Members are expecting more and more from credit unions every day. As they should; all good businesses are built by consumers and owners pushing for more. For the most part, everything that a member has asked for in the past ten years deals with working with them remotely. Do you consider your credit union open to working with members remotely? How do you think you stack up to others?

To help give you an idea of what people are doing today to connect with their members, I have created a list of what I believe members expect from their credit unions in this area. If you’re not offering each of these items, then it is time to get started before you fall behind.

Remote Deposit Capture (RDC): Giving the member the ability to cash checks at home from their mobile device is a win of convenience for both the member and the credit union. The member doesn’t need to come into a branch and your teller is freed up to service other individuals.

Texting: Texting is the perfect example of communicating with your members the way they want to be communicated with. Communication is key and if you can send text messages to discuss potential membership or loans it opens your credit union to a new type of member.

Interactive Teller Machines (ITM): This is a hot topic right now in our industry. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking to create an ITM to help members self-service, remove your teller line, or open video conference sessions to communicate with members in locations that couldn’t support full-sized branches. These new machines are just starting a new way to work with your member remotely or allow them to work for themselves. RVA Credit Union, for example, recently replaced its teller line with ITMs and the members are loving the change.

Electronic Signatures (e-sign): If you’re not using eSign today, you’re falling behind. Members expect to be able to sign documents on the go. This will most likely be the next channel of signing for quite some time. Possibly removing electronic signature pads as we know them today as members will just sign on their phone or tablet.

Virtual Meetings: Is your credit union offering virtual meetings through web conference channels? Do you have a convenient way for your members to ask questions through this method? You could go as far as offering virtual appointments after the credit union lobby hours have closed.

Sending Documents Electronically: Are you sending documents electronically to your members? The day of printing paper is coming to an end. Most products have ways to send receipts and forms electronically and securely to your members.

There are a few offerings I am not mentioning because they have been around for quite some time and are expected services. These include online banking through desktop and mobile, e-statements, and access to an ATM network.

I hope that you found that your credit union is doing most of these items, if not all, today. If not, it’s not too late to get started. Find the area that you believe your members will benefit from most and start with that offering. As always, if you ever need any assistance or some consulting on how to get started, or have important items you believe should be on this list, comment below!