HELOC BALANCES AND UTILIZATION
FOR U.S. CREDIT UNIONS
SOURCE: CALLAHAN & ASSOCIATES

Home equity loans and lines of credit were key drivers of credit union growth in the first quarter of 2026, according to remarks in Callahan & Associates’ latest Trendwatch webinar, and credit unions are taking different approaches to capture that demand.

Eras And Roots

Baton Rouge Telco Federal Credit Union ($456.4M, Baton Rouge, LA) has reported a 20% lift in home equity lending in the past several years. The southern credit union offers only HELOCs and does not provide closed-end home equity lending.

Although the demand has been steady, HELOC requests have by no means exploded, says Katie Guylette, the credit union’s chief lending officer. That’s partly by design.

The credit union focuses on auto lending — indirect auto makes up the majority of its loan portfolio — and promotes its home options twice a year. It runs a purchase campaign in the first half of the year and a HELOC campaign in the second half.

Telco used to combine its purchase and HELOC campaigns but found those member segments’ needs were different enough to require independent, tailored outreach.

“We’ve developed a strategy of trying to get much more specific and targeted with our messaging,” says Kristin Romero, chief experience officer.

The credit union is still crafting this year’s HELOC campaign, but it typically focuses on digital channels to raise awareness with existing members. It’s also got a wildly successful past campaign to draw on.

In 2024, Telco leaned into the cultural phenomenon of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to promote HELOC opportunities. That campaign proved to be the credit union’s most successful ever, Romero says, crediting a mix of smart timing and a more playful tone.

The credit union’s 2026 mortgage campaign highlights strong roots and smart financing, and the HELOC campaign is likely to take its cues from that, possibly with a “grow your roots” theme, Romero says.

“You’ve planted roots, now leverage that so you can achieve your dreams, that kind of thing,” she says.

Regardless of the campaign, one of Telco’s biggest lessons has simply been to offer a straight-forward product and communicate the benefits to members.

“Because we’re a bit smaller, members can feel like they’re getting that personal service and handholding with something that can be stressful,” Romero says.

Same Product, New Messaging

Home equity lending at TAPCO Credit Union ($719.3M, Fircrest, WA) has increased in the past 18 months, with demand shifting from open-ended HELOCs to termed home equity loans.

The credit union processes roughly an equal number of both, but HELOC borrowers typically access only $300,000 or so of available equity, compared with roughly $3 million issued at once in closed-end home equity loans, says Jeremy Mandery, chief retail and lending officer.

In the past, edgy campaigns like its 2022 “Big Deck Envy” helped TAPCO attract local attention, borrower business, and industry recognition, but as the economy has shifted and consumer sentiment has fallen, the credit union has altered its tone to focus more on community.

TAPCO is delivering much of its latest messaging through online banking and other digital channels, which tend to provide more consistent exposure to members than a one-off promotional email, says Jacob Rose, director of marketing.

The lending team has also worked with title companies and other vendors to identify direct mail prospects who have equity in their homes and live in the vicinity of a TAPCO branch. The credit union then sends a postcard with a scannable QR code that provides information.

The toned-down messaging and focus on community is also the result of a stronger market presence. Back when it launched Big Deck, it was trying to attract attention.

“People see us now,” Rose says. “The community sees us. We don’t need to be as splashy with some of that marketing.”

Mandery also credits CEO Justin Martin with shifting TAPCO’s overall approach.

“Over the past four years, we’ve had 25% asset growth and we’ve gotten back to the roots of what credit unions do,” Mandery says. “We are certainly outspent by some credit unions and regional banks in our area, but when it comes to boots on the ground, we’re there. That puts us in the room for opportunities we wouldn’t otherwise get.”

Visions Of Success

Across the country, demand for home equity products at Visions Federal Credit Union ($5.3B, Endwell, NY) has been high for the past few years but was flat in the early months of 2026. According to the credit union, seasonality is at play, and it is taking steps to boost interest.

“The demand is out there, but it’s been a sleepy start to the year,” says Mandy DeHate, chief marketing officer. “We’re starting to get more to our stride in terms of applications.”

Visions offers closed-end home equity loans and open-ended lines of credit, although DeHate says the latter tends to be more popular. To promote its products, the northeastern credit union has embraced digital marketing in a year filled with major sporting events. Over the top — or OTT, for short — ads served direct to audiences over the internet are helping the credit union capture eyeballs during high-profile sporting events like the Super Bowl, March Madness, the Winter Olympics, and this year’s FIFA World Cup. That effort works alongside Google Performance Max campaigns to increase Visions visibility across the broader Google network.

