In a year like no other, CO-OP Financial Services worked to support credit unions in 2020 through enhancements in product and technology delivery, expanded digital capabilities, and greater credit union member experience and satisfaction.

Evolving from being a reseller to an ecosystem provider of payments technology and solutions has been CO-OP’s mission since 2016. Our commitment did not slow down because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but rather took on greater urgency to provide maximum value to the industry. We turned a pandemic year into a year of record momentum that will lead to more great work with and on behalf of credit unions in 2021.

CO-OP’s momentum is driven by substantial investments in client and member services—even in difficult market conditions brought on by the pandemic.

CO-OP’s ecosystem is guided by the company’s annual product road map. Solutions developed in 2020 include services designed to deepen member engagement and help credit unions build an interoperable payments platform:

• Zelle implementation. The digital payments solution can be implemented quickly because CO-OP’s account-based technology is supported by thousands of credit unions and all major core processors.
• EMV Contactless cards enable credit unions to give members a fast, secure, touch-free experience at the checkout line.
• The CO-OP Insights Center guides credit unions in understanding portfolio behavior and making decisions to grow their credit and debit programs.

CO-OP also released several products to technical availability at the end of 2020:

• Digital card issuance delivers digital card credentials to members within minutes.
• CO-OP Lifestyle Loyalty is the company’s new rewards offering.
• Springboard, platform expansion integrates real-time access for credit unions to credit and debit cardholder account information across all CO-OP card processing.
• COOPER Fraud Score uses machine learning to create risk-scoring models that determine the level of suspicion on card-based transactions to expand digital and human fraud team capabilities.

CO-OP prioritizes the interplay of service, technology, and solutions to help credit unions meet the accelerating competitive market and member needs to improve overall experience delivery. In 2020 this meant:

• CO-OP Contact Centers played a key role in credit union member services, particularly at the onset of the pandemic. Technology enhancements to the centers contributed to one client reporting a record high Net Promoter Score in member satisfaction.
• CO-OP’s Enterprise Technology and Services increased its output of technology upgrades and releases by 44% in 2020, advancing the digitization of processes.
• COOPER Fraud Analyzer, CO-OP’s machine-learning fraud prevention and detection tool, added security while reducing false positives.
• CO-OP THINK delivered record credit union engagement in nine virtual events.
• CO-OP’s donation of $1.7 million to the credit union system and charities provided critical support, while credit unions participating in the CO-OP Miracle Match program raised about $800,000.

With the full support of our board of directors, we are investing and building fast to give credit unions the solutions and technology development needed to meet the expectations of today’s members.

TODD CLARK is president/CEO of CO-OP Financial Services.