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The CU2.0 Podcast
This podcast explores contemporary, critical thinking and issues impacting the nation's credit unions. What do they need to be doing to not just survive but prosper?
The CU2.0 Podcast
CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 394 CORA Loyalty's Beth McCoy on What Loyalty Means in 2026
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Are you still relying on product based rewards for members?
Meet the new tool on the block: relationship building.
A trigger is that interchange rates are under attack and, for many financial institutions, it’s been interchange that funded the rewards programs.
So what’s the new approach? On the show is Beth McCoy, CEO of CORA Loyalty, who provides a roadmap for building member relationships that benefit both the member and the institution.
CORA Loyalty explains what it does this way: “Loyalty leaders are shifting from card-centric to relationship-focused campaigns. The approach rewards customers for activities across the institution: maintaining checking accounts, paying account fees, using credit and debit cards, transacting regularly, and long-term relationships.”
“The goal isn’t card spend, but broader and longer lasting outcomes like growing deposits, encouraging treasury management adoption, and strengthening the full banking relationship.”
Sound good?
Listen up.
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Welcome to the CU2.0 podcast.
SPEAKER_00Hi, and welcome to the CU2.0 podcast with big new ideas about credit unions and conversations about innovative technology with credit union and fintech leaders. This podcast is brought to you by Quillow, the real-time loan syndication network for credit unions, and by your host, longtime credit union and financial technology journalist Robert McGarvey. And now the CU 2.0 podcast with Robert McGarvey.
SPEAKER_03Are you still relying on product-based rewards for members? The new tool on the block, relationship building. A trigger is that interchange rates are under attack from many financial institutions. An interchange that funded the rewards programs. As the revenue from interchange diminishes, then what happens? So, what's the new approach on the show? It's Beth McCoy's CEO Coral Loyalty, who provides a roadmap for building member relationships that benefit both the member and the institution. Coral Loyalty explains what it does this way. Loyalty leaders are shifting from card-centric to relationship-focused campaigns. The approach rewards customers for activities across the institution, maintaining checking accounts, paying account features and credit and debit cards, transacting regularly and long-term relationships. The goal isn't card spending, but broader and longer-lasting outcomes like growing deposits, encouraging treasury management adoption, and strengthening the full banking relationship. Sound good? On the show, you'll hear all the details from Beth McCoy. Listen up. We're going to talk about rewards versus loyalty, if you will.
SPEAKER_01Robert, maybe a good place to start is just to kind of at a really high level about what we're talking about when we talk when we're looking at loyalty or rewards programs. So I think we're really looking at how a company builds and sustains long-term relationships with its customers. So it's not just about points or perks, it's about recognizing and rewarding the behaviors that matter most to the business. So that can be spend, engagement, tenure or advocacy. So, and I think at their best, loyalty programs create a clear value exchange where customers, when customers feel genuinely recognized and see value, real value. And the best the business also benefits from deeper, more durable relationships that can show up through rewards, but also through status, personalized experience, or access. But the common thread there, I think, is relevance and trust. And loyalty is really about the broader ecosystem, about how brands use data, partnerships, and technology to make loyalty feel seamless and meaningful across channels and over time. So I think loyalty is now it at one stage was really just about the rewards someone spent on their credit card, got points, and then they were able to redeem it. But loyalty has now changed where it's becoming more of a relationship management rather than just a specific standalone program.
SPEAKER_03How common is that among banks and credit unions?
SPEAKER_01I think it's evolving. We're going to see, we're gonna, we're starting to see that in this change, Robert, in the larger enterprise programs. On the credit union side, I think I I don't think we're quite quite there yet. I think credit unions do across the board have sort of some semblance of some instance of loyalty, whether it be a loyalty program, whether it be cashback. But I think there's an opportunity to build further onto that.
SPEAKER_03Um I I I would say, and I credit union people hate it when I say this. I think, I think credit union credit card rewards programs suck.
SPEAKER_02Okay. How do you really feel, Robert?
SPEAKER_03They are really, really, really awful. I have approximately 10 credit cards. And the difference between American Express Platinum Card, which is an A, and my credit union credit card, which is a D minus, is immense. I don't even use the the credit union credit card. No, it's free. There's no fee attached to it. But it's and they they felt desperate because they didn't have one. Would you please take one? I said, okay, fine.
SPEAKER_01So Robert, then what is the what what is it about Amex versus your credit union program that what what makes Amex head and shoulders above?
SPEAKER_03Well, Amex membership rewards points are actually useful tools for getting things like free airline tickets or sort of free airline tickets. More and more there are fees involved, but and I don't quite know what I would get from my credit card. It's uh my credit union credit card. Something I imagine, but I've never spent enough to get anything of consequence.
SPEAKER_01So oh, okay. So I I think I think also there we I find as well with some of the some of the feedback I've received from people who are members of credit unions. Um, you know, I didn't even know that there was a credit loyalty program there.
SPEAKER_03Um and these are always run, or in my experience, always run by uh 30 party third-party companies. They're not homebrewed. So there are a couple of vendors who have these little packages that they sell credit unions. And I I just think the packages are terrible. But what can I say?
SPEAKER_01Well, I think that's also that's something too that I get asked a lot is what is the best approach for what's the best approach in terms of finding a vendor running the program? Should you completely outsource it? Should you bring it all in-house? And I kind of I think that the the best approach is sort of the hybrid model. It's really hard for, is really difficult for organizations that aren't sort of steeped in loyalty expertise to to bring it all in-house, keep a program fresh and relevant and set it up properly. But on the flip side, when you completely outsource you to a company, you you lose that sort of alignment with the overall brand, if that makes sense. So I mean, when we work with clients, we really like to be partners with them. They have, we incorporate their brand and values and mission in into the program overall. So it does seem like it is a part of the overall experience of the credit union or the or the organization we're working with rather than just sort of a bullet on.
SPEAKER_03Now, one thing that you're quite aware of is that rewards programs are being attacked indirectly through a tax on interchange. Interchange is what funds rewards programs, basically.
SPEAKER_02Yep.
SPEAKER_03And Walmart would like to cut interchange in half or more, and does have a bill kicking around Congress that might come to pass, and that would be catastrophic to most of the rewards programs. Maybe not to the big dogs like Chase and American Express, but to most of the other ones. I think. And so that would kind of lead people into what can we do otherwise. Oh, and also the idea of temper uh capping uh credit card interest rates of 10%, which is almost suicidal, but that would just be the death blow to rewards programs.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and so in terms of I mean, interchange, you're right, the traditional rewards were subsidized largely through that, but we're starting to see we're starting to see that around the globe. It's that those interchange rates are are changing. We're working with some clients in Australia actually, where this has come into effect. And so it really just becomes figuring out how to get a little bit more creative about how to fund how to fund that. And one avenue is working more closely with partners. So whether those are retailers, airlines, or everyday mention or merchants, those that can help offset the cost where they fund fund some or all of the the points for the rewards, makes it a little bit more sustainable for the institution.
SPEAKER_03Oh, so the Amex card I have has it's a relatively new benefit, but four times a year you can get a $75 credit at Lululemon. It's uh so if you buy something for $75, it's free.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Are you a Lululemon fan Roberts?
SPEAKER_03No, my wife is though.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03I do not believe I've ever been in the store, and if I have, I certainly never bought anything for myself. It's I don't look good in that really stretchy stuff, you know? But at least I'm honest.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_03And so Amex has more programs like no, they they have a program that who knows if it'll survive, but fifty you get 50 bucks twice a year if you buy something at SACS. And who knows if that'll survive SAX's bankruptcy. I don't know. So they they have a bunch of programs like that that don't involve interchange, as far as I know.
SPEAKER_01Yes, and so they would be relying the they would be relying, I think, largely on some of the vendors to or the the retailers to support to support that reward within that program.
SPEAKER_03Right. And that that so how how does a credit union let's say re let's say interchange is is really honest last legs, rewards funding is is perilous. So how does a credit union say, okay, I want to get into this loyalty thing? What happens then?