“We’ll get [consumers] while they’re searching, we’ll get them while they’re watching YouTube, we’ll get them as they’re going about their day,” DeHate says. “Those multiple touchpoints drive home the fact we’ve got this product, and I think it leads to faster decision-making and stronger credibility of our brand.”

That same approach extends to audience targeting. The credit union is running Spanish-language digital campaigns tailored to its Hispanic communities and ran a successful geofencing campaign in 2025 to target members visiting retailers like Lowe’s and Home Depot located near one of Visions’ 61 branches. That campaign drove branch traffic, DeHate says, but it tracked visits rather than whether members ultimately opened a HELOC or completed another transaction.

Ultimately, although these efforts can attract new members, most HELOC applications at Visions still come from existing members — underscoring the importance of staying visible across channels and meeting members where they already are.

See how your home lending performance compares. Demand for home equity products is rising industrywide, but how does your credit union stack up against true peers? Peer Suite gives leaders instant access to 20 years of industry data, peer benchmarks, and goal-aligned performance analysis. Start your free 30-day trial of Peer Suite.

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Manufactured homes are gaining ground as an option for affordable housing. Although prices have risen in recent years, so, too, has the quality of manufactured homes. Despite lingering stereotypes, some credit unions consider manufactured housing a solid fit for specific borrowers and markets.

“We’re in a rural area, and it’s a good niche product for us,” says Vicki Gobble, chief financial officer at Appalachian Community Federal Credit Union ($183.7M, Kingsport, TN), which has offered manufactured home loans for decades. “Not a lot of institutions in our area will do these. For a rural area, it’s an affordable housing product that helps our members get into a home they otherwise wouldn’t be able to.”

Partnerships with local manufactured home dealers have helped ACFCU gain a foothold in this space. Such relationships are key to the credit union’s success. Gobble says other lenders could pursue similar partnerships but question the value of such properties compared to traditional homes rather than the ability of borrowers to repay.

“I think it’s more of a perception of the collateral itself,” the CFO says.

Don’t stop here. Lower prices and better amenities are making pre-built homes an appealing option for credit unions looking to bolster their balance sheet and borrowers stymied by the affordable housing crisis. Read more in “Manufactured Homes Help Close The Housing Affordability Gap.”

Relationships And Realty

Appalachian Community does not advertise its manufactured home loan directly to members but works with manufacturers and local real estate companies to keep the pipeline flowing. In this way, it is similar to indirect lending.

For credit unions considering this space, Gobble says dealer relationships are key. The credit union must have a solid relationship with the dealer to ensure it’s providing the same level of service members would expect to receive at the credit union.

“It’s important to partner with a reputable company,” Gobble says. “Don’t just partner with an individual contractor.”

When it comes to making the loan, the credit union runs its manufactured home loans through the mortgage department rather than through the consumer side of the shop, and Gobble says they perform well thanks both to strong member relationships and rigorous underwriting. The credit union requires that borrowers own the land — a purchase can be added to the deal as a land/home package with the vendor — and that the home sit on a permanent foundation.

The CFO is confident that the persistent high price of stick-built homes means the opportunity in manufactured housing isn’t going away anytime soon.

“We’re not in an area where prices are going to drop,” she says. “This isn’t an area they’ve overbuilt.”

The key, she says, is to change consumers’ pre-existing perceptions of manufactured homes.

“Getting people to understand how it’s built will help them get past that hump of the perception of the value,” she says.

Balance Sheet Capacity

On the opposite end of the continent, TAPCO Credit Union ($719.3, Fircrest, WA) also makes manufactured home loans, but they constitute less than 10% of its overall portfolio says Jeremy Mandery, chief retail and lending officer.

According to Mandery, only a few applications come in per month, but when they do, TAPCO is ready.

“We want to support affordable housing, especially those homes that are less expensive than the median price in our area,” he says. “We’re trying to provide financing that’s reasonable, that makes sense, and that generates a return for our membership.”

The credit union hasn’t formed any partnerships with manufacturing companies, so prospective buyers won’t see TAPCO advertising on sales lots, but Mandery is quick to note that’s because it simply doesn’t have the space on the balance sheet to do so.

