White Paper: Best Practices in CU Efficiency Posted by AVCU on 9:40 AM

CUNA's Community Credit Union Committee today released the first in a series of four complimentary white papers. The first release is titled Best Practices in Credit Union Efficiency, which details cost structure benchmarks and current best practices for community credit unions that are operating in an environment filled with anxiety, guarded optimism and pure exhaustion from the tolls of the "Great Recession."

The release of the white paper comes at a critical time. The mandate for improved efficiencies in community credit unions is clearly supported by industry data. Roughly 2,000 of the 8,000 credit unions nationwide have community powers, and there are noticeable differences in the expense and revenue structures of these institutions. For community credit unions, improving profitability and protecting net worth in the years ahead will require a laser focus on ongoing tenacity around efficiency improvement.

Best Practices in Credit Union Efficiency is written to serve as a guide for credit unions looking to improve operating efficiencies. The white paper focuses on how community credit unions can generate adequate returns by:

• Setting high‐level objectives as part of the strategic planning process
• Utilizing benchmarking data to assess efficiency across all areas of the credit union and report these measurements regularly
• Setting accountabilities and incentives around efficiency improvement at all levels of the credit union
• Establishing a culture of continuous process improvement to drive new efficiencies with disciplined project management
• Leveraging growing self service channels (phone, Web, mobile, cards) to deliver financial services in a less labor‐intensive manner and actively manage channel delivery costs
• Utilizing sophisticated data mining and contextual marketing strategies to lower the cost of member acquisition, cross sell and retention
• Developing stronger profitability reporting information at the branch, product and member level and drive management decisions around this profitability information.

The CUNA Community Credit Union Committee was formed in 2006 to provide support for the growing group of community credit unions. The committee's purpose is to support and service community credit unions and credit unions considering a community charter through: representation of community credit unions' unique legal, legislative and regulatory needs; and education, resources and information.

Download a complimentary copy of Best Practices in Credit Union Efficiency.