Credit Union Demand for Analytics Strategy Skyrockets in 2021

CUNA Mutual Group’s AdvantEdge Digital sees surge in analytics consulting client engagements   

In 2021, AdvantEdge Digital grew its analytics consulting client portfolio 55% year-over-year and currently services 43 credit union engagements.

AdvantEdge Digital’s management says the increased interest is due to credit unions’ need to make better use of data for real-time decision making. According to AdvantEdge Digital President Micheal Herman, alternative providers are pushing credit unions to find ways to respond to changes more quickly.

“Today’s members are less easy to typecast, especially given the monumental shift in day-to-day banking that’s taken place over the past two years,” said Herman. “Credit unions know their members exceptionally well. The unknown of fast-changing member needs and wants presents new territory. As a result, more credit unions are turning to data and analytics to better understand the people they serve.”

Credit unions working with AdvantEdge Digital include Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union. The $13.9 billion credit union engaged the consulting team to accelerate its data governance strategy.

“Working with AdvantEdge Digital is like working with friends, but friends with years of data transformation experience,” said Amanda Pelata, RBFCU metadata analyst. “There isn’t the typical sales fluff you sometimes get with vendors. The team can drill down and focus on the issue at hand. Collaborating with AdvantEdge Digital on data governance has been both fruitful and enjoyable.”

AdvantEdge Digital offers a full range of analytics consulting services across six categories: data strategy, data governance, predictive analytics, data visualization, data engineering, and capability outsourcing. Each consultant brings more than 20 years of experience to the credit union movement, many spent coaching Fortune 500 companies through their own data transformation projects.

A key component of AdvantEdge Digital’s consulting services is customization. Coastal Credit Union, a $4.3 billion North Carolina credit union, experienced this firsthand when COVID-19 dramatically altered the data team’s needs.

“AdvantEdge Digital delivered a lot of analytics capabilities with practical outputs,” said Richard Sowell, Coastal Credit Union’s vice president of reporting and analytics. “However, it became clear the greatest value to our team is learning from them to evolve our own analytics expertise. We asked them to teach us how to provide business-altering information internally, and they did. Not only did the engagement enrich my team, but I also learned a lot about how to do analytics well. AdvantEdge Digital helped me take big steps forward really quickly.”

To learn more about AdvantEdge Digital and our dynamic solutions, visit www.AdvantEdge.Digital.

For more information, visit www.cunamutual.com. CUNA Mutual Group is the marketing name for CUNA Mutual Holding Company, a mutual insurance holding company, its subsidiaries, and affiliates.