SPEAKER_01So if they want, if they don't have a program already, Robert, is how or how do they take a start at it?
SPEAKER_03Is that well I don't think too many credit unions have a coherent loyalty program. I mean, do they? Do you think so?
SPEAKER_01I I don't well we have I think it I think it depends. I would say some of the we have one of our clients based here in Canada is a large credit union, and they have they actually have a very solid, uh, very solid program. They we started working with them probably four years ago. They were with a different provider, and they just the the program itself was sort of it was getting it was a bit tired, to be frank. They just felt it was tired and and a little uh outdated. So came to work with us and and said we want to just sort of overhaul this and and simplify it. So we worked with them to pair it all back. It had merchandise and gift cards and things like that, and they just really wanted to go with a simple, a simple gift card program to start. So we paired it all, we we put put that in place, we gave them a fresh new member experience, so kind of brightened it up a little bit. And we've they've been we added some local content. That was another piece that they felt was missing from the previous iteration of it. And so it was really successful out of the gate, and they've just used that as a really solid foundation to start building on adding on things that are really relevant for their members. So allowing their members to apply point value to statement credits or cashback or towards insurance premiums. So I think it's and they're now looking at the success of those things as they've slowly added them. Now we're looking at adding merchandise and different earn opportunities through an affiliate model. So I really like that example of how they sort of they started small and then or smallish and then they've they've built it up based on what they know their members are looking for. And so I think that's a good blueprint for a credit union that doesn't have anything at all. You don't have to, it doesn't have to be massive and complicated out of the gate. It could start small and find ways of funding that through partner offers, still able to, if you're using gift cards prices appropriately where you're still giving member value, but it's not a cost to to the organization or to the credit union.
SPEAKER_03So how would a gift card program work?
SPEAKER_01A gift card, so the a gift card program is in what regards, how in what regards, Robert?
SPEAKER_03The setup of it or thinking it from the members' point of view.
SPEAKER_01It's a simple gift card catalog that we set up with different brands. Uh and it's allows members to go in and redeem points for for different types of gift cards. It's a it's a pure redemptions redemption play.
SPEAKER_03I see. I mean, it's a little bit, you're you're I don't think old enough, but there used to be like the SNH green stamps, and you'd collect the green stamps, and then you could redeem them for a zippo lighter, which I did at one point.
SPEAKER_01So you know what, Robert? I I we were talking about this when we were when I was at home for the holidays with my mom and dad, and we used to collect, I did anyway, the labels from Del Monte fruit and vegetables from the canned from the cans. And you could save them all up. So I had my family and grandma and grandpa saving them all, and then you sent away when you had enough, and you got a stuffed corn on the cob, a stuffed, a stuffed tomato. So I've got the whole set. So cool. I guess that's early inter iteration of a loyalty program.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Now, how does the credit union define loyalty? And does it vary from institution to institution?
SPEAKER_01I think that going back to the loyalty, what we talked about at the beginning is that it's that building that long-term relationship with its customers. And that's why I think that loyalty fits so beautifully with credit unions, because that's what credit unions are all about, that community base, that community focus, the real, that relationship, whether it's whether going into a branch, I don't know if a lot of people do that anymore, or just that interaction with their members overall. So I think it's that's it's it's about looking at that relationship with the member, not just doling at points and perks, but rewarding those behaviors that matter most to them. So the the engagement and the tenure and even the advocacy is important, I would think, for credit unions.
SPEAKER_03And how how do they measure all of that?
SPEAKER_01There's a lot of different metrics that can be that can be used for this. There's obviously retention rates, spend, there's a share of wallet. You can also look at it across the number of products that the member has. And I think those that's one of the elements too of just like setting up an initial program is what what is it that the credit union is trying to achieve? Is it an acquisition tool? Is it purely retention? Is it about encouraging the member to have more products across across the ecosystem of the credit union to have more pieces, pieces of it, the sort of the whole of banks? So those are different ways of measuring, different ways of measuring it. Data is always one question that is, or one element that is so important to loyalty programs. And you know, larger institutions have a little bit more difficulty pulling that data together. Often it's siloed in a lot of different systems. But with credit unions being a little bit smaller, I think there's a lot of data at their fingertips already where they could evaluate what their members are are are doing right now, what they have, and leverage that to do some modeling about where they want it to go.
