A Direct Line Blog

By Beth Satre

Has your board recently discussed expanding your credit union’s field of membership or adding a new service? Now, thanks to a partnership between Montana’s Credit Unions and CUCollaborate, you have a lot of helpful data at your fingertips – data you can use to research and strategize.

Our New Partner

Founded in 2014, CUCollaborate gives credit unions of all sizes access to data, information, online communities, and software tools that can help them grow, plan, and collaborate. Its first project (funded by a Kickstarter Campaign) was to develop the online tool Credit Union Match, which makes it as easy as possible for consumers to find and join credit unions.

Building on that work, CUCollaborate has gone on to create several online tools focused on credit union fields of membership, including its very helpful Field of Membership Evaluation Tool.

FOM Evaluation Tool

If you’re looking to expand your credit union’s FOM, this interactive, online software will allow you to visualize, experiment, and quickly test numerous plans. The research tool draws on CUCollaborate’s proprietary database and data provided by the NCUA, FDIC, Census Bureau, CDFI, and CFPB. With a few clicks, you can use it to …

• see if a selection would be approved by the NCUA as a community charter, underserved area, or a rural area;
• search for employers by their characteristics like the number of employees, proximity to credit union branches, or whether the employer is already a SEG of another credit union; or
• pinpoint ideal locations for new branches by considering consumer demographics and competitive financial institutions.

But, Wait! There’s More!

CUCollaborate is in the process of building out its online communities, forums, and databases. This will allow credit unions to share ideas, resources, and opportunities and access research, reports, a vendor directory, along with other tools and databases.

To Access CUCollaborate

Because Montana’s Credit Unions is a member, all of our affiliated credit unions can use CUCollaborate. To start, you just need to go to the website, click on the “Login” button, and register as a “new customer.”  Once you’re registered, you can set up your profile and explore CUCollaborate’s research, FOM Analysis Tool, and forums.

Training is Available

If you’re not sure where to start or curious about all that CUCollaborate offers, they are willing to conduct free online training for individuals and groups. Email me at beth@mcun.coop or call me at 406-324-7457 to learn more.