Send us Fan Mail

The CUInsight headline caught my eye: “Why credit unions must step up as financial stabilizers to rebuild consumer confidence.”

The piece was authored by Dave Buerger, CEO of Union Credit and, before that, he was CEO of CuneXus, where he was a co-founder.

At Union Credit the mission is delivering 1-click, perpetual loans to credit union members. 70+ credit unions are Union Credit customers and a key to Union Credit’s business is that it memberizes non members in a very few minutes.

What triggered Buerger’s piece is a consumer confidence survey commissioned by Union Credit that found that consumer confidence is shaky indeed.

Take aways from the survey are: “Only 12.5% feel very confident about their finances. The majority are in the middle with 57% rating themselves a 3 or 4 out of 5…. 54% are feeling cautious, 45% anxious, and 30% overwhelmed.”

No wonder many institutions are experiencing a slowing loan volume.

Buerger believes credit unions can take steps to strengthen consumer confidence,

Buerger wrote in CUInsight: “Consumers are pressing pause, not stop. They’re delaying major financial decisions because they don’t feel safe committing before they understand their options. Yet 36% told us they would still move forward with financing if the offer felt secure and transparent. That gap between hesitation and action is where credit unions have both a responsibility and an opportunity.”

In the show today he elaborates on these thoughts

Buerger is optimistic but realistic as well.

And he firmly believes that Union Credit’s tools can help credit unions improve their loan volumes,

Listen up.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com

And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

Send us Fan Mail

Agentic AI. Google’s Gemini explains what this means: “Agentic AI represents a shift from AI that simply 'talks' to AI that 'does.' While previous iterations of AI were primarily reactive—answering questions or generating text when prompted—Agentic AI systems are proactive. They can reason, plan, and execute multi-step tasks autonomously to achieve a specific goal."

Agentic AI is the hot topic in AI today and credit unions can have it. Now.

On the show are Abhishek Tiwari, chief product officer at Eltropy, and Kent Lugrand, CEO at InTouch Credit Union, an $800+ million institution headquartered in Texas.

Lugrand is a past CU 2.0 Podcast guest. That show ranks high among the best we’ve filed. Today he is here to explain why he wanted to be an early adopter of this Agentic AI technology and he explains in candid detail.

Abhishek, meantime, is on the show to explain the Eltropy tool and to offer details on the Eltropy Safe AI framework - because safety is key to persuading credit unions to deploy this technology.

Listen up.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com

And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

Send a text

And First Entertainment Credit Union Begat CineFi.

Say what?

First Entertainment is the big show business credit union. Based in Hollywood, it has assets of around $2.1 billion and serves around 90,000 members, many of them who work in Hollywood, doing everything from acting to the skilled crafts (such as set building) that create Hollywood’s magic.

On the show is Stephen Owen, CEO of First Entertainment and he is here to tell what CineFi is, why First Entertainment birthed it, and why it is based in Atlanta, GA, some 2300 miles removed from Hollywood.

CinedFi is a digital only institution, no branches, and right now its offerings consist of checking and savings, although Owen says the plan is to augment that product slate later in 2026.

How to become a CineFi member? The FOM consists of a handful of Georgia counties, centered around Atlanta, and although the aim is to serve the large number of entertainment industry professionals who live in the Atlanta area,CineFi is open to others as well. Owen explains in the show.

Understand, CineFi does not have its own charter. Owen tells how it came into existence - and he adds that there may be CineFis opening elsewhere in the country.

Ours is an age when the creation of new credit unions is rare indeed. You can count on one hand how many were birthed in the US in 2025 and have a finger to spare.

That’s rare indeed.

So the creation of CineFi is an exciting event and it just may give CEOs and boards of other credit unions the impulse to do something similar.

How cool would that be?

Listen up.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com

And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto