Filene Research Institute

Today’s episode is very special – we have a guest on that is well known in the financial world from a national media stage -- and we are unpacking everything about a new, highly valuable Filene member benefit offered through a new partnership between Filene and HerMoney. Jean Chatzky is a former financial editor of NBC’s TODAY Show, bestselling author, award-winning personal finance journalist and advisor to major media companies & financial firms across the country. The company Jean founded, called HerMoney, makes one of the country’s leading taboos – talking about money-- more accessible, educational and fun, because of how they have figured out how to meet people where they are with the financial content they want. Helping people connect, learn and take action on their finances with confidence is the winning strategy that enabled the company to gain more than 550,000 followers on social media, more than 250,000 podcast listens a month, 2 million annual website visitors, and more than 100,000 newsletter

Sarah Lietz, Chief Experience Officer, MDC and Christie Kimbell, Chief Product Officer, Filene Research Institute provide insights and updates on what is happening in the most innovative pockets of the credit union and financial services space today and how growth-minded leaders can take advantage of innovative ideas to gain a new POV in 2023. In this episode, we dig into their decades of exploration into learning, growing and keeping up with innovation personally, professional and organizationally. Here are a few highlights on the insights they share: Tip 1 – it’s okay to have help when things are overwhelming -- credit unions swim in a collaborative community and innovation support is out there for you if you want it. Our networks are our secret weapons to make our work better, faster and easier. Tip 2 – it’s a mindset flip to move to thinking about your services embedded into experiences instead of spaces. Start envisioning your financial products serving moments. Tip 3 – jump in and explore somethi

Today’s conversation is about Financial Well Being… well actually to be more specific, financial well being for all. For a substantial portion of households, day-to-day financial struggles remain profound in the face of persistent financial fragility and inequity. According to the Financial Health Network’s U.S. Financial Health Pulse, 2 out of 3 Americans are not financially healthy and stark disparities remain across gender, race/ethnicity, and income. This is not new information, and it is frustrating to feel like this persistent problem will only continue to persist or worsen in today’s social, economic and political environment. But there are things that credit unions can do and are doing to make a difference in people’s lives, one member at a time. Putting this consumer sentiment at the center of credit union decision-making and product and service delivery not only supports a credit union’s business goals and mission around advancing financial health and well-being through responsible lending produc

Today’s conversation is about innovation. I know, right. Innovation this, innovation that, everyone is saying the word innovation so much, it's like the center square on a corporate jargon bingo card. But here’s the thing: Jeffrey Robinson, Fellow for Filene’s Center of Excellence for Innovation and Incubation tells credit unions “If we don’t innovate, we die.” So, if it’s here to stay, and we do have to innovate – not just say that we are innovating -- what does that actually look like? We put that question out to our most innovative credit union connections, the members of our i3 program. Earlier this year, they were tasked to scan the entire credit union environment and bring back the best innovations they saw happening. In the end, 36 i3ers on 8 teams picked their best finds and put them to the test. They presented on why what they found was the most innovative thing around and we asked you all to vote. After more than 1200 votes were cast, one innovation had the most votes – nearly 40% of the votes,

Let’s take a trip back in time to big.bright.minds 2021 where we ran into a very enthusiastic supporter of the Filene i3 program – Randy Stolp. Now, Randy promised he had a very unique and interesting story about how he came to be part of i3 and he definitely delivered. But before we get to that…let’s look back in time again, this time if we look ALL the way back in history, we see the organizations that implement innovations are the ones that succeed. But to be that kind of organization, we need to grow and develop innovative people. This is exactly what Randy is doing, and he serves as a model for not only how organizations can develop their people but how individuals can take hold of their own destiny, push out of their comfort zone and get there even faster. Filene’s latest edition of The Asterisk magazine is all about Innovation & Incubation. For more on innovating out of the comfort zone, check out The Asterisk Vol. 9 on Filene’s website at filene.org/theasterisk. In it, you will learn how Filene Fe

Today’s conversation is one you’ve likely thought about before if you work in the credit union industry -- we’re talking about credit unions and cryptocurrencies. The purpose of this conversation is to enlighten our credit union listeners to what they need to know about the current state of digital assets and cryptocurrencies, what risks and opportunities exist, what credit unions are doing now, and what it might look like on the horizon. This is a special conversation however, because we’re not just talking about it in hypotheticals and theories. We’ll start with one of the world’s leading experts in the topic, researcher Quinn DuPont, talking about how the pandemic changed the crypto landscape, advice for credit unions getting into crypto and more. We’re also lucky to have two credit union cryptocurrency practitioners -- Cynthia Schroeder and Joe Keller from Visions FCU--talking about what they’ve been up to in the space, and where they’re taking it next in support of their credit union’s strategies, gro

