Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Why Should SECU Consider Carefully Whether To Offer Commercial/Business Services?

Chick-Fil_A_sign | Plain and Fancy Girl

Maybe for the same reason that Chick-fil-A has chosen not to sell hamburgers!

😎 But "I" like hamburgers (most of us do!). Why can't "I" get what "I" want at Chick-fil-A? Everybody else is doing it!

Well, here are a couple of reasons: 1) "Despite being founded earlier than most of the restaurants on this list [link], Chick-fil-A is a recent addition to the fast-food pantheon [high quality products, but no hamburgers!], and it’s doing very well. "[most highly regarded by the public for service!]

2) "In 2022, revenue for the chain increased by 12.8 percent from a year earlier [growing like crazy w/o hamburgers!], according to Nation’s Restaurant News Top 500 report, and its restaurants make more money per location than any other chain." [makes more money than those who sell hamburgers!]

The SECU leadership team has created an illusion that there is a strong demand from SECU members for business/commercial services. Believe the ELT's (Executive Leadership Team's) "plucked-from-the-air" estimate for potential demand is @ 40,000 members. The only apparent source for this estimate is that smirking, "raise-your-hand" Fireside Chat survey conducted on stage by our former CEO: 

 

 It is also concerning that neither the ELT, nor the SECU Board has yet to describe and define what "business/commercial services" will actually mean at the credit union.  What products and services are actually being considered? What type of accounts, what type of support services, what type of loans? Any limits on loans? Risk-based pricing? Example of rates/fees to be charged?? Only in North Carolina or nationwide? Does the Board intend to let any business in the State/Country join the credit union?

😎 Didn't the SECU Board drop the successful "Tax Prep Service" because "only 100,000" SECU members were using the service?

Doesn't Chick-fil-A realize there is a "hamburger desert" in North Carolina out there around the Great Smoky Mountain Nat'l Park and the Dismal Swamp?