On Wednesday, April 27, 2016, CU*Answers held its second annual Data Investment Symposium, a focus group event to brainstorm on new investments the CUSO should be making in data. Present were 20 credit union and CUSO leaders and data analysts from across the country, who joined in a conversation with key CU*Answers leaders to contribute their ideas to developing new strategies at the CUSO.

CU*Answers facilitators Randy Karnes, CEO, Jody Karnes, CIO, and Dawn Moore, VP Writing Team/Product Design, gave a progress report on projects initiated at last year’s inaugural focus group event, and discussion centered about investments the CUSO is planning to make on new tools for data analysts as part of its CU*BASE® core processing system, as well as the strategic plans for future investments in data being considered by the CUSO and its client-owners.

Deb Slavens, Director of Information Technology for Honor Credit Union in St. Joseph, Michigan, shared some techniques her credit union has adopted over the past year to change her organization’s culture when it comes to using and acting on data, and the results they have seen thus far. “In 2014 usage of CU*BASE analytical dashboards averaged around 50 visits per month from 5 team members. In 2015 we saw over 400 visits per month by 30 different team members!” said Slavens.