Co-op News September 2019: Agriculture

MEET...
Meet … Brandi
Stankovic of CU
Solutions Group
Dr Brandi Stankovic is strategic advisory services
senior vice president at CU Solutions Group, a
credit union service organisation in the USA. An
executive coach, she works with credit union
executives, touching on issues such as member
satisfaction, strategic thinking and growth. She
also hosts the leadership podcast Strategic Hotbox.
In March she facilitated a townhall consultation
process at the Association of British Credit Unions
(Abcul) conference, looking at the future of the
British movement, and she led sessions at the
recent World Credit Union Conference.
WHEN DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN CREDIT UNIONS?
I’ve been involved in the sector for about 20 years.
I have worked inside a credit union and from a
business partner or supplier perspective; I am
heavily involved in the industry in the USA and
globally, through the World Council of Credit
Unions (Woccu). I really believe in the movement.
ARE THE CHALLENGES FACED BY CREDIT UNIONS
IN THE UK SIMILAR TO THOSE IN THE USA?
There are three main ones. Firstly, in technology
and the impact it has on financial services,
particularly the ability of an institution to leverage
technology, update legacy systems and increase
the literacy of their staff.
The second would be enterprise vs management,
and that’s a broader, more strategic focus of
risk – not just a market risk like liquidity, but
strategic reputation and compliance risk. Those are
overlooked by examiners and can cause the greater
losses to an institution.
The third is governance. Here the challenges
are both internal – from a succession, young
AS AN INDUSTRY,
WE’RE BETTER TOGETHER,
STRONGER TOGETHER
leadership and personal development standpoint –
and strategic, since good governance and structure
is essential for leadership.
I admire what is happening here with Abcul
who organised a townhall to discuss relevance,
purpose, sustainability and co-operation – these
are the keys to success for all credit unions across
the world. I was very thankful to be part of it.
WHAT COULD THE UK SECTOR LEARN FROM THE
USA ON SERVICE ORGANISATIONS?
There is a wide range of what service organisations
can provide and the USA is further down the line in
that. CU Solutions Group is a service organisation,
made up of 100 different investors, credit union
service organisations and credit unions. They
come together in a co-op way to provide, create and
develop leading-edge solutions.
At the most micro level, it could involve a credit
union which happens to be very good at collections;
they could offer those collection services to other
credit unions. At a broader scale, with CU Solutions
we might focus on issues such as technology,
marketing, HR and advisory services.
WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE FOR UK CREDIT UNIONS
THAT ARE CASH-RICH? ARE ANY CREDIT UNIONS
IN THE USA IN SIMILAR POSITIONS?
A greater breath of product service offerings will
strengthen them. My advice would be to educate
the membership on existing offerings, take a look
at the member service experience and make the
22 | SEPTEMBER 2019