1 in 5 credit union members report that they would be willing to leave their credit union for a bank if innovation was not a priority. If you’re a regular listener of this podcast, you know that we often bring our research fellows on so that you have a chance to hear directly from them, get to know a little more about the work they are doing and learn about the focus of the research centers they lead. In March, we officially launched our 6th and final research center of excellence on credit union innovation and incubation. This center studies current trends for how credit unions can respond to members’ desire for greater financial service innovations that meet their evolving needs and preferences. It also explores the general state of innovation across the credit union system. To help credit unions succeed in building cultures, processes and systems for innovation, Filene has enlisted Dr. Jeffrey Robinson, Associate Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship and Academic Director of the Center for Urban

Last fall, Filene launched a new research center to focus on the power of credit unions’ social and community impact — not only to explore the way that this type of work being done by credit unions, if strategically maximized, partnered and amplified, has potential to significantly and positively transform entire communities, but also to explore the way that, through putting a focus on making transformative change for those they serve, credit unions can rightfully claim a key differentiation point in a crowded financial services space. To move this focus into action, we needed to find exactly the right person to lead the work. This is where Dr. Mai Nguyen comes into the Filene picture. Officially, through her role as fellow for the Center for Community Social Impact, Dr. Nguyen seeks to measure and expand credit unions' social impact and help credit unions develop strategic advantages in their communities as they affect long-term positive community transformation. Dr. Nguyen, however, is known to be refres

Data is an amazing thing. It tells us who we are and what we do. And while predicting the choices, preferences and behaviors of one person is nearly impossible, predicting this for many people is a lot easier through the power of data analysis. Once-hidden patterns are revealed, structure emerges, and our data becomes our vision into the future. If you were told that 4 out of every 10 members will have an interest in product X after they use product Y, would this be valuable information to have? While generally interesting, it’s more than a headline that gets article clicks. We’re able to use data analytics to make decisions in our strategies that will give us more of what we want and less of what we don’t want. Think about the time and money saved alone in better targeted marketing campaigns. It’s undeniable that successful data analytics can create immense value for your organization. This power though, like any other, can be used for the good of many or exploited for the good of few. This is why there

So much has turned uncertain about our world this year – one thing that helps in times of uncertainty is to stay focused in the realm of what we can control. And while we can’t control the future, there is a trick that does give us a bit of control over the shape the future will be in. When we act in good faith to the question of “How can I become a good ancestor?” we start to behave in a way that helps us set the stage for the best future for those who will exist in that future. And in that way, we realize we do have control over what the future will be. We have a lot of opportunities before us, personally and professionally, to be part of that stage setting. One opportunity that we’ll be focusing on in today’s podcast is through Filene’s i3 program. In case you’re not familiar with it, Filene i3 is a two-year innovation leadership program and community equipping top credit union professionals with the mindset, tools and network to lead and shape the future. Through this cohort-based program, participa

We’ve witnessed how much of our societal and economic infrastructure has failed--or is brought to the precipice of failure--with any amount of stress put on it over the last handful of months. Smart organizations right now are looking for ways to infuse innovation into their very DNA: their organizational culture – and create solutions to the most pressing needs of their customers, while energizing their leaders and teams. I wanted to learn more about how an organization gets there – how they shift their organizational culture to be one where innovation is fundamentally centered – and I know no better resource on the topic than my friend and colleague at Filene, Erin Coleman. Erin is Filene’s Senior Director of Advisory Services and has a long history of working with credit unions. What follows is a wide-ranging discussion on why innovation matters in tried-and-true business like financial services, how an organization becomes innovative--the real kind, not just the buzzwordy use of it on websites and i

In this episode, we introduce you to our newest Filene Fellow for the Center of Excellence for Consumer Financial Lives in Transition. Dr. Lisa Servon is the Kevin and Erica Penn Presidential Professor and Chair of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design. The Center for Consumer Financial Lives in Transition studies the changing financial lives and livelihoods of consumers, new forms of economic struggle and financial fragility, and how these changes impact the North American credit union system. As Lisa shares in this interview -- "The work from this center will help credit unions serve people facing different kinds of transitions – income volatility, retirement, physical health and inequalities. If we can understand the frequency of these kinds of transitions and when people are going through them, we may be able to help alleviate the financial burdens that have been historically created.” One thing of note about this interview – we recorded this in

This episode brings you insights from Filene Fellow Huggy Rao, professor of organizational behavior and human resources at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Huggy will make you see the link between what you do and the way you do it, and your performance outcomes. Huggy isn’t your typical professor, you will be well entertained by his colorful language and metaphors throughout. Get inspired by his recommendation to strengthen your help muscle more than your sell muscle. As he said, when you lead with the help muscle by setting up the incentives, culture, and organizational design right, you’ll make your employees feel physically and psychologically safe and your members feel like you acknowledge and care about their best interests. Do as Huggy suggests, and use this as an opportunity and not a threat. Filene is having a virtual event on June 16-17 to explore and unpack Huggy's research on organizational effectiveness and excellence. If you’re listening to this before then, please be sure you’re regist

