I’ve never been good at predicting election outcomes, although I did correctly call Ronald Reagan’s 1980 victory over Jimmy Carter (not particularly impressive, as virtually everyone except Carter knew Reagan would win in a landslide). I also know from experience that it’s a bad idea to use a company communication forum to discuss political issues, let alone to predict the outcome of hotly contested elections.
The predictions I plan to discuss here have nothing to do with politics – instead, I will outline five of our most significant goals for 2016, so we all know the Credit Union’s plans.
- Building a New Home in Valencia, CA
We’re making good progress in design of our new headquarters facility. The concepts are complete, and we will now start work on the many thousands of details that go into schematic design. The result of this phase will be construction documents that allow us to obtain permits, as well as contractor bids. Barring unforeseen delays, we will break ground and initiate construction before year-end, with the ultimate goal of moving into the new building by mid-2018.
We’ll keep you up-to-date on the status on our Facebook and Twitter feeds, and in this blog.
- Tapping the Brakes on Excessive Growth
As mentioned in my blog post last month, we will refocus our efforts from “member growth” to “quality member growth,” to ensure more members maintain balances that contribute to our financial strength. Specific actions may include
- Changes to membership requirements and referral bounties
- Changes to the tier structure of our Relationship Rewards program
- Changes to how we define “low balance” and how low balance fees are distributed. Please visit the recent post “Why do banks have fees and how can I avoid them?” for more information on why we are considering changes tour low balance fees.
Results of this initiative should include improved service levels, reduced costs, and the ability to continue providing excellent financial value in our products.
- Sunday Hours
Beginning in March, our Member Service Center will be open 9am to 5pm on Sundays. This is in direct response to member comments about lack of Sunday access, particularly when an issue arises with member debit or credit cards. In addition, we hope contact center availability on Sundays will reduce the spike in calls that currently occurs each Monday morning. By distributing some of those calls on Sunday, we should be able to answer more calls “live,” and increase service levels.
- Business Services
Members request addition of Business Accounts more than any other product. Many members who own a business want to combine all their financial services with Logix, based on the excellent value and service they already receive from us for their retail banking business. We’re eager to oblige.
After years of study, delay (due to other priorities), and planning, we expect that limited business services will be available by the end of the year. If you would like to be updated periodically about our progress with Business Services, please write bblue@lfcu.com to be added to an email list.
- New Burbank Branches
Related to the new headquarters project, we must move the current Burbank branch location. In 2018 or soon thereafter, we will no longer own our current facility, and it is unlikely that we would be able to stay. In addition, we need the current branch space for growth in administrative functions. Due to the size and significance of our current Burbank branch, we need at least two (and possibly three) new Burbank-area branches. We intend to use this initiative to improve member access to convenient Burbank-area branches, by having multiple locations in areas near concentrations of members. We plan to open one branch by year-end, and by that time, should be well along the path of opening the second branch. Once that second branch is open, we will close the current Burbank branch location.
Honorable Mention
Another important 2016 goal is conversion of our mobile platform, including a new app for Android and Apple smartphones, as well as for tablets. We will also introduce Android and Samsung Pay.
Other Goals
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we continue to maintain an industry-leading service-level goal. Our industry-leading Net Promoter Score (NPS) goal of 85% will help us to verify with our membership that we continue to offer world-class service. I fully expect we will achieve this target, or better.
Thank you for your feedback on these initiatives, and for your membership. We rely heavily on your voice in every move we make, and we’re eager to know how you feel we can improve.
Sincerely,
Dave Styler
President & CEO
@LogixFCU_CEO