Must Reads FOCUSREPORT:
REGULATION &
COMPLIANCE

After nearly a year of uncertainty concerning the CFPB’s leadership, the future direction of the agency and its impact on credit unions remains unclear. Learn where the CFPB stands now on structure and key rule-making decisions, and what it might do next, in this Focus Report. Y8

HUMAN RESOURCES

Catering Benefits to Gen Z In order to track employer benefits offerings, the Affordable Care Act did something unheard of in the past: It required employers to aggregate and better manage complex workforce data from unrelated payroll, benefits administration and HRIS systems.

This data aggregation brought with it many new opportunities for employer groups. With new insights stemming from ACA compliance and reporting data, benefits consultants and employers can gain a deeper understanding of how to use benefits and operational strategies to optimize the workforce. This article describes one way in which to leverage their ACA data.

For the first time in U.S. history, up to five generations are employed in the same workplace, suggesting that there is a wide range of differences in what employees will expect and need from their employers in the years to come. The two youngest generations, millennials and Generation Z, together make up 40% of the employee population and their numbers are rising.

As employees in these generations age and become a greater percentage of the workforce, they’ll put more pressure on benefits costs in three distinct ways:

1. Increased enrollment in employer plans;

2. Choosing better benefits; and

3. Opting for family plans.

They will also challenge organizations’ retention Y16

FINTECH

E-Signing Boosts Member Experience

redit union professionals understand this: The longer a new loan or account application remains unsigned, the higher the chance of abandonment.

Adding electronic signatures to the process dramatically increases the opportunity for success.

The $310 million Essential
Federal Credit Union recently
expanded its relationship with a
longtime technology partner, the
Rahway, N.J.-based IMM, to add
real-time, remote e-signing to
nine parishes in the greater Ba-
ton Rouge, La., community. The
credit union has leveraged IMM’s
eSign platform for several years
and just recently added these new
capabilities.

Because the eSign platform in-
tegrates with all existing business
systems, Essential can deliver
an enhanced member experi-
ence, conduct transactions in a
paperless environment and gain
credit union-wide
efficiencies.
“We were look-
ing for a solution to
increase efficiency
for our members
and staff by offer-
ing remote sign
functionality, lim-
iting the need to
visit branches for loan closings,
account or loan change re-
ROY URRICO
rurrico@cutimes.com

Continuing CUs’ Momentum

Now is the time to elevate advocacy. Y14

FOM Expansion

Make the effort to expand worthwhile. Y11

Pierre

Driving
CU Branch
Innovations
GROWTH STRATEGIES

PETER STROZNIAK pstrozniak@cutimes.com

redit unions in Connecticut and New York are driving branch innovations that are rolling in new members and new loans.

The $439 million Nutmeg State Financial Credit Union in Rocky Hill, Conn., opened a new branch that doubles as a state Department of Motor Vehicles center, where citizens can renew their driver’s license. The Milford branch draws about 200 people daily, resulting in nearly seven new credit union members each day. What’s more, during its first three weeks of operations in June, the Nutmeg/DMV Express services branch processed $1 million in loan applications, $600,000 of which was funded.

In New York City, the $2.9 billion Municipal Credit Union rolled out a new branch on wheels, a customized van, which brings a wide range of non-cash services to busy members wherever they are.

Since it hit the road on July 9, the
fully-equipped office has brought
a new level of convenience that is
attracting new members and pro-
moting the credit union brand.
To address the issue of declin-
ing branch traffic, Nutmeg devel-
oped a strategy to modernize the
retail member experience Y18 Y17