As credit unions face mounting competition from digital providers, the challenge isn’t simply offering products and services accessible via mobile devices, it’s ensuring members think of their credit union first when the need arises. Whether supporting a home repair, consolidating debt, offering a great savings rate, or supporting daily banking needs, members expect fast, convenient, and personalized experiences, delivered whenever they need and wherever they are.
The Credit Union Advantage
Credit unions have several unique advantages: trust, community connections, and a relationship-based model that fintechs can’t replicate. However, maintaining that advantage requires meeting members where they are, across digital, mobile, and in-branch channels, with consistent, relevant, and actionable offers.
Credit unions have several unique advantages: trust, community connections, and a relationship-based model that fintechs can’t replicate.
Following early days as a marketing agency, today, ASAPP Financial Technology is an example of a system partner that helps deliver technology solutions that support dozens of credit unions as they compete against direct-to-consumer fintechs. The bank.io OXP® | Omnichannel Experience Platform integrates account and loan origination, CRM, marketing automation, and digital engagement capabilities into a single integrated platform that enables credit unions to personalize every interaction, from the first click on a promotional email to the completion of a multilingual loan application in-branch.
Today’s member journey is nonlinear. A member might see a promotional email about a debt consolidation loan, click through to a personalized landing page, begin an application on a mobile device, and later complete the process with staff support in-branch or over-the-phone. Credit unions that succeed ensure all touchpoints, whether digital or in-person, offer a connected, seamless, and consistent experience.
Personalized engagement doesn’t have to mean manual effort. With the right partner, credit unions can deliver offers directly within online and mobile banking environments, based on real-time insights such as life stage, transaction patterns, or recent inquiries. These activities differentiate credit unions as members feel understood and supported, while the credit union deepens the relationship through timely and relevant outreach.
What Does Differentiation Feel Like
Located in the Greater Toronto Area, administering nearly $2 billion in assets, Tandia Financial Credit Union, a community-centric financial institution, has seen strong improvements in engagement and efficiency since adopting ASAPP Financial Technology’s integrated platform. Its teams leverage configurable email templates to personalize communications and automate follow-ups, while custom promotional pages make it easy to launch targeted campaigns for specific lending and deposit programs. These campaigns guide members from personalized digital offers directly to dedicated landing pages where they can learn more or start and complete an application in minutes.
Tandia has extended this concept to an even more engaged level of member experience by partnering with a regional periodontist firm to offer a specialized in-clinic lending program for complex dental procedures that allows customers to instantly apply for the necessary financing, gain approval, and become a new member without leaving the clinic.
By leveraging real-time origination capabilities, linked to new member onboarding workflows, the possibilities to support both business and retail members are endless. From micro-loans offered via a multilingual user experience at a neighbourhood community center, to iPad-based lending applications for window replacement and driveway resealing contractors, the options of how a credit union can aid its business members, build credit union membership, and deliver greater ROI have never been more attainable.
Relevant Member Experience Is The Differentiator
Many FinTech companies have gained market share by delivering products through digital channels, but credit unions can differentiate themselves by combining community proximity, exceptional member experience, and digital delivery capabilities. Supported by the right partner, credit unions are empowered to stay connected to members not just during major financial moments, but in everyday decisions.
In today’s competitive environment, staying top of mind isn’t about being the biggest or quickest, it’s about being the most relevant and personalized option for members, wherever they choose to connect. In less than four minutes, learn more about how you can futureproof your credit union.
Justin Hayes is the Client-Partner Success Manager for ASAPP Financial Technology Inc. Contact him at justin.hayes@asappbanking.com.
ASAPP Financial Technology provides Customer Experience Software that supports regulated financial institutions as they Originate, Onboard, Understand, and Grow their Member Relationships. The bank.io OXP ®| Omnichannel Experience Platform delivers feature sets that leverage experience gained over the past 25 years while delivering a solution that adapts to the needs of credit unions today.