SPEAKER_03I mean, credit unions are the smart ones are really concerned about diminishing share wallet share. So you might have a checking account, you might have, or in my case, you have a credit card, but you never use it. And they can see my bills getting paid, and they say, My God, this guy pays a lot of money to American Express. Why why does he hate us? Oh, look, he's paying money to Chase, too. What an SOB. And perhaps they do think that, or the computer thinks that. So I'm sure my credit union would like more of my wallet share. And that's something you can help address with this program, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes, yeah. And it goes back to the awareness of the program, setting up ways to incentivize those that behavior shift, and also the the relevancy of what's what's in the program as well. So is it is it appealing to the various members? We know that the older demographic really does like that sort of mixed merchandise and gift card catalog, whereas the younger, the younger demographic, Gen, Gen Z, they are looking more for those kind of surprise and delight, those, those little perks like the free coffee. So it's it's really making sure that the that the program is relevant to the to the various members to personalize. I don't know if I love using personalized seems to be very overused across the board, but that's that's really what it is, relevancy and and personalization.
SPEAKER_03Now, when you talk to uh U.S. credit unit about this, what's the reaction?
SPEAKER_01A lot of people that we've it's just under not sh not sure where not where sure where to start. I I think that's the that's where the difficulty comes in. It's an interest in doing it, but not sure how to how to tackle it or where to begin.
SPEAKER_03I that's totally where I'm at, where I say, okay, rewards are under attack and probably aren't a sustainable future. Loyalty, yeah, that sounds interesting, but where the heck do I begin? You know, what do I do? So what what does the credit union do? So how do you how do you get them over that hurdle?
SPEAKER_01I think it's first off figuring out what they it's where what they have right now, Robert. Do they have anything and evaluating that piece of it? The data review of how what kind of data do they actually have? Do they have a clear picture of the various segments of their of their members? And then it's looking at what what sort of behaviors are we are we targeting? Are we trying to convince Robert that he needs another product within our suite? Are we trying to encourage spend on the credit card? Is it driving additional deposits? So it's really what we need a definition of what the the credit union is is trying to achieve and then and and tackling it from there. What kind of levers does the credit union have to encourage those those target behaviors?
SPEAKER_03And so do you start with a pilot program? I mean, what what's the what's the starting point?
SPEAKER_01I think I I think starting fairly simple, I don't know, given it would depend sort of on the the size of the member base, whether or not we we would tackle a pilot program. I guess you know it it also is what sort of spend does the credit union have initially to to start this off, because there's a lot of different ways in terms of in terms of the pricing of it and and the initial the initial setup. So those all those are all factors that would come into setting up the program. And again, I would just go back to starting simple about how how to how to initially set it up.
SPEAKER_03What's the size range? What's your target size range for credit unions?
SPEAKER_01Our our client base, Robert, is we work a lot with enterprise, enterprise clients, financial institutions. We're in the travel airline space. We do have that, I mentioned a large credit union here in Canada. But we do have we do have solutions and and technology that we can that we can provide regardless of the size of the member base. So we've it dep we don't particularly have a target in terms of a target member base. We have technology and solutions that would appeal to all. Yeah. Yeah, that's what I was kind of that was what I was getting at earlier about just sort of the the setup of the of the program. It's it's an evaluation of the data that is there and kind of getting a clean data set. There's always ways to to to cleanse it and at least get a foundational data set and then put some good data hygiene practices in place to ensure that going forward the proper data or additional data is being collected so that the members are. that the credit unions can can make decisions based on that.
SPEAKER_03Now what are you doing for airlines? And I ask because historically almost 50 years, airlines have bought loyalty through points programs, basically. And yeah, how how good is that loyalty? It's very good in some cases. I it's I I don't know what current research says. But what what do you do for them?
