When I reflect on International Credit Union Day, I cannot help but think about the amazing origin story that credit unions have as well as the quote “necessity is the mother of invention”. Many may not know, but credit unions (CU) were created in this country by people who were struggling to get loans at the time. These people banded together and built a completely new approach to banking and lending that had not been seen before because their community needed it. Now while the credit union space has obviously experienced incredible growth since its humble beginning, members can still feel the same grassroots movement and personal difference that help and empower Americans every day.

To this day, credit unions across the nation are committed to providing the best possible experience to their members, especially during the tumultuous past two years. Throughout all my experience in the industry, I have realized that one of the cornerstone principles of CUs is investing dollars in the member experience. Those investment dollars often turn into the integration and implementation of different technologies that are focused on supporting that goal of creating a world-class member experience. Thankfully, that means that I have had the absolute pleasure of partnering with great organizations and greater people, helping them in whatever ways that I can so that they can achieve their goal.

What is FIS’ role in advancing the CU space?

As I mentioned before, the credit union space is one that was literally born out of innovation and invention. CUs around the country are no strangers when it comes to knowing what is needed to make both their employee’s and member’s experiences easier. FIS’ role in the space is to simply help those credit unions along the path of the innovative journey they are already on and to see what we can do to take that member experience to the next level. We want to see this space that was built out of necessity by average Americans thrive in any way that we can and whatever form and function allows us to make the biggest impact.

We continue to support all credit unions in a collaborative way by providing an evolving and simplified payments matrix that has been accelerated by consumer demands for new technologies. Member expectations for rapid innovation and digital-first technology is impacting everything we do. Supporting our credit union partners means that we conduct continuous evaluation and will be ramping up investments on digital delivery, advanced analytics, dynamic loyalty programs and better contextual engagement through our unified platform, Payments One. Credit unions are top of mind and we understand the need to adopt new solutions to help CUs unlock the full potential of their card programs and keep their card top of wallet.

FIS and our credit union partners can push boundaries and do new things that were not thought to be feasible. This comes as a direct result of what credit unions stand for and their key principle of providing the best possible member experience to everyone that entrusts their money with them. Together, FIS and credit unions can build upon a storied past while providing technology that will only advance the space into the future.

Have a great International Credit Union Day!