Insights from Catalyst

It’s no secret that more consumers and small business owners have “gone mobile” since the COVID-19 pandemic began. In fact, the pandemic has bolstered mobile payment adoption for Millennials, Gen Xers and Boomers alike and is resulting in a rise in demand for real-time payment solutions for credit unions. But with so many options, how do you choose the right mobile P2P app?

As in professional weightlifting, a good barbell strategy may offer considerable advantages for credit union investment portfolios. The barbell is an investment strategy for fixed-income portfolios in which half the portfolio consists of long-term bonds and the other half is short-term bonds. It’s called a “barbell” because it’s heavily weighted with bonds at both ends of the maturity timeline.

Credit union management teams are analyzing every operation and expense these days for relevance in a pandemic-influenced environment. One area where credit unions can truly improve their operational efficiency is consolidation of all their deposit channels under a single administrative hub.

Non-maturity deposits are a critical component of every credit union. One of the key benefits of these deposits is that they offer a fairly stable, low-cost source of funding, while also helping offset asset risk. But, just how much risk can be offset, and how stable are these funds?

“Rates are too low” is a statement that seems to be echoing among investors in the current economic environment. Another popular phrase we’ve heard across the industry is “The economy will turn around and rates will go back up.” Behavioral finance might define such phrases as “anchoring” – the common human tendency to rely on one piece of information or a cognitive bias toward a psychological benchmark.