CU*Answers held its 2026 Annual Leadership Conference and Stockholders Meeting on June 17^th in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. The event brought together credit union leadership from across the country for a briefing on the organization’s overall direction and major projects for the coming year.

This year’s conference theme was “Prepping the Laboratory”. The event marked the fifth hosted by Geoff Johnson, who has served as the organization’s CEO since October 2021. “Yesterday, today, and tomorrow is about collaboration,” said Johnson in his opening remarks. “It’s about partnership. It’s about ownership of a technology and 330 brilliant people that I have the true pleasure of working with every single day. . .This is a unique environment that we live in today. More technological changes are on the table than ever before. More opportunities from our perspective than ever before. More questions to be asked as we spend time together in the engagements we have.”

The day-long conference was attended by 396 credit union leaders, setting a new record for attendance. Johnson gave a rundown on the state of the CUSO and of its growing number of network partners. Over the course of the last year, CU*Answers’ conversion teams worked to convert 14 new clients to the CBX core processing platform. Those credit unions reside in 9 different states, from Texas to Connecticut. Those credit unions join a network that’s excelling compared with other credit unions nationwide, performing better on average in member growth, share growth, loan growth, and return on assets than all other credit unions under $1.5 billion in assets.

CUbroadcast interviews CU*Answers Chairwoman and Element FCU President Linda Bodie during the event.

Before the main presentation could kick off, Johnson took a moment to thank CU*Answers board member and FOCUS Credit Union CEO Dean Wilson for his work as an architect within the cuasterisk.com network, leading the charge on a variety of projects in the CU’s nearly 30 year history with the CUSO, including most recently CU*Chat.

Dean thanked CU*Answers staff and developers for listening and working hard to make his and others’ ideas a reality. Speaking to the attendees, Dean said, “I just want you to know, speak up, get in those conversations. Help create, because it may not land in your credit union today, but it’ll possibly land in my credit union tomorrow. We all have an opportunity to make something pretty special here, but you only get what you give. You gotta get in the room, you gotta speak up.”

Joining Johnson on stage were leaders and experts from Lender*VP, Network Services, CU*Answers Management Services, and more, as they discussed the latest and greatest in the CUSO’s software and product development, as well as some major foundational projects that will set the stage for the long-term success of the cooperative.

CBX sets the foundation for the core

As the day moved forward into deeper dives on software and development, CU*Answers Core UI Manager Amanda Grieves joined Geoff on stage to share the latest updates on the CBX, CU*Answers’ newest core processing platform. With the rollout complete, programmers can now move on to exciting new opportunities, including the first two-way API integration for teller check capture.

COO Dawn Moore replaced Grieves on stage to talk about the many recent and upcoming changes to CU*Answers’ online and mobile banking products. Though the CUSO recently completed its first API-driven integration to a third-party online banking provider, CU*Answers is still working hard to improve its own assets. Chief among the improvements are an upcoming rehaul to their out-of-band security toolset, PIB, improvements to the design layer of online and mobile banking, and some new widgets that received a lot of buzz in the room.

CU*Answers enters the payments space

Following the exploration of core products, Johnson was joined on stage by VP of Client Interactions Heather French to talk about CU*PAY, a new CUSO that will compete in the cards and payments space, providing credit and debit card services at a considerable discount to existing providers. The two were excited to share that development is moving along, with an Alpha test targeted for the end of 2026, and the first Beta test in 2027. Credit unions that were interested in switching card providers were encouraged to review their contracts and complete a card survey. Credit unions can follow along with the progress by visiting wearecupay.com.

Custom development and the application of A.I.

Johnson, who earlier had spoken about the strategy for a cooperative CUSO in deciding when to buy vs. when to build, invited VP of Management Services John Beauchamp on stage to talk about the process for custom development, and the resources available to clients who want to build something with CU*Answers or who want to take a more DIY approach to developing tools. Above all, John reiterated that CU*Answers is here to support credit unions’ custom projects and guide CUs through the process.

EVP of Software Development Brian Maurer then came on stage to talk about what CU*Answers is doing to further improve the development environment for credit unions and third parties alike. “CU*Answers is committed to expanding our development environment to provide more options for clients and vendors to lead their own development efforts,” said Maurer. To accomplish this, CU*Answers teams will begin working to create a dedicated dev environment with more flexibility and control for the developer, all while maintaining a strict security and legal framework to protect the CUSO, CUs, and members.

EVP of Software Development Brian Maurer and CEO Geoff Johnson discuss a future dev environment for improved vendor integrations and interactions.

Then, VP of Digital Technologies David Damstra came up to talk about artificial intelligence and how CU*Answers is using it. David announced that the CUSO has started an AI Strategy Team, as well as formed a cuasterisk.com partner group to share successes and challenges with the network. The key, says David, is for a Human in the Loop (HITL) approach, which ensures experienced developers are always involved in the process and approving AI-recommended changes.

