QCash Financial Aims to Eradicate Payday Loans
By Robert McGarvey $30 billion annually – that’s how big Pew said the payday, pawn auto title, etc. loan market is in America. When people need a loan, and everybody else has said no, they go to alternative lenders. That’s 10 to 12 million Americans every year. They pay through the nose too. Up to 400% APR. […]
The 50 Most Convenient Credit Unions
By Robert McGarvey For Credit Union 2.0 Did your credit union make the 50 most convenient list? Stop wondering, click to see the MagnifyMoney ranking. What this ranking is about is how easy it is for a member to access the services he/she wants, when he wants them, and so it looks at both the analog and digital worlds, […]
Reinvigorating the Credit Union Board for the 21st Century
By Robert McGarvey for Credit Union 2.0 A two word question recently asked by a credit union board member puts in a starkly bright light the challenge many, many face: “What’s fintech?” No need to embarrass this board member who will remain anonymous. In fact this director may deserve some applause for knowing what he didn’t know. […]
Who Do You Trust? A Credit Union Misstep
By Robert McGarvey For Credit Union 2.0 Call it a core credit union marketing misstep: there’s wide assumption that consumers trust credit unions more than banks. Rubbish. They should, I’ll readily acknowledge that, but there is no persuasive evidence that credit unions in fact score any higher in consumer trust than do banks. And banks really stumble […]
Must a Credit Union Hop on the AI Train?
By Robert McGarvey for Credit Union 2.0 Short answer to the question posed in the headline: yes. More nuanced answer: Yes but slowly, deliberately. Right now, AI – artificial intelligence – is the hot buzzword in fintech circles. AI means using a computer’s brains to do tasks that traditionally have been done by people, […]
Can a Frequent Traveler Use a Credit Union?
By Robert McGarvey for Credit Union 2.0 “Oh, I couldn’t belong to a credit union. I travel too much. I need to be able to do my banking wherever I go.” I hear that a lot from business travelers when they learn that a primary work interest of mine is credit unions and that’s because I […]
Reinventing Credit Unions for the 21st Century: A Conversation with Kirk Drake
By Robert McGarvey for Credit Union 2.0 For two decades Kirk Drake has immersed himself in credit unions – as CEO of CUSO Ongoing Operations in Maryland and also now as an author and speaker on what he calls CU-2.0. What Drake is mulling is the how to of insuring credit union relevance in a new century with new, […]
“Small Entity” Credit Unions Must Think FinTech
By Homer Fager During the twenty year span, from 1950 to the 70s, the US credit union movement experienced an expansive growth period. The 60s saw the movement pass the 20,000 number of credit unions, including state and federal institutions. US’s original credit union movement was founded to provide the middle class families a source […]
Cooperating with Cooperatives: A Winning Strategy
By Robert McGarvey for Credit Union 2.0 Just maybe the fast track to greater credit union success is staring just about every credit union in the face and that’s the cooperative next door. Mark your calendar. October is National Cooperative Month and, by some counts, there are around 40,000 cooperatives nationally that are joining in the […]