“We haven’t established any relationships with manufacturers at this point as we don’t have the balance sheet space needed for this type of commitment,” he says. “If you’re going to go to a manufacturer and be tied up, you want the ability to write whatever they’re going to bring you.”

The Washington-based cooperative provides purchase and home equity loans for manufactured homes, although it only runs purchases through the mortgage side of the shop. If a consumer already owns the property and is looking to tap into equity, the consumer underwriters handle it.

Pricing is also equivalent to rates for stick-built homes.

“We charge the same interest rate whether you have a $1.5 million stick-built home on the water or a $250,000 manufactured home on the smallest piece of property in the metro area,” Mandery says. “We try to be as inclusive in our lending practices as we can.”

To keep an eye on the market, Mandery monitors the space through loan sales and participations to gain a sense of average loan-to-values, property ages, strong markets, risk levels, and more. He also monitors loss rates and often caps LTV at 80% rather than the 90% or higher it might lend on a stick-built home. But when it comes to underwriting, it approaches the process no differently than it would any other house.

“We’re not in the business of foreclosing on properties, so we try to take a person-centric review from an underwriting criteria,” Mandery says. “Are they a good credit risk? Do we think we’ll get paid back? Does the property have anything to do with that? If we think it will work, we try to write the loan.”

Although TAPCO is still testing the waters of manufactured home lending, Mandery says there’s plenty of room to grow.

“I think it’s a growth space simply because the housing market in many locations is just unattainable for people under 35 and making less than $150,000 a year,” Mandery says. “There’s going to be dramatically more demand for it, which leads to an opportunity for credit unions like ours to be back in the first-time homebuyer space again, whereas today it’s just very difficult to be.”

Looking for gaps in your lending strategy? Manufactured home lending isn’t just a niche — it’s a lens into the markets underserved by traditional mortgage products. Peer+ helps credit unions uncover patterns in home lending performance, identify where members lack access, and benchmark approval rates against peers. Request a demo to see Peer+ in action.

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LOAN ORIGINATIONS
FOR U.S. CREDIT UNIONS
SOURCE: CALLAHAN & ASSOCIATES

• A sharp increase in first mortgage volume underpinned a jump in total real estate originations in the first quarter of 2026. That segment reached its highest level since 2022.
• Declines in mortgage rates, although modest, spurred demand, with borrowers re-entering the market after a prolonged pause during peak rate conditions. Increases in mortgage rates could jeopardize this trend.
• The market is moving away from a purchase-only dynamic. Early signs of refinance activity are reappearing alongside purchase originations, driven by borrowers with higher-rate loans taken out in the past two-and-a-half years.
• Borrowers are acting opportunistically — re-engaging quickly when rates improve, even slightly — suggesting this is a short-term lending opportunity rather than a sustained refinance wave.
• Although origination volumes are improving, the trend represents selective re-entry into the market, not a broad normalization. Credit unions would be well-served to target their lending strategies.

Don’t stop here. Callahan clients can dive deeper into how shifting borrower behavior, product mix, and early risk signals are reshaping mortgage lending. The full analysis is available now on the Callahan client portal. Read it today.

The post Mortgage Lending Is Back, But It Looks Different appeared first on CreditUnions.com.

A failed payment transaction is easy to dismiss as a service issue. Michigan State University Federal Credit Union ($8.5B, East Lansing, MI) treats it differently. It uses the moment to shape the member experience and turn payments into a point of leverage for loyalty.

In late 2024, the credit union introduced a service that automatically updates card details with major platforms like Amazon, Netflix, Venmo, and more. Members can take advantage when they open a new card or need to update an expiring or compromised card.

“People don’t need a loan every day,” says Benjamin Maxim, chief technology officer at MSUFCU. “They don’t need new deposit accounts every day, but what they’re paying with is daily brand engagement.”

The credit union’s innovation CUSO, The Reseda Group, joined forces with a fintech to offer the service, dubbed “Card Updater.” That fintech, Strivve, works with banks and credit unions to manage the relationships and connectivity with digital service providers, often using AI or low-tech robotic process automation.

According to Maxim, few things erode cardholder loyalty faster than a payment that doesn’t work. This service is essential in heading that off.

“Making sure our card stays in the stored payment areas was our main focus,” he says. “Interchange revenue is a focus of ours. We’re going to cut debit card interchange in half when we hit $10 billion in assets. The more transactions we can have on the credit card side, the stronger.”

