Bjorn Larson has worked as a financial wellness counsellor for nearly a decade, and every time the economy takes a downturn, business picks up. Appointments for counselling sessions spiked during the early days of the pandemic and then started rising again in 2022 as high inflation eroded consumers’ savings.
“As a practitioner in the space, it’s disheartening how reactive our world is,” Larson says. “But I’m not naïve, either. I know that’s how people work. We’re procrastinators. We only care when it matters.”
That makes it all the more difficult for Larson to be the voice of reason, encouraging people to think about the unexpected and put money aside when times are good. But that’s exactly what he does at BCU ($5.8B, Vernon Hills, IL). Larson joined the ranks in 2019 as the executive director of Life. Money. You., the credit union’s financial wellbeing program. That effort serves more than 350,000 members who work for company partners that include Target, UnitedHealth Group, GEICO, and HCA Healthcare.
Unfortunately, Larson says that’s only a fraction of the people who need help.
“People are struggling,” he says. “They carry that into work, and it impacts their performance. So, helping our companies to be more productive, to have happier employees, to retain those employees, that is a huge focus for what we’re doing here.”
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BCU has offered financial wellbeing services to members since 2012 and has formally adopted it as part of its top-level purpose statement: “Empowering people to discover financial freedom.” In April 2022, BCU spun off Life. Money. You. as a CUSO that provides those same services to non-members, including one-on-one financial counselling, online and in-person webinars, and a new mobile app called MoneyTracks, which launched in June.
Rather than just another budgeting app, MoneyTracks guides users through major financial milestones and struggles in their lives. It includes a virtual coach with whom users can text about good savings habits, insurance, estate planning, buying a home or car, and more. The app also includes free access to credit scores and the ability to simulate changes in credit status. Users can link the app to their accounts
for a snapshot of their current financial status, and they can store financial records in an online document organizer. For further help, the app includes links to contact BCU financial counsellors and to learn about relevant products and services at BCU.
CU QUICK FACTS
BCU
DATA AS OF 06.30.23
HQ: VERNON HILLS, IL
ASSETS: $5.8B
MEMBERS:347,640
BRANCHES: 55
EMPLOYEES: 827
NET WORTH: 9.7%
ROA: 0.73%
“The focus has been on employees who are working in warehouses, call centers, stores, hospitals — all those folks who don’t turn to the computer every day but have a smartphone and we can provide financial wellness on the go for them,” Larson says. “Maybe they’re planning ahead for a life event. Maybe they’re in a crisis mode and they need to learn quickly about something. So that’s either on-demand or something that’s done virtually or in person.”
So far, the credit union has rolled out the app to approximately 3,000 BCU employees and employees of
Cardinal Health, but Larson says plans are underway to make it available to all employees of company partners.
Within its community charter, BCU operates six branches in Northern Illinois and Wisconsin and has extended its financial wellbeing services to local Habitat for Humanity programs. The app, Larson says, gives the CUSO the ability to scale up nationally for organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and Junior Achievement. “This program with these tools can be a way to live out the purpose and mission of BCU on a whole new scale,” Larson says. “That’s what I’m most excited about — getting it out to more employees of corporate America because I know many, many employees are in major financial stress, and they keep it below the surface.”
This is part of the “Anatomy Of A Credit Union” series, presented every quarter by Callahan & Associates. Read more about BCU or dive into a decade of archives. Contact Callahan to learn about gaining access today.
