Real Solutions - A National Credit Union Foundation Program

Is now the time to hunker down or is now the time to aggressively pursue market share? When asked this question, Laida Garcia, President and CEO of floridacentral Credit Union expressed her views that credit unions that are well-capitalized are in position to aggressively pursue asset and membership growth.

They should be taking advantage where banks have “opened the door for well-positioned credit unions to step in and serve frustrated bank customers.”

Here Laida Garcia shares her point of view and welcomes comments below.

Last week I attended a conference – not a credit union conference – but a financial services conference attended by all different kinds of financial service providers. Payday lenders, check cashers, bankers, regulators, community group, foundations and credit unions all gathered The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) annual conference.

The CFSI is a group that works to “transform underbanked strategy” by “develops and distributes real-world tested research and strategy, provides funding to promising companies, and facilitates cross-sector business collaboration” (quoted from their site).

In short: The conference was fascinating. The talk of the day was prepaid cards as the hottest new financial tool. With me was Field Coach Bill Myers, was kind enough who share his notes…

In support of our video contest, we’ve put together a guide to help you capture member stories on video. And hopefully understanding some video storytelling fundamentals will be useful to you outside of this contest as well.

Click through for highlights from the guide and a link to download the full PDF.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association every American will be affected some way by the foreclosure crisis currently gripping the country. Those already affected and those most likely to be affected are those who took out sub-prime loans. However, as the economic crisis worsens and unemployment increases, some of those in prime mortgages are candidates for possible foreclosure in the near future. Renters are not immune from the crisis as they can also find themselves evicted from properties as owners face foreclosure.

Read our report on how credit unions are helping Members avoid Foreclosure. Download the entire report here

It’s been four days since the kickoff of our REAL Member Stories video contest for REAL Solutions leagues and credit unions, and we’re already excitable in anticipation of what you’ll create.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t worry. There’s still plenty of time to shoot a video that could take you and a member straight to Washington DC.

Click through for the details...