The Decision Maker

As the next generation begins making financial decisions, credit unions will be able to comfort them with data- and analytics-driven product recommendations.

In the realm of financial institutions, the credit union still offers more than its competition. Whereas credit unions were hampered by limited technological options in the past, new developments in data collection, integrations, and analytics are helping them compete with banks.

Recently, my wife and I were shopping for a mattress. We began the process by “trying out” mattresses by how they felt. My wife thought she preferred firm mattresses, while I thought I preferred soft ones. As we tried mattress after mattress, my wife would ask me, “what do you think about this one,” to which I would usually reply, “It feels pretty good to me.” We became frustrated by our search until we found a mattress store that comforted us with data.

The mattress store (Becker Furniture World) is locally owned with only 8 locations (does this sound familiar to your credit union?). They approached mattress shopping from a data-driven way. By using an analytic data model (developed by Sleep to Live Institute), they are using analytics to aid customers in their mattress investments through data sensors and user input. The data comforted us enough that we decided to purchase one of the mattresses it recommended.

Data Acquisition from Users

When we walked into the Becker Furniture World, it was different than all the other mattress stores. There was a futuristic-looking canopy near the front of the store. We asked a store associate what the machine was and were informed that it collected data from our bodies and sleeping patterns to recommend the best mattresses. Before entering the contraption, we entered in personal data about ourselves using ranges for age, weight, and height, along with other qualitative data including where we currently have pain and our sleeping preferences.

After entering in our personal data, we both laid down on the bed (hooked up to data sensors). This data was then sent to the Sleep to Live’s data pool, and a report was printed for us. The report displayed statistics about us and recommended mattresses throughout the store.

Leaders and business intelligence at credit unions are putting a tremendous focus on ways to use advanced data analytics to identify trends, detect patterns and glean other valuable findings from the sea of information available to them. Without question, member data is valuable. But the greatest value lies in the ability to empower each line of business to achieve strategic initiatives and performance goals. When this empowerment is coupled with improving member service, a proven, repeatable best practice results.

In the fourth Data Analytics Series BIGcast, From Questions to Answers: Becoming a Data-Driven Organization, John Best speaks with Brewster Knowlton of The Knowlton Group about data-driven decisions, data warehousing and successful data integrations.

The Six Characteristics of a Data-Driven Organization

According to Brewster, there are six characteristics to determine whether your organization is really data-driven:

Credit unions interested in advancing their data analytics efforts will find a wealth of information in a recent article in the McKinsey Quarterly. Simply entitled, “Making Data Analytics Work for You – Instead of the Other Way Around” (Mayhew, Salah, and Williams), the article provides an easy to follow list of steps for any organization to get the most out of their investment in data analytics.

The authors emphasize that improving corporate performance is the only meaningful reason for organizations to pursue data analytics. As a result, they state two important principles:

As the next generation begins making financial decisions, credit unions will be able to comfort them with data-driven product recommendations.

Recently, my wife and I were shopping for a mattress. We began the process by “trying out” mattresses by how they felt. My wife thought she preferred firm mattresses, while I thought I preferred soft ones. As we tried mattress after mattress, my wife would ask me, “what do you think about this one”, in which I would usually reply, “It feels pretty good to me”. We became frustrated by a complicated search for a large budget item until we found a mattress store that comforted us with data. The mattress store (Becker Furniture World) is locally owned with only 8 locations (does this sound familiar to your credit union?). They approached mattress shopping from a data-driven way. By using an analytic data model (developed by Sleep to Live Institute), they are using analytics to aid customers in their mattress investments through data sensors and user input. The data comforted us enough that we decided to purchase one of the mattresses it recommended.

As credit unions continue to invest in analytics solutions, they should focus on the purpose of analytics; Making data-driven decisions to better serve members.

Big data and analytics are a couple of the most used buzzwords throughout the credit union movement.  You can’t avoid these terms no matter where you try to hide. Many vendors promise analytics that will be a panacea to the movement. They continue to make bold claims that are sure to perk an executive’s ears (and drive sales for the vendor). Although there are many powerful products available to credit unions, they must understand the purpose of analytics before they begin their journey.