by
Catalyst Corporate | Oct 24, 2022
As seasons change, so does the financial landscape, leaving today’s credit unions with an abundance of new challenges to navigate. Results from Catalyst Corporate’s recent Member Insights Survey (MIS) show that generating fee income emerged as the top-rated objective of credit union professionals this year.
The MIS was emailed to member credit union C-suite executives and operations contacts. Over a three-week survey period, responses were received from 340 individuals, representing 288 credit unions.
Among other questions, Catalyst Corporate asked “From your perspective, what are your credit union’s top challenges;” 316 credit unions responded to available options in the following order:
- Generating fee income
- Offering self-service technologies
- Efficiency of payments/operations
- Managing liquidity to fund loan demand
- Managing deposit flows
- Capital level concerns
- Other initiatives/objectives
- Consolidating service providers
Jumping from third place in 2021 to first this year, “Generating fee income” garnered the most responses. “Offering self-service tech” and “Payments/operations efficiency” respectively rounded out the top three challenges, claiming second and third place.
“New concerns reflect the fast-changing financial landscape credit unions now face,” said Karen Coble, Catalyst Corporate VP of Sales. “The pandemic’s influence on operating conditions for credit unions nationwide caused a notable shift in survey results, with new entries and a reorder of the top three challenges.”
Coble suggested the high priority placed on “generating fee income” is a result of credit unions considering new ways to replace the loss of revenue from overdraft fees. “An increase in the importance placed on self-service technology indicates credit unions are feeling additional demand from members for convenient, fast, and cost-effective service,” she said.
To help credit unions prepare for success in 2023, Catalyst Corporate hosted an Idea Exchange at the recent Economic & Payments Forum. Twenty-two groups of credit union leaders collaborated to answer the question, “What keeps you awake at night?” Over 400 potential solutions were generated based on the eight top challenges identified in this year’s MIS.
Each year, the MIS provides invaluable feedback that allows Catalyst Corporate to better serve its member credit unions. Catalyst Corporate makes adjustments based on the assessment to ensure it offers a portfolio of products and services that are responsive to credit union needs.
See more results of the 2022 Member Insights Survey and check out key takeaways from the Forum 2022 Idea Exchange.