In a public health crisis, timely, reliable and trustworthy information is critical to safeguarding people’s health and well-being. Unfortunately, the widespread adoption of digital media and information technologies today has made it easier and faster to produce, disseminate, and be exposed to false or manipulated content, from simple misinformation to conspiracy theories to hate speech. Our research fellow for the center of excellence for emerging technology, Bill Maurer of UC-Irvine has professed through his work with us that credit unions have a great role to play in lessening consumer anxieties by reassuring their members, fighting to protect their communities, and making wise decisions about our future. Bill returns to another episode of our podcast with Taylor and I, in which we are most fortunate to be joined by Dr. Joan Donovan -- Director of the Technology and Social Change Research Project at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. In this episode

On January 13, 2020, Filene officially launched our new Center of Excellence for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, led by Dr. Quinetta Roberson of Villanova University. Hear directly from Quinetta in this episode about the work she will be doing, why she feels this research – specifically looking at the interactions between the concepts of diversity, equity and inclusion separately and together -- is so groundbreaking not only for credit unions but for all businesses, and how she came to find her passion for being a researcher and teacher. The DEI research center is a five-year project aimed to explore DEI opportunities and challenges for credit unions to better serve their members and attract, retain, and develop top talent. The outputs will build on the credit union system's DEI foundation to conduct applied research to help the industry understand how to leverage diversity, equity, and inclusion to create business value and drive performance. We couldn’t be more excited to get to know a bit more abou

How can credit unions in the 21st century deliver the best member experience? At the start of each year, Filene takes a moment’s pause to reflect and speak to our local credit union community to share the latest insights from our research and incubation, and examine the changes we see on the horizon. This year, we share our newest and emerging research on member experience, service excellence and digital transformation, because for the first time ever, banks are scoring higher on customer satisfaction than credit unions. For the credit union of the 21st century to not only survive, but thrive, it is vital to understand what the research shows are the best ways to win on experience. You’re about to hear from Filene’s Chief Research and Development Officer, George Hofheimer with an overview on the importance of aligning on the right data to establish a member satisfaction baseline; how to target members and build a value proposition designed specifically for them; and why you might want to leverage operati

For this first episode in 2020 of our podcast, I asked Filene’s entire research team to reflect back and pick what they saw as the most essential research insight from our 2019 library. Then I asked each to give a preview of one report they are excited about sharing with you all in the year ahead. The team shared insights about the importance of your employee’s financial well-being; smart strategies for serving independent workers with the specific financial products they need; how to provide affordable and responsible funding, services, and support to small businesses and entrepreneurs; design principles that result in user friendly fintech apps and happier, financially fitter members; primary research findings from our member experience report series and the unexpected value proposition of employee turnover. Links below. Throughout 2020, look out for more research and innovation opportunities for your organization to better understand and serve the financial needs of underserved and vulnerable household

Join us for a special episode in the podcast studio to get to know Filene Fellow for the Center of Excellence for the War for Talent, Sekou Bermiss! We start with a discussion on the work he’s doing as the lead researcher for the Center. Sekou explains the complexities behind how we know that people are a business’ most critical resource, but yet, finding, hiring and retaining top talent remains a critical obstacle for most organizations. In order to truly start at the start to address this issue, Sekou decided to spend the first couple of years focused on the attraction side of the equation. He sought to discover how credit unions can better attract top talent and has put a lot of thought and research into this issue for credit unions. Throughout the conversation, Sekou educates us on why attraction of top talent is such a big challenge, what might be the benefits of employee turnover, and how organizations should, and should not, be targeting the different generations. Then, we have a chance to learn ho

The US economy has been humming along for more than a decade with unemployment at historical lows, but unfortunately those numbers only tell a part of the story. One in five American households has zero or negative wealth making it difficult to affordably borrow, make consistent loan payments and build strong credit. In an effort to help credit unions deliver scalable, cost-effective and impactful lending options to members, Filene partnered with CMFG Ventures this summer to launch the FinTech Catalyst Incubator to identify, test and scale promising concepts that could make a difference by helping credit unions innovate, grow, and lift their members’ financial well-being. Learn more here: https://filene.org/do-something/programs/fintechcatalyst Concepts selected to be tested in the Incubator are tested by a group of up to 12 credit unions of varying asset sizes, locations, and consumer demographics for approximately six months. During this time, participating credit unions will offer their members the new

Earlier this summer, Filene held a research event focused on creating exceptional member experiences by redesigning organizations from a perspective of both the inside out and the outside in – meaning looking at how your credit union operates and how various internal teams and systems interact, AND looking at how member experiences in turn, inform your operating structure. We were excited to share Filene Fellow for the Center for Organizational Entrepreneurship Dennis Campbell’s latest research report on Member Experience and Service Excellence. Today, we are even more excited to share Part 2 of the report! So, if member experience is core to your credit union’s strategy, or re-assessing your strategy is a key initiative for your organization this year, then you'll want to look at both those reports: Part 1: filene.org/476 Part 2: filene.org/488 Accompanying each of those reports, you will get a facilitation guide and agenda for a team workshop on enhancing your member experience – with Part 1 -- and Id