PSCU Announces Findings of “How Credit Unions Can Become Financial Health Providers” Study

Collaboration with Financial Health Network and Members Development Company helps assess financial health of credit union members and employees across the country

St. Petersburg, Fla. — (Feb. 17, 2021) —In continued support of its corporate philanthropic cause of financial well-being, PSCU, the nation’s premier payments credit union service organization (CUSO), today announced the findings of a new study, “How Credit Unions Can Become Financial Health Providers,” that assessed the financial health of credit union members and employees against a national benchmark. The study was conducted by the Financial Health Network with support from Members Development Company (MDC) and PSCU.

According to research findings, the financial health needs of members are evident: Over 60% of credit union members surveyed are struggling financially and at least one-third live paycheck-to-paycheck. In line with these findings, more than 60% of credit union employees are struggling financially, too.

While recent years have seen strong economic growth and positive gains in Americans’ general financial well-being, credit union members’ financial health remains stagnant, according to credit union member and employee financial health data.

“The aggregate data shows the credit union industry still has work to do to improve financial health among its members and employees,” said Merry Pateuk, senior vice president, Industry Engagement at PSCU. “Our goal through this research and partnership is to help credit unions and other industry organizations rethink how we operate, the investments in products and services we make and the resources we provide in order to prioritize financial well-being. Measuring the financial health of members and employees is a key step toward improving financial outcomes.”

In addition, the study reveals that credit unions need to move to the forefront of financial health education to compete effectively against other financial institutions and big banks. The study also provides an overview of how credit unions can pivot to become financial health providers.

By leveraging the FinHealthCheck, a cutting-edge business-to-business platform for credit unions, the project team distributed financial health surveys to members and employees of Allegacy FCU (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and Meritrust Credit Union (Wichita, Kan.) in October and November 2020. In addition, Financial Health Network tapped into available data from past project work with seven additional credit unions and interviewed a diverse set of credit union executives and thought leaders. The Financial Health Network segmented its nationally representative U.S. Financial Health Pulse^® data set to compare survey responses from self-identified credit union members to the benchmark population.

Leveraging these project findings, PSCU, the Financial Health Network and MDC plan to identify in-market products to better meet the needs of members and employees to improve financial well-being, as well as provide opportunities to develop new offerings that fill market gaps.

About PSCU
PSCU, the nation’s premier payments CUSO, supports the success of 1,500 credit unions representing more than 5.4 billion transactions annually. Committed to service excellence and focused on innovation, PSCU’s payment processing, risk management, data and analytics, loyalty programs, digital banking, marketing, strategic consulting and mobile platforms help deliver possibilities and seamless member experiences. Comprehensive, 24/7/365 member support is provided by contact centers located throughout the United States. The origin of PSCU’s model is collaboration and scale, and the company has leveraged its influence on behalf of credit unions and their members for more than 40 years. Today, PSCU provides an end-to-end, competitive advantage that enables credit unions to securely grow and meet evolving consumer demands. For more information, visit pscu.com.