Well, what did you think about yesterday's ping pong commentary? Yeah, me too! Sorry about all that, but it's an easy way to take a day off from blogging !
The tit-for-tat can be amusing for a while, but everyone grows weary pretty quickly. Hate to say this but, "commentary discussions " (yes, include me in that!) are generally highly superficial - as in defining digital banking to be "applying for a loan on line 7x24 with an instant answer", implying that the members are somehow the root cause of the escalation in SECU loan losses and delinquency, or the painfully obvious, limited (or lack!) of understanding of existing Credit Union services and how they work - and why they are beginning to fall apart now. But as they say, lets look for the pony under the commentary detritus!
✅ Digital banking, on-line loan application - let's not beat this dead pony anymore! No one disagrees that whatever makes SECU services "quicker, better, cheaper" for the members is a good thing. It's a false argument, no "high ground" to be had with this one by any faction. But keep your eye on the ball! So far, the much-hyped, oft promised digital revolution is just "commentary" - with little substance, as yet. SECU continues to function very well using those tech features like on-line access, mobile, ATMs, text, debit/credit card, ACH, direct deposit which have long been installed - as opposed to the yet to be seen "digital vaporware" (mainly gas!)
✅ Risk-based lending - another dead pony not to re-flog at this time, but take note (since you haven't been notified) of the acknowledged elimination or severe restrictions in loan services ( see December 2, 2023 at 10:26 AM) which have now been imposed on certain "classes" of SECU members based on their credit scores. This is the natural progression of all discriminatory systems - demean, punish financially, make them sit in the back of the bus - and now don't let them on the bus at all.
✅ Clueless on the SECU "Business Model" - this one is perhaps the scariest "commentary insight" of all. This revolves around the apparent lack of understanding, of the core business value, "market advantage", and actual raison-d'etre for "the business" called SECU. For a business to exist, it has to provide value to the consumer in some special, significant way. That way in the past has been fair rates, low fees, exceptional delivery of services with local decisions, from SECU leaders (and lenders) in the local community. It worked extremely well for 85 years - can't deny those financial facts. Local, individualized member service - controlled by the branches - has been the successful SECU model. The "new digital model" is creating "a commodity institution" with no distinct advantage - just striving for "market rates" and impersonal "digital sameness". "Industry standard" is the death knell for SECU - no demonstrable competitive advantage ! Look around at the consolidation in all business sectors - the "really big guys" win "the just like everybody else" competitive wars. No amount of "We are" pablum or an occaisonal SuperBowl ad will alter that outcome!
✅ An equal fear: the SECU branch staff "don't get it" or "don't care" anymore? - To me the most discouraging "commentary insight" is the one below - with the emphasis on several "attitude markers". Hate to point this out, but under the local, you're responsible and accountable branch model - why are you making bad loans to members which become "a huge burden" for you to collect? Why are employees now finding it unreasonable to be "expected to serve", "plus answer the phone"? Why are you there?
"AnonymousDecember 2, 2023 at 10:52 PM
As
you know, it's not just defaulting/charge offs that come into play.
It's also the considerable collection efforts for (mostly) lower-tiered
borrowers. This is a full-time job for branch staff and in busier
districts like mine it is a huge burden for the staff since we were also
expected to serve the 60-90 member we had a day on the loan side plus
answer phones. In many cases we were calling and sending letters every
single month to the same borrowers, essentially having to babysit them
so they would pay their loans. (I don't use that word to disparage the
members, but really that's what it was.)
Raleigh severely
underestimated how much effort it took to keep our charge off ratio as
low as it has been when they tried to centralize collections. This, I
think, was a big part of why the centralization was not very successful
It's also a very important missing piece to the case you're presenting
here. Those collection efforts cost A LOT of time and money (in terms of
staff salary).
Is it not the case that the higher rates under RBL for lower tier members would help offset this?"
... if that's where we really are and where the SECU Board is heading; hey lets fold up the tents now, the train wreck is not a question of if... only a matter of when. 
By the time they chose a 'core system' it'll be out of date... EVERYTHING will be AI before it's all said and done ... (we won't need a Board or CEO)
ReplyDeleteThe rich get richer the poor get poorer ... nothing new under the sun here ...
'They' are not empowering the employees but the C-Suites ... making them the great and powerful OZ ... Hint: Don't look behind the curtain ... or as one poster said just STFU... (this is where we are at when they talk to members and employees in these terms)
Again, unfortunately this is where we are at, and they have taken away modules so they will get even less of an education on how things work ... you know boot camp on co-ops and SECU.
