Credit Unions Embrace ‘Business as Unusual’ Through Collaboration and Innovation

Innovation and collaboration lead to new ways to meet credit union needs, Velera Chief Service Officer Dean Young writes in a new PYMNTS eBook, “The Innovation Mindset: How to Achieve It in 2025.”

There is no doubt that the past five years have presented unprecedented challenges to the financial services world, primarily stemming from the pandemic. Since that time, we have all navigated the years that followed with new approaches, mindsets and perspectives. In Duncan Wardle’s words, we have returned to “business as unusual,” and those who failed to adjust to post-pandemic shifts or innovate accordingly have likely learned the importance of being nimble and open to change.

In keeping with Wardle’s core tenets of encouraging innovation and growth, we at Velera actively seek to shift the “no, because …” mindset to a “yes, and …” approach, both internally and in our interactions with our credit unions and other industry stakeholders. Internally, this transformation is driven using innovative tools and collaborative practices that empower our teams to say “yes” to opportunities and challenges while building on them with the solutions at our disposal.

A prime example is our Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM) tool, which enhances transparency and capacity management by automating labor tracking, billing and reporting processes. This innovation allows teams to focus on finding ways to meet credit union needs rather than highlighting barriers. Similarly, the introduction of our self-service Project Management Page, powered by ServiceNow, enables credit unions to manage onboarding and project management more efficiently by viewing project demand and active project requests in real time — and all in one place. Credit unions benefit from improved transparency and collaboration through the use of this engagement tool, which also paves the way for further generative artificial intelligence (AI) integration.

Importantly, Velera uses a collaborative approach to develop new solutions and foster continuous improvement. Through interactions with our Advisory Councils, Co-Creation Collectives and client focus groups, we are able to address client concerns not with a definitive “no, because” response, but instead with a solution-focused response. This approach also enables us to build solutions and services not just for our clients, but with them, enabling a collaborative journey.

On the service side of Velera’s business, we implement Wardle’s core tenet of asking “what if” every single day. A pivotal “what if” that Velera is considering as we close out 2024 and look ahead to 2025: “What if we began to leverage AI as a core driver for future innovation and efficiency across our organization?” Like many, Velera is carefully and strategically integrating AI capabilities across our business, led by Velera’s Strategic AI Advisory Council, which guides our exploration and investment in the technology.

In the ever-changing landscape of the financial services industry, “what if” is an ideology that any innovative organization should adopt and integrate within its daily discussions. It’s a question that drives almost everything we do at Velera, from determining how to best implement AI into our business to evaluating other exciting opportunities and innovations to come.