MSUFCU has linked Card Updater with both its credit and debit portfolios and has built the service into its mobile banking and online platforms. As of year-end 2025, 891 unique cardholders used the service nearly 1,300 times, according to Maxim.

Beyond Interchange

Although Card Updater will help drive interchange revenue for the cooperative, Maxim says the service is more broadly about improving the member experience.

“We’re trying to add things to the digital experience and facilitate that embedded payment experience everyone’s moving toward,” the CTO says. “Think about all the places you store your card — your Starbucks wallet, Venmo, Uber, Airbnb. When the card breaks, all those payment methods break. Is it MSUFCU’s fault you can no longer book your car or do X, Y, and Z? We want to make sure we’re not to blame, but we’re also resolving whatever you can’t do in the moment. This helps make sure all those embedded payments are working.”

Card Updater is a relatively new feature for MSUFCU, but Maxim says it has already provided a strong ROI and leadership is confident the service has prevented attrition to other plastic providers like Capital One. And, says Maxim, plenty of members have been vocal about their positive experiences with it.

“The loyalty we’ve built is probably worth its weight in gold,” he says. “It helps retain members, and if you’re new to the credit union, it helps you adopt the credit union as one that you trust and use versus needing to do a lot of work to update stored payments. If we can make it easier, you’re more likely to use this card that you chose for a reason.”

Lessons Learned

Card Updater is situational, Maxim says, and credit unions need to build it into their workflows so members have it when they need it rather than seeking it out as an extra service.

“They need it in a certain moment and you need to deliver it in that certain moment,” he says. “If you were to run ROI calculations, you need to look at how many people you issue new cards to and how many members or new cards you issue every month because of fraud or new memberships or whatever reason. That’s going to be your value. Then compare that for an ROI but also consider the lift and the loyalty.”

Loyalty isn’t accidental. MSUFCU’s Card Updater shows how removing friction at the right moment builds the kind of trust that keeps members from drifting to other providers. Gallup research shows emotionally engaged members are 5.4x more likely to stay and 5.6x more likely to trust their credit union as a financial advisor. The Member Engagement & Financial Wellbeing Consortium helps credit unions build that trust intentionally, across every touchpoint. Learn more.

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St. Cloud Financial Credit Union ($430.0M, Sartell, MN) has quickly evolved from early adopter to advocate when it comes to digital assts.

The Minnesota-based cooperative has built a core-integrated digital asset vault, connected to multiple blockchain networks, and even launched its own stablecoin. But CEO Jed Meyer is quick to clarify this isn’t about chasing crypto because it’s new and buzzy.

“We never set out to be a trailblazer,” he says. “We always start with our member and work outward.”

This time, it started with a market penetration problem.

In 2019, the credit union had roughly 23,000 members in a market of 200,000 people and nearly 40 competing financial institutions. Through strategic planning sessions, two priorities emerged: to better serve underserved populations through customized products, and to understand where member money might be going next.

That second priority led the credit union to digital assets.

“We were seeing some deposit outflows,” Meyer says. “Not a ton, but enough to ask, ‘what are we going to do?’”

In 2023, approximately $1 million in deposits flowed from St. Cloud Financial to exchanges. In 2024, that number jumped to $15 million.

“That’s a 15x trend of liquidity outflows,” Meyer says.

Across the industry, the CEO estimates roughly 3% of deposits might already be leaving for digital asset platforms with no guarantee of return.

“With every innovation in the past 100 years, we were still needed at some point in the lifecycle of the dollar,” Meyer says. “This is the first time that might not be true. When a dollar leaves me for the DeFi space, there’s never a need for a centralized ledger ever again.”

According to Gallup, one in seven Americans reported owning cryptocurrency in 2025. For St. Cloud Financial specifically, Meyer says 16% to 25% of its members either already have or are showing interest in digital assets.

“Relevancy always equals ROI,” he says. “I’m more interested in plugging the hole in the bottom of the income boat than I am worrying about future dollars.”

Education Before Execution

Before building anything, St. Cloud focused on understanding the space.

The CEO says it’s difficult to find education materials, so the credit union helped foster the Minnesota Crypto Council, a nonprofit focused on education for members, staff, and the broader community. For four years, the organization has hosted quarterly sessions, developed training materials, and brought in subject matter experts.

That education-first approach proved critical not just for adoption but also for addressing skepticism.

“When you launch something like this, you have to speak to the 50% of your membership that doesn’t want it,” Meyer says. “This is optional. We’re not forcing anything.”

Industry peers might be even harder to convince. A fall 2025 report from American Banker found the majority of the banks, credit unions, and payments companies it surveyed remain in the discussions and learning phase. The uncertainty around regulations has slowed adoption, and one of the most common arguments against digital assets is its association with volatility and fraud.

Meyer flips that framing.

“What risk have I actually taken?” he asks. “Other than human capacity and time spent, what risk have I taken?”

In his view, the greater risk lies in waiting.

“I actually think people who say, ‘I’ll get to this in five years,’ are taking the risky position,” he says.

What Came First — The Vault Or The Coin?

Although much of the industry conversation has centered on stablecoins, St. Cloud Financial took a different path with the launch of its CU-Digital Asset Vault in March. Initially envisioned as a digital version of a safe deposit box, it quickly evolved into foundational, core-integrated infrastructure. Rather than building a single product, the cooperative deployed a core-integrated digital asset framework developed by DaLand CUSO – Coin-2-Core – capable of operating across multiple financial rails, from traditional payment networks to blockchain-based systems.

“The vault acts as a vault, but really it’s a switch,” Meyer says. “It turns my core into the wallet. It turns my core into the node. It allows me to plug into any DLT [distributed ledger technology] money network.”

At a structural level, the credit union designed the vault around member ownership, employing a self-custody model where members retain control of their digital assets while the credit union facilitates storage and movement. This is in line with the current regulatory environment, where full custody authority remains an area of ongoing clarification. Rather than push ahead in a gray area, Meyer says St. Cloud Financial has spent years engaging regulators at both the federal and state levels, including ongoing dialogue with the NCUA and the Minnesota Department of Commerce. In the meantime, the vault serves as both a practical member tool and a strategic bridge, connecting digital assets back to the cooperative’s core system without overstepping regulatory boundaries.

With the infrastructure in place, launching a proprietary stablecoin became possible. Although that was not originally a main objective of the strategy, a use case convinced the credit union to proceed. Two national food co-ops approached St. Cloud Financial looking for a settlement solution aligned with cooperative principles.

“We offered them USDC,” Meyer says. “They said, ‘We’re a cooperative, you’re a cooperative. We want a cooperative stablecoin.’”

Thus, St. Cloud Financial introduced the Cloud Dollar ($CLDUSD) in late 2025, making it the nation’s first credit union-issued stablecoin.

Still, Meyer cautions against overemphasizing this aspect of the technology.

“In five years, we’ll look back and say that was a small sliver of what we were actually talking about,” he says.

Don’t Stop Here. Stablecoins and digital assets have moved beyond “wait and see” into active development. For a look at both the risks and the opportunities in this next phase of financial services, read “What Should Credit Unions Know About Stablecoins?” only on CreditUnions.com.

Slow Rollout, Strong Signals

St. Cloud Financial has taken a measured approach to rollout.

Following an NCUA audit in late 2025, the credit union launched a friends-and-family pilot in December and expanded to full membership in March. Today, the credit union holds approximately 15 Bitcoin in its system and between 50 and 75 vaults in progress.

So far the most notable insight isn’t volume, Mayer says, but member behavior, especially among younger demographics.

“When they open a vault, they bring everything with them,” he says, indicating it’s been a way to deepen relationships and increase products per member. “We’ve been told, ‘Finally someone is listening to our generation and what we believe our wealth will be.’”

Consumers are already in the cryptocurrency space, and Meyer urges industry peers not to outsource those members.

“You worked hard for those relationships,” he says. “You cannot continue to give your relationships away to third parties.”

An Uncertain Timeline

Crypto is only the beginning for St. Cloud Financial. The same infrastructure that supports digital assets today could eventually handle tokenized financial instruments, identities, and other forms of value.

“This is going to be bigger than a product,” Meyer says. “It’s going to be bigger than one innovation.”

The CEO expects the traditional finance and digital asset ecosystems will coexist and, ultimately, St. Cloud’s strategy is less about predicting the future and more about preparing for it.

“If this takes another seven to 10 years, I’m okay with that,” Meyer says. “If this happens tomorrow, I’m okay with that.”

For credit unions, the question isn’t whether to launch a stablecoin or offer crypto trading. According to Meyer, it’s whether they will have a role in a financial system where money can move, store, and grow entirely outside of them.

“Our only play is to establish ourselves as the access point, the aggregator point, and the trusted advisor point,” he says.

The post A Credit Union Journey Into Cryptocurrency And Stablecoins appeared first on CreditUnions.com.

We view member experience as a system that must be designed, measured, and continuously improved. That requires clear ownership at the executive level. My role is crucial not to control all touch points but to align the organization around an MX strategy.

Andre Vygnanski joined OUR Credit Union ($360.4M, Royal Oak, MI) as the chief experience office in February 2024. Prior to that he was CEO at Ukrainian Selfreliance Michigan Federal Credit Union ($138.0M, Warren, MI) for more than five years and had been a relationship manager for a major bank for nearly nine years.

What has changed in member experience, what hasn’t, and how has its leadership matured at credit unions?

Andre Vygnanski: Several years ago, member experience was about service, how friendly we were, how quickly we responded, and how consistent we were across branches. The core of member experience is still about trust and human member connection, which remains our differentiator, but member experience is no longer a front-line initiative. It’s now part of the entire credit union mission.

Member experience is now shaped just as much by digital platforms, data, and automation as it is by people in branches and contact centers. Members expect one seamless relationship with us. My role has matured from overseeing service delivery to creating the entire member lifecycle. This includes onboarding, digital engagement, product adoption, and long-term relationship management.

The other part is involved in technology decisions, data strategy, and revenue generation. Experience is no longer soft function, it is directly tied to growth, retention, and member lifetime value. Our credit union treats member experience not as a department but as a system that drives the whole organization.

Two more important aspects. First, employee experience is just as important to me as MX because I must empower our employees to serve our members. Second, member expectations are shifting from experience to guidance. Members expect us to use the data they allow us to access to guide them, not just serve them.

How does your organization approach member experience, and where does dedicated MX leadership have the most impact today?

Andre Vygnanski: We view member experience as a system that must be designed, measured, and continuously improved. That requires clear ownership at the executive level. My role is crucial not to control all touch points but to align the organization around an MX strategy.

Digital branch environment becomes more critical because there are fewer touchpoints to recover from poor experiences. Our staff has an increasing amount of data specifically from digital channels about preferences, behaviors, and trends, and we need leadership to turn that into action steps so we can continue to meet growing demands of members through guidance and service.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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“When I became a CXO in 2018, I was often asked, ‘What does that mean?’ These days, heads nod and I’m asked, ‘So, which experiences are you responsible for?’”

Stacy Armijo joined Amplify Credit Union ($1.3B, Austin, TX) as its chief experience officer in 2018, when the title was first gaining traction among credit unions. Before she arrived at Amplify, she spent more than 16 years at an Austin-San Antonio public relations and communications firm.

What has changed in member experience, what hasn’t, and how has its leadership matured at credit unions?

Stacy Armijo: When I became a CXO in 2018, I was often asked, “What does that mean?” These days, heads nod and I’m asked, “So, which experiences are you responsible for?”

That indicates a profound and positive shift in the industry. As proud as we are of friendly and effective staff in our branches and contact centers, often the best “experience” is one that means a member never needs to seek service. That’s why it’s crucial we don’t simply swap terms without touching responsibilities and organizational structures.

To make that change meaningful, we must give experience leaders purview over the practices, teams, and platforms that enable them to optimize across channels. We also need a clear point of view about how digital experiences should weave together with phone and in-person service. Long gone are the days of treating digital as a back-office function simply because it’s technology.

However, many organizations have a new challenge, which is digital member service in its own silo, away from phone and physical. That’s a mistake. Those teams should be working together every day and learning from the insights each can offer the other.

Who knows the weaknesses in your digital channels? Your contact center team. Who knows if your householding functions are working as they should? Your branch team. If those teams don’t talk every day, you’ll miss those insights.

Delivering that level of cohesion requires an organizational structure that doesn’t pit channels against one another for attention and budget. It means only giving someone a “member experience” title if you also give them the authority to shape that experience. It requires clarity about the distinct value each channel should deliver for members. And, it requires rewarding teams for contributing to success beyond their channel. To quote Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke of Two Guys on Your Head, “There is what you say, what you do, and what you reward … and people are motivated by those in reverse order.”

