Randy Karnes, CEO of CU*Answers, a 100% credit union-owned cooperative CUSO, is asking network CUSOs to send suggestions on how to improve the CUSO’s value in 2018 as he prepares his comments for CU*Answers’ Leadership Conference held in June.

The idea stemmed from a discussion at a recent CFO roundtable, during which one attendee made a comment that she could not understand why credit unions are charged to support national shared branching outlets; she thought it should just be a cooperative buy and investment.

“In many cases, CU*Answers makes decisions not to charge for things because we should walk the talk,” said Karnes. “We decide to build things without additional fees, just to walk the talk. We pull together and disrupt the status quo as a cooperative because that is what cooperatives do! So, as I face preparing my comments for the June Leadership Conference I decided to turn to our clients and owners for suggestions.”

Karnes challenged credit union leaders to “think like an owner” and to ask themselves: “When was the last time I looked at my invoice and wondered why don’t these guys just throw stuff in free?! Or in my base pricing? Or just taken out of the dividends? It is a no brainer!”

The initiative adds to CU*Answers’ history of having an open and honest discussion about pricing. In addition to creating a website dedicated to explaining every line item on a CU*Answers invoice, the CUSO publishes 5-year pricing perspectives that explain the rationale behind the way CU*Answers prices key elements of its services, most recently demonstrated in a 2010-2014 perspective.

Ideas on how to improve the cooperative CUSO’s value can be submitted by registered network CEOs through CU*Answers’ website.