Madison, Wis. – the lab* at Filene takes the next step in innovation by testing new products and ideas to help credit unions grow and make a positive impact on their members and communities.
the lab* at Filene’s 3rd Annual Symposium brought together leaders from some of the most visionary credit unions and founders of best-in-class emerging solutions with the goal of driving the future of the credit union industry. Highlights of this intensive three-day summit included exploring trends shaping our system in 2025, evaluating twenty groundbreaking emerging solutions, and ultimately selecting the six solutions credit unions will collaboratively test beginning in January.
After beginning with nearly 100 options, Filene developed a short-list of 20 solutions designed to advance the strategic goals of the lab* at Filene’s sponsors. Each solution on the short list fit into one of four categories: Growing Membership & Product Adoption, Improving Operational Efficiencies, Enhanced Member Engagement, or Security & Fraud Prevention. Symposium attendees then met with representatives from each emerging capability, evaluated each as a group, and selected the six tests to advance. Here are the six selected tests for the lab* at Filene’s 3rd cycle and the questions they hope to answer for participating credit unions.
- Attracting New Members with CU Credit Cards
- How can credit unions effectively drive net new membership by leveraging credit card products and position themselves to compete with major card comparison websites like NerdWallet and Bankrate?
- Expediting Fraud Dispute Processing Using Automation
- How can credit unions reduce fraud dispute processing times while maintaining compliance and security? Additionally, does automation improve member sentiment with faster resolutions and simpler intake?
- Engaging Millennial and Gen Z Members Through Rewards
- How can credit unions effectively communicate and leverage rewards to attract Millennial and Gen Z members and incentivize positive financial behaviors, such as saving for unexpected expenses?
- Testing Social Media Strategies
- How can credit unions develop targeted social media campaigns that increase Gen Z’s credit union membership and their consumption of specific products and services?
- Authenticating Users for Offline Channels
- How can credit unions improve their existing authentication processes to more effectively save time, reduce fraud and generate positive feedback from both members and staff?
- Planning for Retirement
- How can credit unions broaden retirement planning adoption by focusing on Social Security and Medicare guidance? Does leading with retirement education ultimately increase asset retention, deepen relationships and increase share of the retirement wallet?
“We’re incredibly excited to embark on this journey with our dedicated sponsors and participating credit unions, whose commitment to testing these groundbreaking ideas will drive the future of innovation throughout the credit union industry,” stated McKaye Black, Filene’s Head of Incubation. “Their support and willingness to explore new frontiers are key to shaping the solutions that will help credit unions achieve future growth and sustainability.”
the lab* at Filene’s sponsors include:
- Bank Fund Staff Federal Credit Union
- Chartway Credit Union
- Credit Union 1
- Defense Credit Union Council
- Elements Financial
- ELGA Credit Union
- Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union
- Financial Plus Credit Union
- IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union
- Michigan State University Federal Credit Union
- Municipal Credit Union
- OpenLending
- Origence
- Patelco Credit Union
- Royal Credit Union
- Rize Credit Union
- Truliant Federal Credit Union
- Unitus Community Credit Union
- Verity Credit Union
- Visa
- Visions Federal Credit Union
- Westerra Credit Union
“Chartway deeply values our partnership with the lab* at Filene, which allows us to collaborate with other likeminded credit unions to test new ideas that benefit the entire industry, said Rob Keatts,” EVP/Chief Strategy Officer of Chartway Credit Union. “The new round of tests selected for 2025 will continue to allow Chartway to strengthen our test-and-learn culture, gain actionable insights, and positively impact our members in meaningful ways.”
Next steps for the lab* at Filene entail creating detailed plans for each of the six test concepts and assessing which sponsor organization will test which concepts. From there, the lab* at Filene will conduct tests and produce actionable insights for credit unions to adopt proven solutions and expand their capacity for innovation.
Credit union and system partners can still get involved in the lab* at Filene by becoming a sponsor. Visit filene.org/thelab to learn more, or email McKaye Black at mckayeb@filene.org.
If you’re interested in learning more about these exciting new tests, join us on Thursday, October 17th, 2024 (11am CT) for a special webinar featuring an in-depth exploration of each concept as well as our announcement of the Fintech partnerships for five of the six tests.
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About Filene: Filene Research Institute strengthens organizations through innovative research and incubation to improve consumer financial well-being. As an independent cooperative finance think tank, Filene’s membership network connects a community of leaders and bright minds to change lives through innovation, truth and cooperation. In addition to delivering cutting-edge, actionable academic research, Filene also provides incubators to test and scale solutions, events to spark organizations into action and advisory services to help accelerate and implement innovation. For more information, visit filene.org and @fileneresearch.
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