The CU2.0 Podcast

Robert McGarvey
  • 5.0 (10)
  • Non-Profit
  • Updated Weekly

This podcast explores contemporary, critical thinking and issues impacting the nation's credit unions. What do they need to be doing to not just survive but prosper? 

  1. 5d ago

    CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 416 Constant AI's Catherine York Powers on Why You Need to Offer Skip a Pay

    Send us Fan Mail Call this a case of two scenarios. Here’s the background: a member calls and requests to skip a payment on a loan balance.  The loan term will simply extend by a month, interest continues to be collected, and there’s a fee - usually between $15 and $60 - for setting up the skipped payment. In scenario 1 the customer service rep fields the call, talks with the member, checks to see if the member’s request complies with the institution's guidelines, and also checks to see if there are issues that disqualify this member from skipping a payment.  If all’s a go, the rep takes the request to a manager, and the request then circulates up the ladder until it lands on the CEO’s desk for final approval.  That’s for, say, a $200 loan skip. In scenario 2, an agentic AI bot talks with the member, swiftly computes the eligibility, and if it’s a go, the request is approved. Which scenario do you like? Know that in many credit unions scenario 1 prevails and don’t even attempt to calculate the cost of approving that skip a pay request because, often, it costs more than the amount skipped. Many institutions lose money every time they approve a skip a pay request. Of course enabling skip a pay is a genuine credit union action. This is helping the members who really need it. Very few banks offer skip a pay because of the costs and the hassle. But more credit unions now are offering and one reason why - in addition to the affordability issues confronting many households - is that Maine based fintech Constant AI has rolled out an agent that already is at work in dozens of credit unions including $8.5 billion Michigan State University Federal Credit Union.  And institutions as small as $100 million in assets also deploy it. On the show is Constant AI CEO and founder Catherine York Powers, a native Mainer who, when Powers finally could, moved her company to her home state and that is why Constant AI is based there. Listen up. Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com     And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.     Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

  2. Jul 29

    CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 415 O2 Consulting Group's Bonnie Ortiz on Really Putting AI to Work in Your Credit Union

    Send us Fan Mail The headline on the CUInsight story grabbed my attention: AI for credit unions: Making “people-first” work even better. The author, Bonnie Ortiz, has also been a CU 2.0 Podcast guest before so I wanted to get her back on. Ortiz is the founder of 02 Consulting Group and, earlier in her career, she was the long serving COO at The Partnership Credit Union. She’s a level headed expert on matters credit union and, in today’s AI froth, a voice that’s rooted in credit union realities is refreshing. In her CUInsight piece, she lays out three steps for implementing and getting results from AI initiatives in credit unions. Her counsel is practical, realistic and, let’s be honest, too many credit unions think they are getting started in AI but many are at best dabbling and can point to scant actual results. Ortiz talks in detail in the show about the three steps.  Take notes.  You are going to want to heed her counsel. Listen up. Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com     And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.     Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

  3. Jul 27

    CU 2.0 Podcast Kirk Drake's New CUSO Bringing AI to Credit Unions

    Send us Fan Mail What do we do next? That’s a question heard in most credit union executive suites and boardrooms and what it is focused on is AI. Artificial intelligence suddenly has become the tech that matters among credit unions but there’s just one problem: few actually have concrete ideas about how and where to use AI. Enter Kirk Drake, CEO of the digital consultancy CU 2.0, author of the 2020 book FINANCIAL which put an early spotlight on AI and credit unions.  He now has joined with Tansley Stearns, CEO of Orsa Credit Union, a $1.47 billion institution, to create a CUSO with a singular focus of helping credit unions adopt AI tools and put them to meaningful, good uses.   The CUSO already is working with 10+ credit unions, says Drake, who expects the total to hit 20 by year-end.  Sizes range from around $500 million in assets  to $7 billion.   A key is that the CUSO already has developed a range of AI tools that are available for members to use - and it also provides coaching on how best to put the tools to use. Here’s the reality: the advent of AI may turn into an extinction event for many credit unions.  But it doesn’t have to be that way. Indeed AI has the potential to help credit unions of all sizes to match the efficiencies of even the biggest banks.  It’s potentially a great equalizer.  The key is getting credit unions up and running with AI and Drake’s team has accepted this mission. In the show he tells in some detail what credit unions can expect - and how to prosper with AI in hand. Listen up. Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com     And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.     Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

  4. Jul 22

    CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 414 Student Choice CUSO Introduces Employer Choice Small Dollar Loans for Employees

    Send us Fan Mail The Student Choice CUSO, built around student loans, is expanding and now has introduced a program that will enable credit unions to issue small dollar, emergency loans to members with no credit check. These are not payday loans.  Interest rates are capped at 18% per NCUA policies. How can this be?  On the show is Scott Patterson, ceo of Student Choice, and the episode starts with a view into the current state of student loans and the big changes that are transforming the market. But Patterson came on the show to talk up the new Employer Choice program that will enable credit unions to make small dollar loans to employees of SEGs and to do so with little risk. What kind of voodoo is this? Patterson explains and it’s definitely not voodoo.The key is that the lending is tied into the employee’s payroll system.  Yes, there is no credit check but “instead [there are] employment-based underwriting factors, including job tenure, income stability, and employer characteristics.” Patterson elaborates on this in the show. The first credit union up with Employer Choice is Affinity Plus Credit Union in Minnesota which, Patterson indicated,has started by offering the program to its own employees. Other credit unions, says Patterson, want to start by offering the program to SEGs who will set this up as an employee benefit.  So, says Patterson, this has the potential to become a new member acquisition tool. Remember this: estimates are that half of American families do not have $1000 on hand for emergencies.  A friction-free emergency loan program just might be the life raft many families need and, says Patterson, credit unions can play a big part in helping out those families in need - and doing so at small risk and also low interest rates. Listen up. Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com     And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.     Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

