A tree without branches?
Probably never heard of Velera unless you've worked around credit unions. Used to be called Payment Systems for Credit Unions (PSCU) and Co-Op, but the two recently merged and adopted the new name Velera. The company offers shared services, such as branches, call centers, and debit/credit card processing, to 4,000 credit unions.
✅ Here's what Velera's research discovered about how much credit union members value a local credit union branch:
✅ While CIVIC takes "a digitally-focused flyer", the SECU Board might want to re-investigate how important local branch service is to SECU member-owners. Even those amateur hour,"raise your hand", faux member surveys never achieved 96%/98% support!
😎 So far, stripping the SECU branches of local control and decision making - especially in the resulting poor lending performance - has proved to be a costly error.
Beware: If they leave in disgust... they will never come back!
Not sure I’ve seen where local decision making has been replaced. Anybody that walks into an SECU branch can still meet with a loan officer and that loan officer still has the ability to approve or deny that applicant (within set limits). Same thing online or over the phone.
ReplyDeleteDoes it matter at SECU what the members want? Does the board and ELT care? The behavior and actions of this group over the last few years demonstrates that they know what is best for SECU and are proceeding with all those reforms. There has been a refusal to listen to members. Any member or employee who speaks against the reforms, is labeled a backward thinking know nothing. Fewer and fewer are the the voices the board and ELT will allow to offer advice. It is called an Echo Chamber. Dissent is dismissed.
ReplyDeleteWhat have they refused to listen to members about? What product or service are members demanding that isn’t being addressed? Does this issue show up in member sat scores?
Delete12:07 what is a sat score? "Satisfaction"?
DeleteAs in "Can't get no"?
8:18 am Be careful with your answer or else 7,000 employees and 1 million+ member borrowers will think you're not telling the truth...
Delete1) Does a loan officer actually "approve" the loan or does the "automated/algorithm" lending system?
2) If a loan is denied by "the system" how often is that decision overridden by the loan staff?
3) If a loan is denied, how does the member appeal the decision? ?How does the member do that online?
4) Can a loan officer deny a loan approved by "the system"?
The lending performance is not tied to any centralization. Let’s try and inflation and high interest rates for starters. Where is the survey question that says people need a decision at the branch? Branches are important, but it’s been shown you don’t need 275 of them to support this level of deposits and membership.
ReplyDelete8:50 am Beg to differ... but typical... "it's not our fault". Branches were accountable for their lending, you evidently have no accountability for the excessive losses and delinquency.
DeleteWho is making these bad loans?
You can beg to differ. You just don’t get it. Where is the overwhelming majority of the delinquency coming from? Mortgage. Why? A multi-billion ARM portfolio in a sharply rising rate environment. So are you making the case that if there were still “local control and decision making” that our members would have been immune from rising rates, payment shocks, and very high inflation?
Delete2:58pm Unsure of your answer, is it still "it isn't my fault"?
Delete1) The Fed says wages have kept up with inflation over the last 2/3 years. The inflation rate is actually declining 3.4% in 2023, 2.9% in 2024; 2.4% so far in 2025 - not exactly "shocking".: Can't be that.
2) Your 5 -yr ARMs don't all reprice at once, now do they. On average only @ 1/60th of the portfolio reprices each month! Can't be that.
3) Although the majority of your delinquencies are in mortgages, aren't the majority of your loans in mortgages? Can't be that
3) All the ARMs have rate adjustment caps... most @ 2%. That's below inflation levels! Can't be that.
4) As to your statement: "So are you making the case that if there were still “local control and decision making” that our members..." (... would be better off and SECU would have much lower losses?)
Yes, and the past financial performance of decentralized decision-making and accountability fully proves it.
5) I do appreciate you at least acknowledging that the change from branch leadership ("...if there were still “local control and decision making”...) has occurred! Will take you for your word on that one.
6) We all can see that losses and delinquency since "new/new" are way up. Wonder what it could be?
Co-op branches have no control or decision making authority. SECU branches still have decision making ability with lending. Not seeing your logic with this post.
ReplyDelete10:22 & 8:18.. correct.. this “costly error” is a stretch and supported by no facts, or logic for that matter. And, with local decisions, lending results is no proof and it’s not even causal.
DeleteAs stated above, Velera offers shared services, such as branches, call centers, and debit/credit card processing, to 4,000 credit unions. In my opinion, SECU's shared services has been on a much smaller scale but more intimate. Velera seems more like outsourcing, 3rd party because of the number of credit unions being served.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the survey results regarding the importance of branches to members. Most banks must have also realized they cannot drop the in-person experience - even though they charge their customers more for those services. I don't know that the current SECU leadership has even pondered reducing, eliminating or charging for in person services, so why even bring it up? Fear that it could happen. Least it is forgotten, banks are for profit with benefits to their shareholders. SECU is not-for-profit with benefits to its member-owners (smiley face).
On a related note, has anybody experienced the new voice response system? Wait times are very high and a good portion of our members are not very happy with the new AI system. The members voice will be on file indefinitely with the information they have provided and I understand this is not even an American company.
ReplyDelete