What is data hygiene, and why is it important to a credit union’s daily operations?

The definition of data hygiene is the ongoing process of maintaining the quality and accuracy of data within a database or information system. Data hygiene is especially important for credit unions because if you don’t have good data hygiene, it could result in a finding on an audit where the credit union’s integrity is at stake or a bad reputation with your members if you are not able to produce documents requested in a timely manner.

Maintaining good data hygiene

The NCUA does not regulate record retention, but they do have guidelines on their website that provide a list of all documents that you should retain permanently, as well as a list of documents that you can dispose of that you can bring to your board meeting for discussion. The link to these guidelines can be found on their website.

Take stock of all the documentation that you have in your file cabinets or digital files, and consult with your board on what the best practices are and should be for your credit union for record retention.

Once you have determined what to keep and what to dispose of, you will want to create digital backup files, if you don’t already have them, of everything that you have determined you need to keep. By scanning in all the documentation, you and other credit union personnel can easily search for needed documents instead of spending time searching through file cabinets. This also makes the files easily accessible by credit union staff who work remotely and are not able to physically search through a file cabinet.

Additionally, credit unions should create a checklist of all required documents needed for each of their processes, and make it a priority to regularly audit what they have on file. To ensure that you are not missing any documentation or retaining outdated information, this task should be assigned to varying staff members so that you can be confident of the integrity of the files.

The risks of bad document hygiene

Keeping on top of your data and document hygiene is essential for a number of reasons.

I can think of a couple of examples of why it is a good idea to remove outdated information. If you plan on using AI at your credit union, you want to ensure that the information you are supplying to the AI is up to date. You wouldn’t want it to receive information that is skewed due to accidentally including outdated information. This could affect the answers a chatbot provides members with, and if the AI is providing incorrect information from old materials, this can damage the trust members have in your credit union.

Even if you don’t plan on using AI, having outdated information within a file could create additional work for an employee who is looking for specific information because they would have to bypass documentation that will have no value. Additionally, even humans could err and provide a member with an old file or incorrect information.

Time to tidy up

Data hygiene should be a top priority at your credit union. Having a good data hygiene plan will not only save you time, space, and reputation, but it will also ensure that your decision-making is based on up-to-date and accurate information.