A Direct Line Blog

According to the CUNA Mutual Group report Addressing Members’ Financial Anxiety During & After COVID-19, it’s been a rough year for consumers financially. That is not news to credit unions. You have been helping your members with loan modifications, waived fees, and more since the pandemic began. That help was because you care about them and their financial survival, and it shows!

What might be news to credit unions is how much long-term loyalty you can gain from helping members when they need you most. That comes back to the emotional attachment of being there for members when they are stressed, and making it easy for them to defer a payment, ask for a modification, or be granted relief without jumping through hoops to get it.

As the report concludes, “while it’s unfortunate that many of your members are experiencing elevated levels of financial anxiety, it also represents a tremendous opportunity for credit unions. Credit unions can use moments like these to turn anxiety-provoking situations into positive emotional experiences for their members.”

I would urge you to take the time to read the report and reflect on not only the past year, but the upcoming one. It appears there will continued financial stress, and opportunity to assist those in your member-owned financial cooperative!

And, if you are interested in learning even more about the topic of the member experience and emotional engagement, this 38-minute video is worth a watch.