Send us a text

Credit unions, most of them, want more small business loans on their books but few credit unions know how to speedily and profitably process small business loan applications and consequently most are lagging when it comes to booking business.

Meet Alex McLeod, a serial startup entrepreneur who now is tackling thee small business loan market with AI powered software that her company, Parlay Financial, is now selling to credit unions.

Her key message: succeeding in the small business marketplace requires the ability to offer fast verdicts on a loan app - same day preferably. And because many of these loans are small, machines have to carry a lot of the load.

The rest of her message is that the technology to enable all this is at hand. ANd that’s the game changer that just may help many credit unions to finally succeed at small business lending.

Heads up: the show begins with around five minutes where we learn Alex;s journey to now and Parlay Financial. Most of these shows have similar chat at the beginning but usually that winds up on the cutting room floor. Not this time. You’ll know why when you hear this story.

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

Send us a text

On the show today is Peter Rice, CEO of Hanscom Federal Credit Union, a $1.9 billion institution headquartered in Boston that took flight in 1951 at Hanscom Air Force Base.

Rice is a repeat guest. His first appearance came in 2021 when he was Chief Banking Officer at Workers Bank. That episode has been reposted as Greatest Hit #25.

On this show Rice’s mind roams across the many issues credit unions are now wrestling with - the possible loss of the federal income tax exemption, possible changes at NCUA in the DOGE restructuring of Washington DC, the retirement of America's Credit Union’s CEO Jim Nussle, Hanscom's acquisition of The People’s Bank (Mayland), pending regulatory approval, and a new WealthTrek facility in Government Center, Boston that is reimagining banking today and tomorrow.

But there’s more. We also talk about Rice’s walks on the Camino de Santiago, where he has three times earned a compostela, a certificate of completion, and he muses about writing a management book about the Camino. By the way your podcast host has earned two Camino compostelas, in separate walks.

And there’s even a detour into the political history of Ireland, where Rice grew up.

This is a show with lots to unpack.

Listen up. And listen again.

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

Send us a text

Welcome to the cU 2.0 Podcast Greatest Hits #25. This show dates back to August 2021 and it aired as episode 162. The guest: Peter Rice, now CEO of Hanscom Federal Credit Union, and then he was Chief Banking Officer at Workers Credit Union. He came on the show to talk about a new, dazzling branch concept.

You’ll hear how Rice’s mind works in the show.

And a few days after the posting of this Great Hit a new episode with Rice will post where his mind roams among the hot topics in credit unions today.

If Joyce’s Dubliners is a prequel to Ulysses, this podcast is a prequel to Wednesdays. Listen up.

Send us a text

I’d expected this to be an AI free show but, let’s face it, that just isn’t likely in 2025 but the good news is that in the show Pete Major, vice president of fintech services at CUSO MDT, offers concrete AI use cases at work in MDT and he also, importantly, offers cautions about security and the leading AI tools.

In a rush to stay abreast of the fast moving AI universe are some credit unions losing sight of the need to be very sure of the security of the tools they use? Maybe.

Major provides tips on how to stay secure while still using AI tools..

But there’s a lot more in this show.

We talk for instance about the need of CUs to keep security in mind when using any technology tools. If there are flaws - and there have been some doozies in recent years - it’s the credit union that will be saddled with the bulk of the blame.

On a happier note Major discusses a suite of tools for small business members at credit unions - and, he says, demand for the tools is very hot. Is offering good tools a path to winning more business members? Just maybe.

We close the show pondering what the developments in Washington DC - anything from an end to credit union tax exemption to an end to NCUA - might mean for credit unions and also the rising CU interest in merging.

There’s a lot to unpack in this show.

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

Send us a text

Quick now, what is NACUSO?

Of course that’s the National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations - and CUSOs just may be the credit union secret power.

On the show today is Seth Brickman, former CEO of QCash and now president of Ranqx, a powerful tool that can gather the necessary financial info from a wouldbe borrower, analyze and issue a verdict on a business loan application in a matter of minutes.

A typical credit union would take a couple weeks to get to that verdict - which, by the way, is “no” in two out of three cases.

Brickman is a credit union true believer and he especially believes that credit unions have the pole position in lending to small businesses in their community - if they also have the right tools and process automation.

On the show Brickman tells how Ranqx works - and it is already working at credit unions including MSU Federal Credit Union and also at CUSOs.

Which brings us back to the question that opens the show: Does NACUSO matter?

Brickman has a passionate answer and - spoiler alert - probably you can guess it.

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

Send us a text

Hopeful.

Determined.

In a conversation with Renee Sattiewhite, the CEO of the African American Credit Union Coalition, she came across as both hopeful and determined. And she believes there still is work to be done and she definitely is not giving up.

Definitely she knows the landscape in today’s Washington DC is dramatically different but she does not see that as a call for waving the white flag of surrender.

Along the way you’ll hear mentions of some of the great heroes of AACUC such as Bill Porter and Bert Hash Jr. and Bill Bynum. But you’ll also hear the names of many very successful women.

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus said you can’t step into the same river twice, change is our constant. So it definitely is today and Renee Sattirewhite is determined to contribute her views on the kinds of changes we need to be making.

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

Send us a text

On today’s show, Mac Thompson, ceo and founder of White Clay - a company focused on helping financial institution use data to build better, more profitable member and customer relationships, and he comes bearing a bitter pill for CU execs to swallow.

According to a recent Harris Poll sponsored by White Clay, “Roughly two-thirds of FI users (68%) do not feel truly known by their primary financial institution, with almost a third (31%) feeling like just another account number..”

Surely credit unions, which pride themselves on their member relationships, do better?

Yes but hold your self congratulations. The number for credit unions is 63%, said Thompson in the show.

It gets worse: 41% of members say they would switch FIs if another institution offered more personalized financial guidance.

But Thompson also has good news: institutions can harness data, data they often already have on hand, to enrich their personal relations with members. He discusses this in detail.

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

Send us a text

What’s next for WOCCU?

Is there a next?

The trigger for the question is a notification from the U.S. State Department that paused all funding for USAID programs for 90 days. There’s no promise that funding would resume after 90 days.

Caught in this are three major WOCCU projects - in Ukraine, Ecuador and Peru, and sub-Saharan Africa.

That background is why we knew we had to schedule a call with WOCCU to learn what’s happening and what the future is.

On the podcast are Paul Andrews, WOCCU VP of International Advocacy and Erin O’Hern, WOCCU International Advocacy and Regulatory Counsel.

This show is surprisingly upbeat, despite the profound uncertainty about the future of USAID monies.

WOCCU still has plenty of good works to do and that it believes it can continue doing.

You’ll also hear how you can help WOCCU now.

Listen up.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast. 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