ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)

In Case You Missed It (v33)

In this edition, we take a look at showing off your real values, the way real-world costs are rising, some big moves from NCUA, a fancier ChatGPT, the current state of remote work, and more. Here’s what we noticed, in case you missed it.

Lip service vs. real values

Chip Filson’s “Just a Member” blog is pure credit union gold. (Seriously — go subscribe already!) Filson recently highlighted a great article (unfortunately may be paywalled) from Greg Satell called “Values Always Cost You Something”. Key points: “The problem is that values are often confused with beliefs... Real values always cost you something.” Important stuff. Great credit union brands are authentic, and can never be all things to everyone.

Driving costs WAY more – how are CUs helping?

As this article from a Collateral Protection Insurance (CPI) provider SWBC points out, the cost of driving, from purchase, insurance, maintenance, and repair, has increased dramatically lately. This is catching many of your members off-guard, so make sure it doesn’t catch your credit union off-guard either.

As inventory catches up and sales slow, some manufacturers are even bringing back incentives. Why not help members manage the costs with something better than the same ol’ boring bread-and-butter car loan? For example, a car loan bundled with a savings account and maybe even a card (and CPI, of course) to help even out the shock of maintenance and repair costs. Or maybe “keep it on the road” loans or cards for folks who decide to keep their old car going for a while longer.

From the “You mean they’re not already doing this?” department

The fine folks over at CUCollaborate are reporting on an experiment that’s been ongoing for a few years that may soon bear fruit. Basically, NCUA and various state CU regulators have been piloting the concept of (gasp) coordinating their examinations for Federally-insured state-chartered credit unions. One exam a year instead of two overlapping state and Federal exams? Seems like a no-brainer to us. NCUA will soon decide whether to make this permanent.

ChatGPT goes Pro

Most people who use the internet are aware of ChatGPT at this point. OpenAI, the people behind the machine you could say, just announced the debut of ChatGPT Enterprise, a premium version of their chatbot. The big difference? This new version allows businesses to input company data and train the AI to adapt to their own industry and use case. The company also mentioned they plan to release a “ChatGPT Business” version for smaller teams. Hiring your own specialized AI sounds cool, but don’t forget you need people to make it work.

CUs are leading the way on moving DeFi to the mainstream

Unfortunately, assorted blockchain/DeFi/crypto/NFT scams seem to have hogged the public spotlight for the last few years, but the underlying technologies (AKA distributed ledger) have enormous potential beyond shady cryptocurrencies and monkey pictures. And the early adopters in the credit union movement are leading the way. For example, St. Cloud Financial CU in Minnesota. And there’s a lot of activity in the DeFi (Decentalized Finance) space within the credit union movement.

Remote work is here to stay. Duh.

Maybe we’re all sick of thinking about this, but the Harvard Business Review’s latest research appears to show that at least some of the nation’s CEOs are just starting to think about easing into the “acceptance” stage of grief over not seeing their worker bees working in person. (Of course, many are still stuck in the “anger” or “bargaining” stages, too.) Obviously, some things at CUs must still be done in person, but it’s been proven without a doubt that quite a few jobs can be done very effectively wholly or partially remote. Remember, remote work and flexibility are still seen as a key benefits and differentiators when you’re recruiting.

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