The New Year is a perfect opportunity to reassess how your credit union engages with your community and look toward enhancements. While Zogo’s passion is educating, we also love to learn from our users — throughout the year we surveyed our 1.4 million users about what they want to see from financial institutions and worked closely with our focus group of College Student Ambassadors to represent the interests of the next generation. Stay competitive with other financial institutions by employing these 3 key features members want in 2023.

Digital touchpoints for engagement

In this digital age, as the majority of the population become smartphone users, consumers prefer to engage with their favorite brands from the comfort of their mobile devices. Financial institutions are trending in the same direction with the proliferation of mobile banking apps as the preferred experience for customer engagement. This is doubly important for engaging the next generation — according to our Student Ambassadors, 99% of them reported that they would leave a financial institution that doesn’t have a satisfactory mobile presence in favor of something more digitally savvy.

If you haven’t already, it’s time to embrace the digital future by bringing your credit union experience to a mobile banking app. This will increase your accessibility to your current members and draw in the next-gen audiences your credit union needs to continue to thrive. If you already have a mobile presence, stay competitive with other innovative financial providers by integrating additional features and services to enhance the experience and ensure member retention. That’s where the next two recommendations come into play.

Financial education and empowerment

Financial literacy is the backbone of financial responsibility and prosperity — you can’t win a game if you don’t know the rules. But with the lack of access to equitable financial education at schools or at home, financial literacy rates are plummeting as financial anxiety is on the rise. The key to turning this around is for credit unions to provide financial education to their members, and even their communities at large.

2023 is also the perfect time to reinvent and modernize your financial education offerings. Learn from and partner with innovative education providers who understand the techniques of effective financial education, such as employing bite-size lessons, gamification, and an integrated rewards system on a mobile-first experience. Moreover, analyzing the engagement of your education offerings can help you understand your members and customize your services.

Rewards and incentives

Whether it’s in your mobile banking experience, in your financial education, or in your credit union’s loyalty program at large, it’s critical for customer engagement to have a system of incentives. Providing tangible rewards keep the consumer engaged, excited, and always coming back for more. They also help build brand trust and loyalty. Your credit union’s member engagement is sure to blossom by implementing the gamification principles of rewards and incentives.

Implementing these recommendations has never been easier. At Zogo, we offer an award-winning suite of products that satisfy all three. Don’t wait — contact the team here to see how we can help you satisfy your members and innovate in 2023.