Filene Research Institute

Join us for a special episode in the podcast studio to get to know Filene Fellow for the Center of Excellence for the War for Talent, Sekou Bermiss! We start with a discussion on the work he’s doing as the lead researcher for the Center. Sekou explains the complexities behind how we know that people are a business’ most critical resource, but yet, finding, hiring and retaining top talent remains a...

The US economy has been humming along for more than a decade with unemployment at historical lows, but unfortunately those numbers only tell a part of the story. One in five American households has zero or negative wealth making it difficult to affordably borrow, make consistent loan payments and build strong credit. In an effort to help credit unions deliver scalable, cost-effective and impactful...

Earlier this summer, Filene held a research event focused on creating exceptional member experiences by redesigning organizations from a perspective of both the inside out and the outside in – meaning looking at how your credit union operates and how various internal teams and systems interact, AND looking at how member experiences in turn, inform your operating structure. We were excited to share...

We pick up here where we left off last time learning about the Cooperative Trust community and the Crash experience – if those last few words meant nothing to you, please go back to part 1 and take a listen now. We explain all about this young professional community and these unique event opportunities for them in that episode! If you’re ready for Part 2, here we go! In this episode, we highlight...

We are wired for connection; it is part of our DNA. Human beings have a basic need to belong to groups and form relationships – and we spend much of our lives doing just that. What we don’t often measure is the power that those connections give us to make an impact on the world around us. Insight, inspiration, innovation…none of this happens in isolation. Credit unions especially are uniquely posi...

Edward Albert Filene was born on September 3, 1860. While the world was very different nearly 160 years ago when our namesake was born, it has been fascinating to pause this week, taking a moment to learn more about Ed’s beliefs, values, actions and accomplishments from his lifetime and realize how much those same ideas – of fairness, of equality, hard work, democratic control, of giving back and...

This one is for all of you that love stories about money…where it came from, where it’s going, how it’s going to get there and how our lives will always be impacted by the ways we use physical and digital currencies. Join us on this trip with Bill Maurer -- Filene Fellow for our Center of Excellence on Emerging Technology and Dean and Professor at the University of California Irvine. Literally, it...

We had the chance to talk with Renee Sattiewhite, Executive Director of the African American Credit Union Coalition at CUNA’s Governmental Affairs Conference this year. I wanted to learn more about the AACUC, learn what initiatives they are working on this year and beyond, and better understand some things Renee mentioned to me around a data challenge this industry has as well as things we can all...

This episode picks up where episode 52 left off with our most recent i3 team projects. You’re about to hear from 3 more teams about their experiences working together, examining a problem and approaching a viable solution with care. They talked about how weighty, significant and challenging some of their issues to solve were but by trusting the process, counting on each other for support and stayi...

On May 31, 1989, Filene was officially incorporated as an organization, which means we are now celebrating 30 years of existence. In this interview with Filene’s chief research and development officer, George Hofheimer, we talk about the past and future of Filene, George’s take on the evolution of our work and some of his favorite reports from our nearly 500! We also explore what outcomes and impa...

If you’re interested in what a day in the life of an i3er is like, this is your chance to get that inside look. I sat down with all 6 of the i3 teams that recently presented their projects at Filene’s “Future of Trust” research event in Seattle. They talked about what problem their solutions aimed to fix, how they came to their solutions, how they worked together as a cohesive team, and how the i3...

Dr. Lana Swartz, Assistant Professor in the Department of Media Studies at the University of Virginia spoke at the Filene breakfast this year about industries that are using the blockchain and why credit unions might want to consider its use, too. Lana studies money as a communications technology, focusing in particular on the history of payments and new financial technologies. She’s been featured...

What really is an algorithm? This episode dives a bit deeper into this topic that we’ve talked about here before and relates to much of our research on emerging technology. I wanted to know more, in ordinary terms, not only what an algorithm is, but how they work, and what the prevalence of the use of artificial intelligence and algorithms mean for consumer and cooperative finance. Filene’s Resear...