“It ain’t over till the fat lady sings.”
Yogi Berra
But can’t you hear it: “Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do…”!
Was asked about the "pony" allusion...it's an old joke: "How can you tell the difference between a pessimist and an optimist? A pessimist stumbles into a room knee deep in horse manure and says: "What an awful mess, who's going to clean this up?" An optimist stumbles into the same and says: "Wow, hand me a shovel; with all this manure there's bound to be a wonderful pony under here somewhere!"
ReplyDeleteAgreed...I'll look for better allusions.
At a point, someone must ask who is allowing such excessive manure in…
DeleteI’m ashamed to read the employee comment in the post. I think that is a minority opinion and not the thought in my branch, district and hopefully region. The only issue they might be referring to is with the specialization. Those employees either will not or have been instructed not to answer phone, work delinquency, etc.
ReplyDeleteDoesn’t sound like an employee. Sounds like someone from loan admin writing in to try to sway opinion.
Delete“Perhaps you and I have lived with this miracle too long to be properly appreciative. Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.”
ReplyDelete― Ronald Reagan
If we lose this fight for equal treatment and transparency
from management at SECU it will be lost forever ....
and make no mistake they are the ones who picked this fight, but we (members/owners) have every right to defend our rights!
There's something you need to know about making bad loans to members. It's a part of the delinquency problem no one talks about. The actual loan products are poorly designed. Loan administration encourages a free-for-all style of lending and restricts the employee's ability to do educate or guide our most vulnerable employees. We can't tell our members with marginal credit and a tight income that the BMW they are looking to finance for 60 months with 145k miles on it isn't a good idea. Loan administration wants the branch employees to be mindless data entry peons. That's it. In a recent loan administration lender training session, branch and MSS employees were told that they could not discuss a multitude of things, including budgeting and financial counseling. The employee should refer the member to a FAS representative for any budgeting or counseling conversation. Really? That goes against the nature of who we are. The idiots in Loan Administration will destroy our organization. They manipulate and make moves like this all the time, but they don't let Leigh know about that sort of stuff. They only tell her about the success of their new lending model.
ReplyDelete"That goes against the nature of who we are. "
Delete'WERE' .... 'WHO WE WERE' ... we are no longer like we were 3 years ago ... people, we need to wise up to the fact the SECU has been hijacked by folks concerned with lining their pockets with members hard earned dollars not helping them!
@ 7:12- Don't be so dramatic and don't be so quick to lump everyone into one basket. That attitude doesn't get things done. It just drags everyone down with you. I haven't given up on our organization. I assume you haven't either or you wouldn't be here reading this blog. There are some people here who have the power to change some things back to where it was. Bashing them on the head constantly certainly won't help to make it happen. Wise up.
Deletelet me know how that works for you ... keep me posted. The only changes I see happening is more of the same new/new ... none of it is good for the member. But hey I'll ask Santa for a pair of rose colored glasses! Meanwhile you work on getting those people who can make some changes, making some changes FOR THE GOOD OF THE MEMBERS!
DeleteThis is perfectly said. Exactly right
DeleteI attended one of these alignment sessions. I heard the same message. Someone asked about talking to members in general about budgeting and we were told that any kind of financial counseling should be done by a FAS rep cfp. Do they think we haven't always done that? Are we really not smart enough to discuss these things with our members? They had some weird things to say about collections as well. I came out of this "alignment" class feeling less aligned than ever.
Delete"restricts the employee's ability to do educate or guide"
ReplyDeleteWe're pushing financial literacy online though.
TO SEEM RATHER THAN TO BE.
Perhaps these restrictions are also bolstered by those new giant legal and risk teams as well.
ReplyDeleteI think that could be part of the problem as well.
DeleteI went to one of these training sessions. I've known some of the presenters for a long time. They are now SVPs in Loan Administration and you would think they had never worked a day in a branch. The off the cuff remarks they made were unbelievable.
DeleteI think an alignment class is good because there's a lot of folks that don't know what they are doing out here. Training at this organization has been terrible over the last several years. But, this class didn't really help me when I attended. Seemed like the only issues being seen and acknowledged are those in the branches. Loan Administration never takes a good look at themselves, and if they do, it's kept quiet. If it's a branch issue, it's blasted all over the organization.
Delete