Associated Credit Union Taps PSCU for Card Services

Associated Credit Union (ACU) has picked PSCU to provide credit card processing services and support.

PSCU, a credit union services organization (CUSO), announced the partnership with the Georgia-based financial institution (FI) in a news release Thursday (June 29).

“With 20 branches and more than $2.1 billion in assets, ACU conducted a thorough evaluation to identify the right credit solutions provider,” the release said. “…ACU identified PSCU as its ideal partner to facilitate technological advancements in credit card processing.”

PSCU said in the release it will begin providing these services to ACU’s members in June of next year.

Margie Burton, vice president for card services at ACU, said the partnership with PSCU “represents a shared vision of innovation and seamless, member-centric solutions, as well as long-term growth.”

The partnership comes at a time when close to two-thirds of credit unions (CUs) have chosen to take a cautious approach to digital innovation, even as their customers increasingly ask for more state-of-the-art experiences.

“Credit Union Innovation: Credit Union Membership and Credit Profiles,” a PYMNTS and PSCU collaboration, found that 28% of CU members would be willing to leave their current FI for one that provides more leading-edge digital banking experiences — a number that is growing.

Trust, data privacy and asset security are crucial for consumers enjoying strong credit profiles when choosing an FI. The study found that two-thirds of CU members and super-prime consumers give great weight to trustworthiness compared to all other factors, while a somewhat lower percentage of consumers value data security.

Earlier this month, PYMNTS spoke with Scott Young, managing vice president of emerging services at PSCU, about the need for CUs to attract younger members. Last year, just 4% of Generation Z belonged to a credit union.

Young talked about the concept of “share of mind.” Just as CUs compete for a consumer’s share of wallet for a particular product, they should also ask themselves what share of mind they have among younger consumers.

“Is a member, especially a younger member, even thinking of me for the products and services [they want,] or are they just going [somewhere else]?” Young said. “Sometimes the younger generations don’t understand what’s a financial institution and what’s not. They’re just calling for a solution to make their day better.”