Open Banking for credit unions provides an opportunity to educate members and improve credit decisions. Because Open Banking lets lenders view applicants' bank transactions there's no need for paper bank statements. But with data scandals an ever-present threat, this information should be used … Read More about Making Open Banking Work For The Benefit Of Your Members
GDPR Is Good For Marketing
Nearly 20 years ago, a book was published which was to change marketing forever. Before that, marketing* was about interrupting people with messages they didn't ask for and didn't want. “Interruption Marketing was easy. Build a few ads, run them everywhere. Interruption Marketing was scalable. … Read More about GDPR Is Good For Marketing
Satsuma Goes Pear-Shaped (Slick Customer Experience Isn’t Enough)
Ten years ago I ran a focus group of low income borrowers to understand the impact the Government’s Growth Fund initiative had on credit union members. What suprised me was how much borrowers were willing to pay for convenience of service. I’d assumed that lower interest rates and weekly payments … Read More about Satsuma Goes Pear-Shaped (Slick Customer Experience Isn’t Enough)
Why Spending More On Bad Debt Can Be Profitable
Sticking to your budget for bad debt isn’t always the best course of action. What if spending another 1% on write offs, brought in more income than the extra bad debt cost? Using credit scoring to manage a loan portfolio Credit scoring enables lenders to estimate the bad rate based on a score. … Read More about Why Spending More On Bad Debt Can Be Profitable
How Credit Union Websites Are Like Cars
Some credit union websites are pretty. Many are ugly. Ugly or pretty, most of them don't 'work'. In my experience, most financial firm's websites, even the pretty ones, fail to move the business forward. To be clear, by 'work' I mean you have some business objective in mind and 'working' means … Read More about How Credit Union Websites Are Like Cars
Good Loan Applicants Are Being Turned Away
4.5 million people were declined for credit last year. Many for good reason; 1/4 of applicants were in financial difficulty. 10% were ‘just surviving’. However 42% were what the Financial Conduct Authority calls ‘financially resilient’. These applicants have savings, insurance and a pension. 7% had … Read More about Good Loan Applicants Are Being Turned Away