News

New Co-Op paper discusses how industry changes affect credit unions

May 12, 2004

ONTARIO, Calif. - Co-Op Network introduced its latest white paper, "Navigating the Payments Landscape," at its recent 2004 Annual Conference and Shareholders' Meeting. 

Produced in cooperation with WesCorp and the Applied Research Institute (ARI), the paper was presented to conference attendees by its authors, Tony Hayes of Dove Consulting and John MacAllister of Benton Consulting Partners.

"Between Visa and MasterCard settling the merchant lawsuit, the passage of Check 21 and First Data's acquisition of Concord EFS, the payments arena has been altered significantly in the last year," said Co-Op Network CEO Robert Rose. "This industry change, coupled with the ever-increasing consumer preference for electronic payment options, makes it imperative to provide member credit unions with the information they need to develop sound payments strategies."   

The paper outlines the legislative developments, competitive pressures, consumer preference shifts and technology advances that are challenging credit unions' current payments business models.

"Every credit union needs a payments strategy," said Tony Hayes, managing director of Dove Consulting's Financial Services Practice and study author. "In this time of change, it is more important than ever for credit unions to ally with the right partners and to work collaboratively to influence the industry's future direction."