Seez President, Michele Stone, took the main stage last night at CO-OP THINK 2023 to speak with credit unions about unlocking growth potential through the combination of member centricity and technological innovation.
She was part of a panel facilitated by CEO of HerMoney, journalist, and financial editor of NBC’s TODAY show Jean Chatzky. Joining her on stage was Jim McKelvey, co-founder of Square, and Samantha Paxson, Chief Experience Officer at CO-OP Solutions.
“Every day we look to help credit unions leverage intimate knowledge of their members and look to the future to ensure they have the right products and services, connecting through the right channels and delivering experiences that members value”
– Michele Stone, Seez
A few highlights from Michele:
Question: What does a member-centric focus look like?
Michele: Build your MX practice. Be accountable to member life stage journeys. Observe micro interactions that signal needs. Deliver financial well-being and holistic financial health.
We know health, wealth and access work together for whole health. So, what’s a credit union’s role? How can credit unions know members so well they can help automatically manage finances, manage the day to day and those transactions with real-time feedback? And provide members with nudges to help them understand how moment to moment decisions will impact their ability to achieve goals.
Question: How do you suggest using data to deliver personalized solutions?
Michele: Use AI and ML to create predictive models that allow you to offer personalized solutions to members before they even ask.
Leverage the power of collaboration. Coming to a co-op conference is intended to be a place to share and learn with others. What holds collaboration back is vulnerability. Fintechs have speed. Banks have scale. Credit unions have each other and are cooperatives, so if we work closer together, we can avoid becoming a commodity.
With collaboration comes the magic of outsiders and insiders working together to know your members and increase growth for your organization. Credit union leaders are steeped in experience. However we caution leaders to avoid the myopy of “inside out” approaches – respect legacy traditions and behaviors that are in credit union core values. Don’t be blinded by those assumptions. Apply learnings and best practices from other industries. Be watching retail and media outlets to observe consumer expectations, preferences, and behavior.