Experience leaders must have the capacity to lead across multiple complex functions while balancing the tension between quality member experiences with responsible fraud mitigation. That’s now table stakes and it’s the most significant evolution I’ve seen in my time in the role.

How does your organization approach member experience, and where does dedicated MX leadership have the most impact today?

Stacy Armijo: Our organization has gone the route of broadening the role, folding more under the experience function as the years have passed. I was our first CXO and, initially, it was primarily a marketing role with the intention of adding retail and other functions previously in operations.

Today, the role spans demand, deposits, payments, and people, which comprises almost half of our team. That occurred because we kept seeing contingencies and commonalities. For example, there was never a plan to add HR and training, but we quickly realized that if we wanted a unified member experience, we needed an aligned employee experience.

Also, we noticed how often we’d say, “We need input from so-and-so,” and eventually, it just made sense to have those teams together. If you believe, like we do, that member experience is shaped by far more than those who interact personally with members, then MX should be a strategic function, not a department.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Don’t stop here. Stacy Armijo works across her enterprise and the community to promote member service and brand awareness at Amplify Credit Union. Read more in “What’s In A Name: Chief Experience Officer.”

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Organizations that treat experience as a core capability, supported by clear ownership and strong leadership, are best positioned to compete, grow, and attract and retain talent.

Inna Sprague has been chief experience officer at Teachers Federal Credit Union ($9.9B, Hauppauge, NY) since March 2020. She joined the Long Island-based cooperative after six years at a large California credit union and more than seven years with a big bank.

What has changed in member experience, what hasn’t, and how has its leadership matured at credit unions?

Inna Sprague: The foundation of member experience remains grounded in understanding and anticipating member needs, building trust, and delivering value at every interaction. What has changed is the scope of what experience represents and the pace at which expectations continue to evolve. Members are no longer evaluating their financial institution based on a single transaction or touchpoint. They are evaluating how an organization shows up across every interaction, including digital engagement, communications, and community presence.

As a result, the CXO role has matured into a truly enterprisewide function, bringing together data, technology, operations, brand, communications, and employee readiness to ensure a cohesive and consistent experience.

At Teachers Federal Credit Union, this evolution has been central to our growth. By aligning experience with data, marketing, communications, and community engagement, we are able to take a more connected and intentional approach to how we engage with members and how we share the value of membership. This strengthens trust, deepens relationships, and supports our growth goals while maintaining a consistent, high-quality experience.

How does your organization approach member experience, and where does dedicated MX leadership have the most impact today?

Inna Sprague: The CXO role is critical to the strength of an organization because experience is a primary driver of growth, loyalty, and differentiation. In the financial services industry, where products can often feel commoditized and trust is paramount, the experience an organization delivers becomes one of the most meaningful ways to stand apart.

As consumer expectations continue to rise, success is measured by more than satisfaction. In financial services, it is defined by trust, engagement, ease of interaction, and long-term member value. The greatest impact for CX leadership today is in connecting these outcomes to business strategy. This includes using data and insights to anticipate member needs, simplify complexity, and ensure that every interaction reinforces confidence in the institution — while also equipping and empowering our employees with the tools and training they need to deliver an exceptional experience.

Organizations that treat experience as a core capability, supported by clear ownership and strong leadership, are best positioned to compete, grow, and attract and retain talent in an increasingly dynamic and competitive financial landscape.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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We understand member experience as an enterprise responsibility. The CXO role acts as a steward of experience, helping translate strategy into day-to-day behaviors and decisions.

Kim Riley has been the chief experience officer at Wright-Patt Credit Union ($9.6B, Beavercreek, OH) since January 2025. She previously held the roles of senior vice president of member experience and vice president of service delivery at the Ohio cooperative.

What has changed in member experience, what hasn’t, and how has its leadership matured at credit unions?

Kim Riley: At its core, the chief experience role has always been about serving members. What has evolved is how we look at the many moving parts that influence a member’s experience. Consequently, the role has evolved into a strategic, enterprise-level leadership function that sits at the intersection of member needs, operational reality, and organizational strategy.

Member experience is not a linear journey or a set of touchpoints. It’s a dynamic ecosystem that spans everything we do — including digital platforms, front-line interactions, internal processes, and employee behaviors. Intentionally looking at that dynamic ecosystem as a whole helps better serve our members.

