We all know that consumers should not spend money they do not have or do not have a way to finance, but they do all the time. Do we really want to throw our members under the bus and leave them hanging? Are we going back to retailers abusing them for NSFs? Do we really want to push them to the “buy now, pay later” FinTech pay day lenders’ reimagined solutions? Do we really want to put the retailer back in the position to control consumer ghost loan balances that compete with our credit products? Nothing is free, and when members spend money they do not have our for-profit competitors and retailers will find a way to take advantage.
If credit unions are the “consumer’s ally”, we will champion positive, ethical, and fairly priced solutions for when there is a gap between my money in hand and the things I need. Short term, small dollar solutions for those honest gaps. “Credit unions have your back Mister Member. Here are my credit union’s “positive, save you reputation” solutions. Here are my credit union’s ethically designed and properly disclosed solutions. Here are my credit union’s new and fairly priced alternatives, including Courtesy Pay done in a way that adds to your family’s safety net for banking at the speed of light.”
Courtesy Pay is not a poor solution for members and consumers. It’s a solution that has been abused, misleading, and unfairly priced. And if you are honest with yourself and board, you probably participated in the abuse on your way to rethinking the future. Those things can and will be corrected, and it can start with you. Do not just throw away the opportunity to do it right, because you assume everyone does it wrong. Learn, adapt, and earn while you help members.
Or solutions like “buy now, pay later” will be the next big abusers of sound banking processes, member financial hopes, and the intermediation of our services by others. Tell Me Why I’m Wrong.
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