The CU Lab with NAFCU Services

Welcome to The CU Lab with NAFCU Services. In each episode, we explore breaking innovations, industry insights, and growth ideas. Catch up with credit union thought-leaders on fintech, security, fraud prevention, and more. Are you ahead of the curve on risk management, and prepared for what’s to come? Is your credit union building the best digital experience to attract and engage members? Tune in to connect with the best intel in the industry.

Meeting & Exceeding Member Expectations with Open Banking l FIS 2024 06/19/2024

2024 Mid-Year Fraud Review l Allied Solutions 2024 06/19/2024

The Evolving Role of the CISO: From Technical Expert to Strategic Leader l DefenseStorm 2024 06/17/2024

The Evolving Role of the CISO: From Technical Expert to Strategic Leader l DefenseStorm 2024 Thank you for joining us for another episode of the CU Lab. I’m Madeline Kronfeld with America’s Credit Unions, and today I am sitting down with William Wetherill, Chief Information Security Officer at DefenseStorm, to talk about The Evolving Role of the CISO: From Technical Expert to Strategic Leader. William, it’s great speaking with you, and thanks so much for joining us today. Join DefenseStorm expert William Wetherill for an informative session to explore: how the role of CISO changed from being a technical role to a more strategic one, the key responsibilities of a CISO in managing an organization’s cyber and technology risk posture, the importance of having a CISO at the decision-making table, how the SolarWinds case highlights the need for transparency in cybersecurity practices, potential legal and financial consequences of failing to prioritize cybersecurity, how CISOs can effectively protect their organization by expanding their strategic roles, the importance of training and awareness in maintaining cybersecurity, the role of the CISO in incident response planning, how the CISO can stay updated on the latest cybersecurity trends, threats, and mitigation strategies, the role of a CISO in ensuring regulatory compliance, and more. In This Episode: [00:31] Today I am sitting down with William Wetherill, Chief Information Security Officer at DefenseStorm, to talk about The Evolving Role of the CISO: From Technical Expert to Strategic Leader. [01:30] Being able to properly implement risk management decisions, especially in the cyber age we live in, is incredibly important so CISOs have a lot of challenges here. [02:27] Having a leader who can really communicate cyber risks and understand how ready that institution is to deal with cyber events is incredibly important. It really comes down to culture, communication, and being able to help drive that leadership and strategy in a way that ensures the protection of the organization. [02:58] Having the CISO with their knowledge of the potential impacts really helps drive a strategy that is understanding of those risks. [05:36] We need to be talking about risk openly. We need to be documenting and really understanding what remediating risk looks like and how you do that strategically. [08:09] The ramifications and outcomes can be huge in a lot of different ways. [11:19] Because of this awareness training and just training in general about cybersecurity becomes even more important. [12:14] Treating people with the respect they deserve for being such an integral part of how a business runs and operates is incredibly important and every CISO should be out learning and understanding their challenges. [14:28] It is critical that any CISO actually goes and meets the people where they are. [16:38] Governance, risk, compliance, and adherence to regulatory controls are all being looked at much more closely. You are also seeing other technology that is coming into the fold directly responsible for helping CISOs navigate those waters. [18:28] The reaction from the governing bodies is directly related to the needs of the position. They’re trying to help make sure that we are positioned in a way that gets us the most possibility of success, maturing our postures and protecting the institutions. [19:08] Communicate first and relate. Understand the organization. Links and Resources: /episode/index/show/theculab/id/31756121

Gallagher Executive Compensation and Benefits Survey l Gallagher 2024 06/07/2024

Gallagher Executive Compensation and Benefits Survey l Gallagher 2024 Thank you for joining us for another episode of the CU Lab. I’m Madeline Kronfeld, with America’s Credit Unions and I’ll be your moderator. Today I am sitting down with Liz Santos, Chief of Staff at Gallagher, and we are going to talk about the annual Gallagher Executive Compensation and Benefits Survey. It’s one of the credit union industry’s premier resources for compensation data. The report provides hundreds of data points for salary, scorecards, retention plans, and more, enabling credit unions to make better decisions for their rewards strategy. We talk about who participated in the survey, the positions included in the survey, key trends that stood out in this year’s survey that are noteworthy, and how credit unions can access the report and use the data. In This Episode: [00:32] Today, I am sitting down with Liz Santos, Chief of Staff at Gallagher, and we are going to talk about the annual Gallagher Executive Compensation and Benefits Survey. [01:11] They sent invitations to all credit unions across the country to participate in the survey, so that included federal charters, state charters, and those credit unions that are privately insured. More than 700 credit unions participated and provided information for about 2500 of their executives. [02:03] Traditionally, the report has included the CEO as well as the next four executives in terms of salary. This year, they also added CFO-specific information. [04:01] Over ten years, the annual raise percentage has more than doubled. In 2015, the average increase was 3%, and today it is 7%. When executive's salaries are strong and increasing that is a good reflection on the industry as a whole. [05:53] Another trend that I think credit unions should consider is annual incentives. 70% of CEOs have some sort of annual bonus or incentive. [06:52] Previously, the type of plan was split, but now we are starting to see more plans lean toward the formal type. This year 38% of those plans were formal as opposed to 32% informal. That is a reflection of boards wanting to pay for performance by setting strategic goals and by pushing and incentivizing their CEOs and the rest of the C-suite to achieve those. [07:41] Another trend is the use of nonqualified benefit plans. Nonqualified benefit plans or executive benefit plans are used to retain and reward your executives, top leaders, and other top performers. With credit unions that are 100 million in assets and greater, 75% of all executives have some sort of plan. [09:22] 23% of other leaders or managers were also receiving some sort of nonqualified benefit plan. It is showing that there is a greater need and desire to retain these up and comers and build their leadership pipeline. [11:05] Close to a third of CEOs are aged 60 years and older. About half of all CEOs are aged 55 and older. You have a great number of CEOs who are considering retirement if not already there. It pushes that time for succession planning. [13:27] About 40% of CEOs have been in their role for five years or less. [14:15] The primary objective of resources like this is to educate the decision-makers on the state of executive compensation so they have up-to-date information on what is happening in the market. [16:52] Work with a compensation consultant to make the data more actionable. The data behind the data is where you can find the actionable tasks and make sure they are aligned with your strategic goals and where you want to be. Links and Resources: /episode/index/show/theculab/id/31652072

Democratizing AI: Powerful Regulatory Compliance for Every Financial Institution l Wolters Kluwer 2024 06/05/2024

Artificial Intelligence vs. Emotional Intelligence l TruStage 2024 05/30/2024

Manufactured Housing for Home Buyers l Triad 2024 05/24/2024

How Credit Unions Can Win in 2024 l Upstart 2024 05/23/2024

How to Manage Overdraft with a Fairness First Approach l Velocity Solutions 2024 05/20/2024

Allied - Covering Your Assets: The Bottom Line on Tracing and Collateral Protection l Allied 2024 05/02/2024

Blind Spots in the Boardroom l DDJ Myers 2024 04/29/2024

Operational Agility: Key Factors for Success in 2024 and Beyond l SRM 2024 04/23/2024

Mergers and Acquisitions: Unifying Two Different Executive Total Compensation and Benefits Programs l Gallagher 2024 04/04/2024

Ensuring Safety and Soundness with AI l Upstart 2024 03/25/2024

Ensuring Safety and Soundness with AI l Upstart 2024 Thank you for joining us for another episode of the CU Lab. I’m Randy Salser with America’s Credit Unions, and I’ll be your moderator. Today I am sitting down with Lynn Sautter Beal, Vice President of Implementation and Success at Upstart. We are going to talk about ensuring safety and soundness with AI. Join Upstart expert Lynn Sautter Beal, Vice President of Implementation and Success for an informative session to explore why credit unions are applying AI to lending and how to empower credit unions to regulators and outside examiners through AI models during exams to ensure transparency and compliance. We also discuss challenges and key best practices for credit unions, and how credit unions can proactively prepare for upcoming developments in AI to stay ahead of the curve and maintain safety and soundness. In This Episode: [00:32] I am sitting down with Lynn Sautter Beal, Vice President of Implementation and Success at Upstart. We are going to talk about ensuring safety and soundness with AI. [01:32] She leads Upstart’s customer success implementation programs and professional services teams as well as their diligence teams. [03:48] The regulators are very focused on fairness in lending especially when it comes to using AI and outside models. The industry is moving very fast. [04:02] As you are a credit union thinking about partnering with a Fintech look for the expertise within that organization. [06:49] We have an Upstart diligence data room that is just a retro repository of everything that a credit union or potential partner would want to know about us. [08:25] Articulating that business use case and then how partnering with a Fintech like Upstart can support that is really the first step in having a successful conversation with your board. [10:30] If you are a champion of the program and you think this is the next type of right step for your credit union and you know there are objectors, talk to your account executive at your Fintech and have them help you overcome those objections. [12:02] Lynn shares a recent positive success story. [13:45] In addition to really knowing your business use case, plan for diligence. Don’t scrimp on due diligence. It will not support you long-term. [15:01] Plan for oversight. It is not set and forget it. Your regulators are going to want to know how you are overseeing that from a 3rd party risk management standpoint. [15:47] Have a handle on your reserves and capacity for lending and start small and grow slowly. [17:31] Making sure you are talking to your peers is really a great best practice. [17:41] Staying informed and connected will help keep you on the forefront of what is happening. Links and Resources: /episode/index/show/theculab/id/30532663