SPEAKER_01So we've got we provide all of the technology Robert that allows the pro the airlines to administer their the non-travel piece of their program. So it's all of the the the back end technology from point spank to the fulfillment engine the front end which the member interacts with where they can look at the different merchandise and gift card options for redemption. We bring all of the partners to the table as well in terms of those redemption options. We also have an earn element as well in the airline program. So if you if Robert wants his latest wants to buy the latest iPhone you can access Apple through the airline loyalty program and earn points earn points on your on the purchase of that iPhone. So we do we do all of those different elements for the airline for the airline loyalty programs that we work with including banks as well.
SPEAKER_03And I've never used this but I'm aware that US Airlines occasionally offer pretty big discounts on Apple products a very short timeframe. Yes I mean we're talking like three day sale or something it's uh so that's the kind of thing that you can arrange?
SPEAKER_01Yes we have relationships with all of the major brands and we have uh we've done all of those as well the that would be partially funded by by Apple itself either fully or partially funded by Apple.
SPEAKER_03Yeah Apple is a curious company and I have a lot of Apple products I'm not knocking at but Apple does not like to discount at its own stores but man they'll discount through third parties like Amazon all over the place. And I'm sure they're picking up a good chunk of that discount.
SPEAKER_01That's uh yes yeah they they often brands are because the loyalty program is seen as a a closed ecosystem there's sometimes more flexibility there for discounting than you would because it's oh some of these Apple discounts through Airlines have been huge for Apple. Yeah yes those run they're obviously very very popular especially on that particular brand so we it's uh there that's why they're so they're very very limited as well but that also drives redemption early on to pick up of the of the it's something like like that and if you don't want to specifically address Apple just something like that.
SPEAKER_03Is there also a quantity limitation?
SPEAKER_01In other words I'm willing to sell a thousand iPhone 17s at Xbox but no more than a thousand yes whatever oh cool so that yeah because every time I've heard about these things by the time I've gone it's been shut down yeah and that's just yeah it's you're absolutely right it's a way for the program and and the brand obviously to manage the cost of the promotion so they are they are limited often they are a limited quantity.
SPEAKER_03Now have you dealt with any banks or credit units that have used that that same strategy by picking a desirable product let's say an iPhone or maybe an Apple Watch I don't know something desirable and offering it at a decent discount.
SPEAKER_01Yeah yeah we've done that we have we've done that with almost all clients fitting with their different marketing strategies. Obviously from a the marketing standpoint there's your standard sort of what map moms, dads and grads and holidays or Christmas but often brands come to us and say we're looking to run sort of an off-cycle promotion and whether it's a deal of the day for example or just sort of a a site wide sale or something and we're able to negotiate with our with the vendors to to provide items for for that whether it's for the a specific promotion.
SPEAKER_03The cool thing about the Apple thing with airlines is that when they do if I remember the terms let's say you you're paying a thousand bucks for this this Apple product the airline will then do a match where or they'll sweeten the deal by giving you three X miles. So you get three thousand miles for that thousand dollars that you paid plus you get the merchandise of course and if you're someone who's into the miles this is this is cool.
SPEAKER_01Yep there's I mentioned earlier about our affiliate models so that example where you're paying cash for an item but you're earning points and that's another way of driving spend on a credit card I mean engagement with the programs. So we also do uh quite a bit of that one of our one of the airline clients that we have has a very robust affiliate program and leverages that a lot. So drives a lot of just engagement and keeps the program top of mind.
