For as long as I can remember I've kept my wallet in my right back pocket. On the rare occasion that I accidentally stuff it in another pocket (grabbing groceries out of the car, hands full and I shove it in a random pocket) I've felt, well, naked. Every now and then I'll meet up with someone who admonishes me for carrying it there and casually informs me that keeping 32 assorted credit and rewards cards right under my butt will cause massive, irreversible back damage and the next world war.
It's been a week since our whirlwind trip to San Diego for the finals of the 4th annual CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec competition. Each year, we build on the last, making the program tighter and more compelling. I am very proud of this competition and our association with CUES. I feel like we've had a real impact on the industry and the lives of our finalists and winners, plus we've had a ton of fun along the way. What more could you ask for?
I will be the first to say that I give physical branches a pretty bad rap around here. I'm not the hugest fan of them, and I see their usefulness waning as we get more technologically advanced. However, a proposed idea by Bank of America would replace the majority of its tellers with video screens.
The five CUES Next Top Credit Union Exec Finalists will be presenting today in San Diego at the CUES' CEO/Executive Team Network™. Each Finalist will have seven minutes to present the progress or planning of their project or the results gained to date to the judging panel, the conference audience and live to the online audience. After the presentations, the judges will submit their completed score sheets and conference attendees will vote for their favorite Finalist on the spot.
We've all seen it. The credit union commercial that tries juuuuust a little bit too hard to be hip, relying on slang that sounds like a 50-year-old's idea of how kids talk. Or the flyer that attempts to reach out to Gen Y by adopting a too-casual attitude about finances.
In late July, Tim and I attended the National Youth Involvement Board (NYIB) Conference in San Diego. The NYIB focuses on financial education for youth, primarily school-aged kids and teenagers. With Young & Free’s focus on the 18-to-25 age group, it is a natural complement. Tim was brought in to conduct a full-day pre-conference session, "Moving The Young Adult Needle." Attendees learned to connect with young adults and discovered what makes Gen Y and Z tick.
"We're sorry, ma'am," the man in the dark gray suit says morosely. "We've gone over your credit application, and we'd like to approve you, but..." "But what!?" the woman cries out, attracting the attention of the other people in the branch, who are trying their hardest to look without actually appearing to look at the scene unfolding.
This week Facebook announced that they were lifting key restrictions on how contests are run and administered. Previously, the only (legal) way to run a Facebook contest was to create a Facebook tab and have the contest live there. Here are the pertinent details, straight from Facebook.
I've been working with a Filene i3 team on a project we've called the Great Credit Race. I jumped on board to help with the concept and all of the design and web development work because the topic is near and dear to my heart—helping young people establish credit. There's no shortage of information, advice and tools out there to help you improve your credit score, but there is virtually nothing to help you establish credit quickly and effectively.
Earlier this year, we put out a teaser of the Filene Research Institute's i3 innovation community hitting the road. Well, the 17-minute documentary video is now complete. Matt Hawkins and myself filmed it and Matt did a fabulous job with the final edit. Special thanks to Matt Davis, George Hofheimer, Marnie Renteria and Theresa Hilinski for inviting us along for the journey. It was an awesome experience.
