutions is critical to the member experience.
While serving members virtually through cloud-based technologies isn't a new concept, credit unions have tended to lag other institutions in adopting cloud-based technology. As members become comfortable with utilizing technology to fulfil their financial needs, ensuring that your institution has seamless services in place is paramount. You must operate faster and be responsive to the current banking trends.
Cloud solutions free credit unions from the constraints of legacy technology and drive the next wave of digital advancements. It offloads the core platform, physical servers, and IT staff. Traditional data center infrastructure is expensive and time-consuming to maintain. Cloud-based business analytics solutions can reduce implementation time and the cost of ownership.
The risks have only increased as online financial transactions are on the rise. Credit union cybersecurity means that efforts to protect member data are expanding and becoming more challenging. Strong authentication matters. Passwords and pins provide some protection, but they are easy to crack - people often forget them. More and more credit unions are turning to a more unorthodox way of identifying members, known as biometrics.
Biometrics offer more robust protection. Fingerprint recognition started this evolution, but innovations in biometrics are now extending to more unique attributes. Many credit unions explore biometric authentication in their self-service kiosks using palm scanners. Here, members can verify their identity using the palm of their hand. This kind of authentication is not only safe, but it’s quick. (This was technology was demonstrated with GENIX and Sourcetech = at CFM’s booth.)
Thank you to the entire Corelation staff for putting together such a great event. Until next time, fellow bankers!