Now is the time for credit unions to build their strategic roadmaps around big data, says Kirk Kordeleski, chief strategy officer and head of consulting at Best Innovation Group.

Big data can level the playing field for credit unions and provide them with tools to connect with more consumers than ever before, says Kordeleski. At the same time, credit unions must build their strategies around the new expectations that big data demands.

Kordeleski discusses the opportunities big data offer credit unions and the big data opportunities credit unions are missing in an interview with Credit Union Magazine.

Can you describe the results of BIG Consulting's study about credit unions and big data?

Kordeleski: While the credit union industry has awoken to big data, it doesn't have great plans. While 60% of credit unions have identified a strategy around data, only 35% have a roadmap to success. Ninety percent have self-identified as being a year or more behind, and 80% are two or more years behind their competitors in the banking space or the fintech space. So, if you think about that, we know we have a problem. We know that we have need to develop a strategy around it, but where do we go next? And I think that's the main question: How does the industry proceed with a strategy, credit union by credit union, to perform better? I think that's really the most interesting part of the survey.

The survey shows that credit unions have made some moves in implementing big data. They may have hired a data person in their finance area, or they've acquired some software but they just haven't created that roadmap, which is so important.

Kordeleski: There are disparate systems. The lending operating system has one database, the core system has one database, and there's not a connectivity between them. When you really want to deliver extraordinary digital experiences, you have to connect these systems. Then you can communicate any way the member wants, via text or email, and you can fund that account more quickly. It is that level of integration that the roadmap and strategy provide that is absent in the industry today, and the ability to compete digitally is about that integration of data and all that value that we've accumulated within the data.

What else is at risk for credit unions if they don't do this?

Kordeleski: I think that we have always prided ourselves on two main themes of the member value proposition. That is great price and extraordinary service. The extraordinary service is what's at risk. The level of quality of service that we've always competed on is now challenged because we do not have integration of data, and our digital platforms are not as fulfilling and as capable as our competitors. And that's leading to lower brand recognition, not being thought of as substantial, as aggressive, as powerful, or as service oriented as fintechs and banks.