In addition to hiring AI Strategists, CU*Answers has begun exploring the use of tools like IBM Bob, Anthropic’s Claude, and Microsoft Copilot to improve internal workflows. Additionally, CU*Answers is working with Runline for a variety of AI solutions and VisionFI for loan package validation and vendor management.

The presentation takes a detour to talk about the regulatory environment and stablecoin

Veering away from CU*Answers projects, Johnson invited Compliance Analyst Joshua Velasquez to talk about the regulatory landscape. Velasquez gave his insight on the changes going on and how credit unions can expect to be affected. First, Velasquez spoke on the current deregulation efforts of the NCUA, encouraging credit union attendees to take advantage of the open comment periods. Then, after touching on current supervisory priorities, he touched on the latest regulatory updates on Buy Now Pay Later and Trump Accounts. For the latter, though developments have been made, credit unions’ role in providing these accounts remains somewhat unknown.

Then former Mastercard executive John Ainsworth took the stage to lead an impassioned discussion about stablecoin, explaining what it is, why they are a current hot topic, real-world use cases, and what credit unions should be paying attention to and acting on.

An update on CU*Answers’ infrastructure updates out West

Following lunch, EVP of Technology Dave Wordhouse was invited to provide the network with an update on the CU*Answers’ Las Vegas data center, which successfully completed its first client migrations earlier this year. The Network Services and Operations teams were happy to announce that CBX and It’s Me 247 are running live from the Vegas center, and plans are underway to move high availability systems from their current Yankton, South Dakota location to Nevada.

Lending and imaging round out the day

Getting back into the meat and potatoes of CU*Answers’ latest work in developing exciting new tools and features, Vice President of Lender*VP Ashley Melder came up to share what the CUSO has been working on in the world of lending, from 1Click loans, to new functionality for FUEL, a stable of loan payment integrations, and a new secure chat system for lenders.

Online banking storefronts, which give credit unions a lot of flexibility in marketing loan opportunities to members in online banking, have been a boon to the credit unions using them, with some getting very creative in how they design their use for their credit union. However, it remains a lightly used product that Melder urged credit unions to take advantage of.

VP of Lender*VP Ashley Melder shares the many lending improvements recently released and coming soon.

Melder was also excited to share that CU*Chat, which she had teased last year, was live. The chat service gives lenders and applicants a secure messaging system, with easy transfer of necessary documents that can be easily archived into the loan file. Though the product has just launched, Melder and her team are excited for where it might go next, including for member service and collections, and how it might be further enhanced to improve the experience for both lender and applicant.

1Click Offers have been a huge success since their implementation back in 2020, with many updates and enhancements only strengthening the product. At its most basic, 1Click Offers are vetted loan offers placed directly in online and mobile banking for members to quickly and easily take advantage of. Most recently, 1Click Relationship Offers were deployed, giving credit unions even more options for securing easy lending wins with members in online banking, as well as new tracking options and options for expiring offers.

Then, AVP of Imaging Solutions Kyle Karnes came up to share what he and his team have done since last year. CU*Forms has continued to be hugely successful, as well as a huge cost savings to credit unions, who have the power to program forms with ease. In the first five months of 2026, credit unions have matched the number of forms generated in all of 2025. After covering a few recently released products and tools, like a new denomination helper and tablet signing, Karnes got into the work his team is doing to use AI for automated form auditing. Still early in the process, but an area they are very excited to explore further.

Wrapping up the day

With the day’s festivities beginning to wind down, Johnson took center stage again to award another leader within the CU*Answers family. Don Mills, CEO of Alpena Alcona Area Credit Union in Alpena, Michigan, was awarded the 2026 “Spirit of CU*Answers” Ambassador Award not just for his work as long-time CEO of the credit union, but also for his many years of service on the CU*Answers Board of Directors. Mills and Alpena Alcona Area Credit Union have been outspoken advocates of the cooperative model, and helped both in guiding other credit unions to CU*Answers and in being involved in the software development process, including championing online/in-house credit unions many years ago.

Mills told a story about converting to CU*Answers, and the fifty percent savings they saw by switching to the online credit card system CU*Answers developed in collaboration with his credit union. “I can say going with CU*Answers, the network, all of the participation has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my career.”

Following an update on the state of the cuasterisk.com network of CUSOs, which today supports 378 credit unions in 44 states on CBX, Johnson closed the festivities by thanking the community for its spirit of collaboration, the staff for helping make the day a success, the board for its support, and invited attendees to take him up on his challenge of getting involved and living into the Cooperative Principles that define the industry.