SPEAKER_03Well air airlines are and I don't expect you to comment on this but airlines are promiscuous in printing miles. Man those printing presses are running nonstop and they only have so many seats on airplanes. So they're directing a lot of the as much of this traffic as they can into merchandise now. Here please buy this stuff use those 5000 miles please please please it's which I understand and people are buying stuff that they want whereas if you go back 45 years the miles were only redeemable on airfares period that was it yes now I think a good chunk of miles are we well a good chunk of miles nothing ever happens to they just disappear it's another big chunk gets spent on merchandise which is cool people are getting something they want or buying it for a relative or something. I I don't view that as a bad thing. It's giving people choice it'd be cool if credit unions started doing something like that.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely the to offer I I think the the adjunct to if you take an airline loyalty program you you have the you have the set of members that really doesn't maybe earn enough to to even redeem for a ticket and that's where the the value comes in of the other perks or the other rewards that can be offered through merchandise and gift cards and other other sort of personalized offers. That's the value for people who don't maybe have enough to redeem for a for a flight.
SPEAKER_03I remember many years ago when a lot of airline miles expired if you didn't have activity in a year I'd get these notices from one particular airline saying hey these miles are going to expire but but you can subscribe to one of these magazines using miles. Now no one subscribes to magazines anymore so that sale wouldn't work. Yeah but and the the the the numbers were nominal you know it was like a thousand miles or something like that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah so I I subscribe to many magazines just to keep these cards which I thought well I I didn't object to that I thought it was pretty cool really yeah yeah it's um yeah I've got also I have friends as well that they're points warriors so they will they'll do a a status run to Hong Kong just so that they can keep their flight their airline status. Yeah yeah yeah so that does happen no it's it's all it's all good.
SPEAKER_03Now so how long does it when you begin a discussion if you work with a credit union how long would it take before something meaningful got up and running?
SPEAKER_01Depends on the the the sort of the complexity of the the program Robert our implementation side implementation time for a non-enterprise program is about is is about six months. Obviously there is that consulting piece at the beginning the consultation about what they're trying to accomplish if they have a have a sense about that or if we need to bring in a team to help support and and define the overall loyalty program. But implementation wise with with the technology with our technology could be up and running in about six months.
SPEAKER_03And you already come into this with relationship with a number of big brands that can possibly participate in these programs.
SPEAKER_01Yes so we have that we have all of an integration into our technology gives the organization access to thousands of different rewards from merchandise, gift cards experiences. Obviously we don't recommend that you pile all of that into a catalog that's going to completely overwhelm overwhelm a member so we also do that curation exercise as well to look at what we've kind of got our core set of items that that really drive redemptions and then you can layer on local content.
SPEAKER_03But yes we have the we have all the relationships already with the major brands do you would you work with a credit union that wanted to highlight some local merchants I mention that because I'm thinking about a very big credit union that has a deal with a bunch of like local restaurants not necessarily one restaurant places but small chains things like it with really pretty healthy discounts if you use your credit or your debit card to pay for that meal the debit card from the institution. It's a nice perk particularly if you go to those places routinely but these are all local guys.
SPEAKER_01Yeah and our system is our system is set up to accommodate partners that the organization brings to the tables that's often with our enterprise clients they may have a corporate sponsorship and so our our system is set up so that we can we can offer those items in in a specific catalog offer an item where it would be a discount for example at the local restaurant that you mentioned so our system is set up to to accommodate all of those and I I think I'm glad you brought that up too Robert because it's I think that's one of the key parts of this for credit unions is that local community based content that fits right in in line with credit unions and their mission. So and that was one of the that was one of the things from our credit union client here in Canada that they really really wanted was they was that local content to appeal to the members.
SPEAKER_03Now yeah if I were selling this I my I'd go into the credit union saying interchange is on life support. It's uh so what you gonna do? It's uh well I happen to have this little solution for you possibly are are you gonna come and help us sell Robert should I I'm gonna hire you yeah now what what kind of fee range are you talking about?
SPEAKER_01Not not for me but for for clients um so it's our it's a fixed license fee for the platform and then we build in sort of a sh on the rewards so again the size and the complexity of the the the setup the setup is that we that's how we determine the fixed fee but that's based on that is how we price that and so in some cases depending on how the uh credit union wants to price the different rewards there can be some upside upside there as well no I you do not have any US credit unions at this point right?
SPEAKER_03No, we don't yeah but you have this Canadian institution. Canadian institutions Canadian credit unions are a little odd by American standards since there's only a handful of them and they're big.
