Strategic Planning 2026: Efficiency with a Member-First Lens
Credit unions can improve efficiency without eroding member service by aligning planning around seven actions: integrate data, eliminate low-value work, embed fraud controls in the journey, leverage CUSO partnerships, align branch and digital, scale automation (including agentic AI), and consider field-of-membership expansion.
It’s that time of year to align budgets with business objectives, hello, strategic planning. This year, credit union leaders are aiming to do more with less.
A shift is underway. Since the post-pandemic recovery and the rapid acceleration of digital transformation, the emphasis has been on resilience. Now that credit unions have proven how resilient they are, it’s time to turn our attention to efficiency, while preserving a member-first ethos in an increasingly digital world.
The rising losses from fraud and delinquencies, combined with the pace of digital change and the steady leak of membership to fintechs, make operational efficiency more critical than ever.
Reducing costs without sacrificing high standards of member service isn’t just a goal, it’s the next frontier.
A Moment for Fraud: A Growing Risk to Member Service
Fraud is evolving in lockstep with digital tools and technology. It accounted for $12.5 billion in losses last year, and that number is expected to rise as bad actors shift from physical attacks to psychological ones. Fraud attacks don’t only target your members, they put your entire credit union at risk.
In response to these growing threats, you may have rightly adopted a “verify then trust” approach. But is friction in the name of fraud prevention, like multi-layered authentication, biometrics, or delayed account access, compromising the experience for everyday members?
Striking the balance between layered defenses and a seamless member experience doesn’t happen by chance. As fraud losses loom, be cautious not to loosen prevention measures too much in pursuit of efficiency and convenience.
Preserving a Member-First Ethos
According to NCUA’s Q2 2025 report, membership declined across every asset category except FCUs with at least $1 billion in assets. For decades, younger members naturally replaced older ones at credit unions, but this is no longer the case. And it’s not for lack of younger people, it’s for lack of knowledge. Only 4% of Gen Z are credit union members, and 30% don’t know they are eligible for membership.
Today’s consumers prioritize account diversity over loyalty to a single financial institution, putting both membership growth and deposits at risk. That’s why fine-tuning operational efficiency through a member-first lens has never been more critical, not just to reduce costs, but to deliver the seamless, personalized experiences that attract and retain the next generation of members.
Planning for Growth: 7 Ways to Embed Member Experience Into Corporate Planning
In 2026, the most effective strategy won’t be cutting corners for the sake of cutting costs. A better enterprise-planning question is:
“How can we simplify operations to amplify member value?”
Here are seven timely strategies to point your shop in the right direction, streamlining for efficiency and member satisfaction.
- Integrate data for deeper insights. The most impactful data is integrated data. What happens behind the scenes shapes what members experience out front, both in branch and digitally. Connecting once-siloed platforms provides actionable insights and a clearer picture of members’ needs. Bumps along the way are guaranteed, but unified data gives your teams the traction to navigate rocky terrain with confidence.
- Eliminate low-value activities. Sometimes achieving enterprise goals means doing less. Identify events, programs, or investments that no longer drive growth or competitive advantage, and redirect those resources toward initiatives that deliver measurable member value. What could your shop stop doing in 2026 to accomplish more in the long term?
- Build fraud prevention into the member journey. Fraud mitigation isn’t just a back-end function, it should be integrated into every step of the member journey. Collaborate across departments, from digital banking to marketing, to design verification steps that feel intuitive, not intrusive. With behavioral analytics and real-time monitoring, you can detect anomalies early without adding unnecessary friction for trusted members.
- Invest in strategic alliances to create and scale efficiency. Strategic CUSO partnerships can reduce redundancy and inefficiency without diluting the member experience. Locking arms with trusted vendor-partners to onboard high-impact digital tools can expand capabilities and elevate the member experience across the board, all while staying on budget.
- Align in-branch and digital experiences. Automating workflows to maximize human capital will be a major growth driver this year.1 Bringing the physical and digital experiences into harmony requires more than automation, it takes training. Equip employees with the tools and confidence to deliver consistent, high-touch service across every channel.
- Scale automation. If you’ve automated one area only to rinse and repeat in another, you aren’t alone. The automation goalpost keeps moving. The key is steady progress. Each year, take one more step to replace manual, error-prone processes with automation that enhances efficiency and member satisfaction.
- Streamline processes through analytics
- Reduce back-office friction
- Automate routine tasks
- Enhance fraud mitigation
- Personalize member interactions
The greatest AI advantage won’t come from the credit unions that have the most AI, but from those that scale it wisely.
- Consider field-of-membership expansion. This is no time to be tight on liquidity. If deposits lag, explore alternative membership parameters to widen reach. Consider age, geography, employer groups, income bands, and shared interests as levers for growth and inclusion.
The Next Chapter in Your Credit Union’s Story
The list of strategic priorities is long: continued AI evolution, enhanced data security, evolving regulatory requirements and guidance, expanding yield margins, assessing and managing collateral risk, and balancing fraud mitigation with expanding member demands.
In the hustle of strategic planning, remember there will be many business objectives and only one north star: “people helping people.”
Hold tight to that mission and let it guide your planning with purpose. When efficiency and experience align, the result isn’t just growth, it’s lasting member loyalty.