As fintechs continue to increase their presence in the financial services industry, credit unions must decide to either form partnerships with these potential disruptors or compete against them.

The first step in making this decision is to identify your niche—what you’re good at—and determining where to go from there, says Jeremy Pinard, vice president of consumer lending at $10.6 billion asset Alliant Credit Union in Chicago.

“Credit unions have to get comfortable finding that niche and understanding they can’t be everything to all members,” Pinard tells the CUNA News Podcast.

Discovering that niche might mean changing the products and services your credit union offers, partnering with a fintech company that excels in that area, or opting not to offer that product or service.

“You go where you can play and compete,” he says.

Pinard spoke on this topic at the 2018 CUNA Lending Council Conference.

In this episode of the CUNA News Podcast, Pinard discusses fintechs, how to partner with these companies, and how to compete with them.

You can listen and subscribe to the CUNA News Podcast in Apple’s iTunes Store, Spotify, Google Play, and Stitcher Radio.