SPEAKER_01That is yes they credit unions as you well know are far more prevalent in the US than they are than they are here in Canada. Robert I was listening to some of your different podcasts as I was preparing for this and I really enjoyed the conversation that you had with I think it was the beginning of January with Melissa Krutz from yeah and I thought we we should have I just I thought there were so many parallels to that messaging around attracting younger demographic to credit unions kind of helping them understand what a credit union is but then also the the parallels between sort of making making it appealing appealing to a younger a younger member and that's kind of what loyalty programs do they could make it's another lever to to attract that kind of demographic and so I really enjoyed I really enjoyed the the that episode.
SPEAKER_03No I'm fortunately I I get pretty good guests on this show I'm I I just I just ask silly questions and people do their best to try to answer them. So but yeah credit union could tailor its program to a younger generation say yeah you get anime cards or something or whatever format anime comes in you know I'd say I don't want none but I I I do believe for the right demographic uh you'd see a line of people out the door saying sign me up I want this thing yeah exactly I know some college sports teams are giving away anime cards or something uh with with tickets for admission and apparently crowds are just giant okay okay okay but yeah different generations will respond to different things obviously and and young people were are collecting things and fascinated by things that don't interest me but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with what they're interested in.
SPEAKER_01So yeah anime has never really been not not attracted to me either but uh for some people it's very popular.
SPEAKER_03It's big I mean this thing is huge. And you could facilitate an anime related reward program, right?
SPEAKER_01Yes yeah we've I mean we always are looking for for new vendors and so this sort of the sky is the limit in terms of what what kind of merchants we we can work with if the if it's a specific ask and we don't have it then we will we'll go and source it what what what do you see what does your company see is the the market potential for you and and the credit unions community bank sector we see a lot of opportunity with it Robert and as far as sort of the the education piece about what loyalty programs can do for for credit unions, what the the upside is in terms of retent retention, driving additional products credit union products, and also the acquisition opportunity of it. So uh we see a lot of upside but it as I mentioned at the beginning it's kind of it's some of the it's a little bit how do I get I don't even know where to go or how to get started. And so hopefully some of the content here today kind of gives a sense of of what what how to get going and and what's possible.
SPEAKER_03Well if if the credit unions look at two things that are happening simultaneously one interchange is going to change significantly will it go away I doubt that but will it will the numbers shrink? I bet you they will and that's going to affect all the existing rewards programs. And then the other thing is the generational shift yeah as as uh boomers go to the great credit union in the sky a younger generation is is doing most of the banking or an increasing amount of the banking so what do they want?
SPEAKER_01Not necessarily what baby boomers wanted yeah and that's where I mean Gen as we've seen we've seen this in one of our recent Harris polls as well it's the the Gen Z is looking more for those sort of digital experiences that kind of instant feedback personalization some gamification they tend to be a little bit more uh mobile first and sort of mod so that's where that you know the credit union has a program already it's creating that modernizing it and making it a little bit more relevant and I guess edgy if you would for a younger a younger demographic.
SPEAKER_03Well I know in the world of travel the data seems to say that the younger generation is very hungry for personalized experiences rather than some sort of packaged impersonal trip or tour and and credit unions could take that same cue that what they want is personalized experiences. So yeah absolutely having said that no don't call me and ask me to develop personalized experiences I can help you. These people might but no not me a package traveler rotter no very much not no no it's uh no I'm I kind of run in the other direction but okay you like to create your own I can create my own it's uh before we go think hard about how you can help support this podcast so we can do more interviews with more thoughtful leaders in the credit union world what we're trying to figure out here in these podcasts is what's next for credit unions. What can they do to really really really make a difference in the financial scene can't all be mega banks can it it's my hope it won't all be mega banks it'll always be a place for credit unions. That's what we're discussing here. So figure out how you can help get in touch with me this is RJmegGarvey at gmail.com Robert McGarvey again that's rjmegarvey at gmail.com get in touch we'll figure out a way that you can help we need your support we want your support we thank you for your support the C U two dot oh podcast