One example of how the role has shifted because of this mindset is how we focus our improvement efforts. Rather than optimizing individual experiences, we focus on designing systems that consistently deliver trust, ease, and value at scale. As digital offerings and self-service capabilities continue to expand, the experience leadership function now focuses on ensuring those tools are intuitive, inclusive, and supported by real people when members need them most.

The CXO role has also matured to balance member expectations, like personalization, transparency, and speed without losing the caring service and relational strengths that make us stand out as credit unions.  This helps organizations deliver modern, competitive experiences while staying true to our missions.

Also, and importantly, the role has expanded beyond member-facing moments to include employee experience, operational alignment, and organizational readiness. Experience outcomes today are deeply influenced by how well teams are equipped, how clearly expectations are set, and how effectively departments work together.

As a result, the CXO role is now a catalyst for cross-functional alignment, change management, and cultural consistency.

How does your organization approach member experience, and where does dedicated MX leadership have the most impact today?

Kim Riley: At WPCU, part of our vision is to be the best organization our member-owners have ever experienced. Dedicated MX leadership is critical in working toward that vision. It ensures experience is intentional, measurable, and sustainable. Centralization helps with consistency, managing competing priorities, and establishing clear accountability for outcomes.

We understand member experience as an enterprise responsibility. The CXO role acts as a steward of experience, helping translate strategy into day-to-day behaviors and decisions.

Today, dedicated MX leadership has the most impact in three areas:

• Aligning Across Functions — Experience leaders help ensure the credit union evaluates operational, digital, risk, and people decisions through a consistent member and employee lens, especially as services become more complex and technology-driven.
• Evolving Success Measurement — Member experience is no longer defined by a single score. Member experience leaders help interpret a broad set of signals such as behavioral trends, operational friction, employee insight, and long-term outcomes to guide smarter decisions and investments.
• Strengthening Culture And Accountability — As expectations rise, clarity matters. Member experience leadership helps establish shared expectations around serving members, supporting employees, and balancing efficiency with care. This creates consistency while acknowledging the varied ways teams contribute to the member experience.

In today’s environment, experience is a strategic differentiator rather than a program or a department. The CXO role ensures experience remains aligned with the credit union’s purpose while adapting to changing member needs, workforce dynamics, and competitive pressures.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

The post 6 Takes On Today’s Member Experience: Kim Riley appeared first on CreditUnions.com.

What began as a push to improve service at the front line has become an enterprise-level responsibility shaped by digital channels, data, and rising expectations. The concept is no longer new, yet the work and the clear need for ownership of it has never been more complex.

That evolution has reshaped how today’s experience leaders describe their work — it’s less about championing service ideals and more about owning what members actually experience across the organization.

“When I became a CXO in 2018, I was often asked, ‘What does that mean?’ These days, heads nod and I’m asked, ‘So, which experiences are you responsible for?”

Stacy Armijo, Chief Experience Officer, Amplify Credit Union

Read More From Stacy Armijo

“The maturing of the CXO role demands we shift our thinking on service delivery models and face the reality that members are beginning to place a higher value on our processes over our people. A clean, friction-free process beats the warmest smile and the firmest handshake.”

Jimmy Lovelace, Chief Experience Officer, Community First Credit Union of Florida

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“I’ve never met another CXO who had the same make up of teams or areas of specialization, but we’re all driving toward the same output. What makes the practice of experience so beautiful is that it can be owned by so many leaders, across different areas of practice, including digital, service, technology, marketing … the list goes on and on.”

Ami Iceman Haueter, Chief Experience Officer, MSUFCU

Read More From Ami Iceman Haueter

“We view member experience as a system that must be designed, measured, and continuously improved. That requires clear ownership at the executive level. My role is crucial not to control all touch points but to align the organization around an MX strategy.”

Andre Vygnanski, Chief Experience Officer, OUR Credit Union

Read More From Andre Vygnanski

“Organizations that treat experience as a core capability, supported by clear ownership and strong leadership, are best positioned to compete, grow, and attract and retain talent.”

Inna Sprague, Chief Experience Officer, Teachers FCU

Read More From Inna Sprague

“We understand member experience as an enterprise responsibility. The CXO role acts as a steward of experience, helping translate strategy into day-to-day behaviors and decisions.”

— Kim Riley, Chief Experience Officer, Wright-Patt Credit Union-

Read More From Kim Riley

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