In many ways, the credit union model in this country was officially defined in 1934 by the Federal Credit Union Act (FCUA). At the time, credit unions’ main focus was around promoting savings and thrift, and providing people of modest means access to fair credit to pursue productive investments. While this remains the foundation of the model, the practical definitions of many of the elements affec...

Mergers-- they have dramatically restructured the credit union system over the last 5 decades. And Credit union leaders have accepted this as a reality of the current financial services landscape. But that does not mean leaders should approach a merger without caution and due diligence. Many leaders are rightly concerned about how a merger would affect their operations, their employees, and—especi...

For today's show, I am joined by Filene’s Managing Director of Research, Taylor Nelms, as we interview Andrew Turner, Legal Research and Writing Faculty at the University of Wisconsin Law School and author of “Who Do Credit Unions Belong To? The Promise and Peril of Being Undefined in a Time of Political and Social Polarization.” In a time in America when everything seems politicized and polarized...

In the spirit of our love for prototyping and innovation that changes lives, we at Filene are trying something new today: a research-based streaming music service for the cooperative finance industry. Currently, we have only one song in our song library, but we look to build it up over time. To celebrate this new venture, we would like to give you advance access to that song. Performed live in the...

Filene Research Institute’s namesake, Ed Filene, wrote the book “Speaking of Change” in which he emphasized the importance of always looking ahead, never remaining stagnant and keeping up with ever changing times. And at the start of each year, Filene takes a moment’s pause to reflect and speak to our local credit union community to share the latest insights from our research and incubation and ex...

Today’s episode is extra special. We shared our office space last month with Coopera -- a consulting firm located in Des Moines, Iowa, focused on helping credit unions and other organizations grow by reaching and serving the Hispanic market. That brought Kenia Calderon to our podcast studio to share her story of how she came to work with Coopera and her experience as a Dreamer getting a loan throu...

Credit unions have a unique vantage point to see the way financial barriers hold people back day-in and day-out. And they’re also in a unique position to do something to support those most vulnerable. In today’s podcast we take a look at the very real and complicated way that economic abuse can keep survivors of domestic violence in their abusive relationships. Thanks to the work being done throug...

The financial industry has long faced change: in technology, consumer preferences, regulation, and new business models. To thrive, credit union leaders, like all financial providers, must scan for shifts in their institutions and markets. To do so, credit union leaders need to master the twin challenges of organizational vigilance – or “seeing sooner” -- and of adaptive capacity – or “acting faste...

We’ve boiled down our latest research about attraction and retention strategies for credit unions from our Center for the War for Talent. Our new report is called “Diving Headfirst into the Applicant Pool: How Employee Attraction Impacts Employee Retention” by filene fellow Sekou Bermiss at the University of Texas Austin. First, we talk with someone on the front lines of the work of attracting and...

So, a professor, a lawyer and a CEO walk into… a podcast…? No this isn’t the set up for a joke…But it is an amazing tale of a credit union growth strategy with seemingly no downside that we could find at least. This is the tale of credit unions’ acquisition of banks and thrifts, as told by David Walker, professor & director emeritus of the Capital Markets Research Center at Georgetown University -...

Interview: Ben Morales, Chief Technology and Operations Officer at Washington State Employees Credit Union and CEO of QCash Financial -- about the real issue behind small-dollar lending. The Federal Reserve surveyed more than 5,000 people to see if their personal financial situations were improving along with the economy, and about 46 percent of them said they did not have enough money to cover a...

Thank you for joining us for part two of our show about Will Be Done – the tool that helps people create wills. It might seem like a tricky subject, or a space that financial institutions don’t see a reason to get into with members, but really, it is a perfect fit. If you protect a member’s financial assets their whole lives, why wouldn’t you also help them protect what happens once they’re gone?...