What credit unions learned from COVID-19
The coronavirus has been as challenging for credit unions as it has been tough on the members they serve.
Think back to this same time last year –enjoying some of those last days of summer before children start going back to high school or heading off to college. Maybe sneaking in one final vacation before what we then thought was the Fall Chaos starting. As we reflect on the summer joys of 2019 – I bet we would all like to go back and have a 2020 do over, knowing what we know now.
After several months of dealing with COVID-19 and the economic and human ripple effects it has had, executives continue to wonder how their credit unions can be better prepared for the next crisis.
Credit unions varied in their level of preparedness as well as in their success confronting the COVID-19 crisis.Most had never considered having to close a branch other than for designated federal holidays. Nor had the thought of having staff work from home, for a week much less months, entered their minds. How would you conduct business and keep your members happy? It was a bit of a mystery.
Immediately credit unions invested in technology to enable remotework, such as video-conferencing and chat capabilities, and provided the equipment employees would need while continuing to serve their members in the way to which they were accustomed. They needed to determine what were “must haves” versus “nice to haves” to keep business going. But still so many questions remained since most member transactions were going to involve online and digital channels.
- How were employeesgoing to be trained?
- How were members going to be able to understand the new way of doing business?
- How was the member service center going to handle the influx of calls?
- What services do we need to now offer that had not been available in the past?
- e-Signatures?
- Mobile Check Deposits?
- Online Account Opening?
- Online Loan Applications?
The list can continue on and on.
We spoke to several credit unions of varying sizes including BECU, Credit Union of Texas (CUTX), Evansville Teachers Federal Credit Union (FCU) and Hughes Federal Credit Union (FCU) as well as others to get their thoughts on COVID-19 preparedness and what they were doing to continue to provide their members with excellent service.
One sentiment that quickly came to the surface when talking with them was flexibility –whatever was once considered to be a standard operating procedure needed to be revisited. When asked if the credit union was adequately prepared to handle COVID-19 and the way operations had to pivot, 75 % said yes; 25% somewhat.
BECU closely monitors the situation and follows CDC guidelines and recommendations from local health officials to ensure the credit union is doing the right thing in support of the health and wellness of its employees, members, vendor partners and communities said Avery FitzPatrick, BECU spokesperson.
Jennifer Olvera, vice president of Engagement at CUTX, shared, “I don’t think anyone could say they were 100% prepared for how hard and fast the COVID-19 pandemic hit. We invested in some of the top industry technology, so that allowed us to easily shift our functions without impacting our members to working remotely. We did purchase additional laptops for all of our staff to enable them to do their jobs from home.”
According to Laura Barnett, director of Training at Evansville Teachers FCU, no one could ever predict all the operational shifts a global pandemic would bring, but the credit union quickly adapted to what we call the now normal and what we’re doing to meet the member’s and staff’s needs.
Kellie Terhune Neely, vice president of Marketing at Hughes FCU, said the credit union was more than prepared to handle COVID-19 with its various systems in place. “We saw a demand during the pandemic, and we shifted our staff to better accommodate those needs. We moved employees....-->
The coronavirus has been as challenging for credit unions as it has been tough on the members they serve.
Think back to this same time last year –enjoying some of those last days of summer before children start going back to high school or heading off to college. Maybe sneaking in one final vacation before what we then thought was the Fall Chaos starting. As we reflect on the summer joys of 2019 – I bet we would all like to go back and have a 2020 do over, knowing what we know now.
After several months of dealing with COVID-19 and the economic and human ripple effects it has had, executives continue to wonder how their cred...