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Filene partners with Pocketnest to offer credit union access to test fintech app with members
This was originally posted to CUToday
The 17 credit unions and three system organizations that currently make up The Lab at Filene will begin testing four concepts in 2023 designed to “grow the bottom line of credit unions and create a deeper impact on credit union members,” according to the organization.
According to Filene, the organizations with which it is partnering to leverage its strengths and create “new opportunities for credit unions to engage, test and learn include:
Bank-Fund Staff Federal Credit Union
Chartway Federal Credit Union
Community Financial Credit Union
Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC)
Elements Financial Federal Credit Union
ELGA Credit Union
Farmers Insurance Group Federal Credit Union
Financial Plus Credit Union
Logix Federal Credit Union
Michigan State University Federal Credit Union
Municipal Credit Union
Origence
Royal Credit Union
Truliant Federal Credit Union
Unitus Community Credit Union
University Credit Union
Verity Credit Union
Visa
Visions Federal Credit Union
Westerra Credit Union
Filene said three spots remain for credit unions to become a Lab sponsor and to “join their innovative peers finding solutions to the largest challenges to growth and impact.”
“Credit unions face a wave of challenges and opportunities and are constantly wrestling with which ones they should be putting their resources toward to grow and increase their impact,” said Filene Senior Director of Incubation Josh Sledge. “In the spirit of cooperation, The Lab at Filene brings sponsors together to better understand what works and what doesn’t, and then builds frameworks for others to apply learnings across the entire credit union industry.”
The Four Ideas
As CUToday.info reported earlier, in August Filene hosted its first-ever Lab Symposium in Visa’s San Francisco innovation center, where it set its 2023 testing agenda. Filene said the Lab is now transitioning to the next phase and will begin running tests in January on four solution ideas that garnered the most interest from The Lab’s participants.
Those four ideas include efforts to:
To address the challenge of differentiation and amplifying the credit union value proposition, including by using subscription-based packaging models and re-thinking physical spaces
To address the challenge of engagement for new and expanded relationships, including using digital engagement for indirect lending, with fintech partner Ignite Sales; and financial wellness as an engagement strategy, with fintech partner Pocketnest.
“As a CUSO, we're deeply connected to credit unions and their pain points, and are committed to helping them grow their business and value—all while bringing their community financial wellness," said Jessica Willis, founder and CEO, Pocketnest. "We're grateful to Filene for helping us reach a broader audience as we scale our team and grow our product to help credit unions boost their digital strategy, reach and engage with millennials, and identify more cross-selling and deposit opportunities."
Technical Assistance Provided
Throughout the testing, Filene said it is providing technical assistance and capacity to help the testing credit unions operationalize and run these pilots. Filene added it will also work alongside Jeffrey Robinson, Filene Fellow for the Center for Innovation & Incubation, to collect insights and share them back out with the industry.
“Through our work with credit unions around the country, we know that when given the opportunity, they provide unparalleled levels of service to their members,” said Whitney Loe, VP strategic sales and partnerships at Ignite Sales. “We are very excited to partner with the Lab at Filene to support credit unions as they leverage digital engagement technology to mine their indirect loan portfolios and build deep direct member relationships.”