  5. Jul 15

    CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 413 Making Video Magic with Storyfi, the New CUSO of the Year

    Send us Fan Mail Meet Storyfi - the NACUSO New CUSO of the Year for 2026.   When I saw the press release I had to get Nick Olexa, CEO of Storyfi, a Michigan based CUSO owned by six Michigan credit unions. What Storyfi is doing is important - it’s harnessing video to help credit unions tell their stories and it’s working within credit union budgets. That matters because, nowadays,  video is the globe’s communication tool of choice.  Whether it’s a 7 second video on Facebook or a 3 hour video on Netflix, video genuinely is how the world tells and communicates its stories and, frankly, credit unions had been lagging at this. An upshot is that, in the main, credit union marketing has been blah. Storyfi’s purpose is to reverse that reality.  To really get credit union stories told well. Understand: every credit union has a story.  So does every CUSO.  Most of the stories revolve around solving problems and, often, working through adversities.  So these are good, compelling, human stories.  And in video they shine. Since its 2023 founding, Storyfi has worked with around 140 organizations to tell their stories. On the show, Olexa tells Storyfi’s origin story, the kinds of videos it creates for customers, and why all this really matters in thinking of the credit union future. Listen up. Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com     And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.     Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

  6. Jul 13

    CU 2.0 Podcast Newsflash: Is Now the Time for the Safe Banking Act to Become Law

    Send us Fan Mail Is the country finally ready for a safe banking act that in effect legalizes cannabis businesses at the federal level? In recent years multiple bills doing essentially that were passed by the House of Representatives only to be buried in a Senate committee that never reported it out for a floor vote. There’s a new House bill in play and this time may be the charm, says Terry Mendez, CEO of Safe Harbor and a past podcast guest.  Safe Harbor has provided the tools credit unions to offer cannabis banking services since it opened in 2015.   According to Safe Harbor, the current bill would: Bar federal banking regulators from prohibiting or discouraging banks from serving state-legal cannabis businessesBar regulators from terminating or limiting a bank's deposit insurance because it serves a cannabis clientCreate a safe harbor from criminal prosecution, liability, and asset forfeiture for banks and their officers/employees serving legitimate state-sanctioned cannabis businesses, while preserving banks' right to decline that businessExtend protection to ancillary businesses serving cannabis operators, including lawyers, landlords, and vendors By the way, the American Banking Association has come out in support of the act.  In a letter to Senate leaders ABA said the bill would “provide important legal and regulatory clarity” and “address a significant challenge facing American businesses, our communities, and the banks that serve them.” On the show Mendez elaborates on why he believes the bill has a good chance of becoming law. Listen up. Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com     And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.     Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

  7. Jul 8

    CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 412 Jack Henry and SELCO on Fraud Trends You Need to Know Today

    Send us Fan Mail Title this show everything you need to know about fraud today but have been afraid to ask. Start with this: Fraud is big and getting bigger. That is the worrisome message delivered by Rene Perez, a fraud expert with Jack Henry, and seconded by Stephanie Ziegler, director of financial investigations at SELCO, a $2.8 billion credit union headquartered in Oregon. Perez is on the show to discuss Jack Henry’s new Financial Crimes Defender tool and Ziegler and SELCO are early adopters and she tells why. Much of the show is devoted to discussing trends in financial institution fraud - and the criminals just keep getting slicker and more sophisticated. Credit unions can - and are - successfully fighting back but a key realization is accepting that the fraud tactics keep changing. Nowadays, for instance, a huge problem, said Perez, is that criminal organizations are seeking to implant crooked employees in financial institutions and fintechs.  Perez and Ziegler discuss their organizations’ defenses against this. Another mushrooming trend: account takeovers are epidemic. The bottomline reality: fraud is an immense problem for all credit unions - and what you don’t know can indeed hurt you. Listen up. Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com     And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.     Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

  8. Jul 1

    CU 2.0 Podcast Episode 411 Travis Credit Union CEO Kevin Miller on Why Bankers Make Good CU CEOs

    Send us Fan Mail Can a banker successfully transition into a senior role in a credit union?   Can a credit union deploy a financial wellness initiative that also works as a competitive edge in marketing? Kevin Miller, CEO of $5.7 billion Travis Credit Union in Northern California, is on the show today and he is guilty of that banking background but he has logged 4+ years as Travis CEO. And he also strongly believes that not only are financial wellness initiatives a key part of a credit union’s doing good in its communities, they also are a competitive edge against both mega banks and community banks. As for Miller’s past work experience, he logged 4+ years at regional bank TCF as EVP of retail banking, 2 years at Santander, 4 years at BMO, and 6 years at Bank of America. A stint at a fintech rounded out his background. In the show he explains why he jumped into a credit union and why hiring bankers is good business for a credit union. Listen up.  Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com     And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.     Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

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About

This podcast explores contemporary, critical thinking and issues impacting the nation's credit unions. What do they need to be doing to not just survive but prosper? 

Information

  • Creator
    Robert McGarvey
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    520
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The CU2.0 Podcast
  • Show Website
    The CU2.0 Podcast