Q: If you could pick one or two of these areas to focus on, what would they be?

A: The digital channel and linking that intersection with payments are absolutely critical. The checking account used to be the primary driver of the member relationship, but payments have become every bit as big, if not a bigger, driver of that.

How you use application programming interfaces and your technology partners to make yourself look like the bigger national financial institutions from a technology perspective is a key consideration.

The second area is financial health. Credit unions did a lot in terms of increased allowances for loan loss. But the unknowns around 2021 put this in the top two.

Q: How is PSCU helping credit unions compete with national financial providers?

A: We’ll never know the member as well as the credit union does, but if we can add to the service experience, that's a win.

Our call center is a great place to start. We're answering 23 million calls a year from credit union members. If we can handle those calls in such a way that the member does not know PSCU exists, that’s a win and we’ve gotten close to the experience the credit union delivers to members on its own.

That gives them 24/7 access where we can take loan applications and answer questions about any aspect of the relationship the member has with the credit union.

On the digital payment side, we must continue doing what big banks with massive budgets can build on their own ecosystems.

Credit unions are choosing best-of-breed partners, and how they integrate is key. The technology we enable aims to always keep the member within the credit union’s URL. We help them look like the big guys.

Q: What new innovations does PSCU have in the works?

A: We launched Lumin Digital, a cloud-based digital banking platform that’s built much like Netflix and Google. We can implement revisions and enhancements without any downtime.

As part of that, we allow members to customize alerts and controls. We're all used to getting our plastics in the mail with an 800 number to call to activate.

We know when a member hasn’t activated. Let’s use the data and prompt members on their mobile phone: “Would you like to activate your card now? Authenticate and it's done.”

You don't have to leave the channel you're working in, make that phone call, and hope the number on file matches the number you're calling from. Because if it doesn’t, you have to go through authentication. That’s a big piece.

We’ve made digital issuance available on a broad scale. If you’re involved in a fraud situation or you lose your card, we can now insert a card immediately into the digital wallet and tokenize so you can continue making purchases interrupted.

You get one shot to get your card top of wallet and we want to make sure the credit union is protected there.

Q: Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?

A: I do. My daughter had twins this past year, and she also has a three year old. It’s become increasingly important to me to spend more time with their family. So that will be a focus this year and beyond.

On the business side, we’ve done a lot internally to put our culture front and center. We have an incredible culture at PSCU, and we're on the cusp of being a Gallup Great organization.

High on my list are continuing to focus on our employees being our greatest asset and making sure our employees succeed in their roles.