At Westminster Savings I’m fortunate to work for executive management who recognize that the Ecommerce channel doesn’t just run itself: it needs to be managed to be effective. I consider the active and deliberate management of web services to be the magic line between an effective web channel and one that just sits there, underutilized and underperforming.
We’re proud to use the services of Credit Union Central of BC to host and create our website and Online Banking platforms: they provide Canadian credit unions of any size a credible and substantial base platform for offering web services to members.
But then it’s up to credit unions to maximize the considerable opportunity CUCBC provides to them. How this manifests itself changes, I think, from FI-to-FI but specialization, skill-sets and staffing are two key signals. And these cost money.
Westminster Savings demonstrated its move across the threshold by hiring me to work almost exclusively in the web space. It didn’t have to be me – it could’ve been anyone – but by setting aside a piece of the credit union to look after just the web space they signalled their commitment to start moving in the Ecommerce area.
I spoke to the manager of another BC credit union at Net.Finance who is struggling with exactly this issue. When does the commitment to the web channel make sense for a small FI? Is it a product of strategy or a product of size, or a combination of those things? I had no answers for her, but it deepened my sense that, no matter how clever the distributed tools, WYSIWYG apps and outsourcing are, internally an organization still has to cross a threshold to be effective in the web space.
They need to be active and deliberate.
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