At our recent Credit Union Leadership Exchange, three industry voices came together to unpack a question many credit unions are wrestling with right now: how do you compete when fintechs can move faster (and big banks can operate at scale) without losing what makes credit unions special?
Hosted by Sam Kilmer, Managing Director at Cornerstone Advisors, the conversation featured Jaspreet Chawla, SVP, Product Transformation at Navy Federal Credit Union, and David Ladic, Head of Sales, Americas at Zafin. Together, they explored the realities shaping the credit union landscape: from competitive threats and member expectations to modernization, personalization, and the role of trust.
Here are the key takeaways that credit union leaders need to be aware of.
1) The competitive threat has shifted
In just two years, fintechs have moved from emerging threat to frontline competitor.
— Sam Kilmer
Cornerstone’s latest study, What’s Going On in Banking, 2026, surfaced a clear signal: megabanks remain a major threat, but fintechs and challenger banks are rising fast. Sam noted that the perceived fintech threat has climbed sharply over the last two years, driven by the “trifecta” of marketing spend, tech investment, and proactive outreach.
The key point wasn’t alarmism; it was urgency: credit unions can’t treat fintech disruption as theoretical anymore. It’s operational, measurable, and happening now.
2) Navy Federal’s differentiation: service, member-centricity, and “moments that matter”
Members want clarity, recognition, and partnership — and we have to deliver that consistently.
— Jaspreet Chawla
Jaspreet shared a clear view of what differentiates Navy Federal beyond size: service and empathy, delivered consistently across channels.
She described member-centricity as both a core philosophy and a strategic goal, supported by concrete initiatives like:
- Unified experiences across branch, contact center, and digital
- Conversational banking capabilities
- Personal guidance and insights to help members make progress
A useful framing emerged — members want clarity, recognition, and partnership.
- Clarity about where they stand, with no surprises
- Recognition of the breadth of the relationship and their journey
- Partnership to help them reach milestones over time
3) Modernization doesn’t have to mean “big bang,” but it does need a foundation
We’re externalizing products and pricing so we can evolve without constantly re-engineering the core.
— Jaspreet Chawla
A major theme was the difference between aspiration and execution.
Jaspreet shared that Navy Federal is early in its transformation journey and spending significant time laying the groundwork for cloud core modernization, including externalizing products and pricing into Zafin’s platform to improve flexibility and speed, without constantly re-engineering the core.
The practical takeaway: modernization can start by making product and pricing capabilities more configurable, governable, and reusable, rather than tying change to core release cycles.
4) Winning isn’t about sending more offers, it’s about sending the right one, at the right moment
Insight is powerful — but frictionless action is what creates relevance.
— David Ladic
David Ladic offered a concrete example many can relate to: getting flooded with generic offers from big banks (and ignoring them because they’re irrelevant). The message: volume isn’t personalization.
The conversation focused on one powerful idea:
- Members’ needs vary by cohort, life stage, and context
- Hyper-personalization requires knowing what matters now
- Relevance isn’t just insight, it’s actioning those insights with low friction
David emphasized that many institutions can see insights but struggle to act on them quickly and consistently, especially across channels and workflows.
5) Simplicity is a discipline, and fintechs have mastered it
Complexity builds quietly over time. If simplicity is your goal, you have to test everything against it.
— Jaspreet Chawla
One of the most relevant insights shared at the exchange was Jaspreet’s observation that complexity accumulates quietly over time, and simplicity must be actively protected.
She shared what fintechs do well:
- Anchor on one promise
- Relentlessly remove friction around it
- Iterate quickly
- Be transparent about changes
Navy Federal’s strategic challenge (and opportunity) is combining fintech-like simplicity and speed with credit-union strengths: trust, stability, and relationship depth.
6) “Service” isn’t always a product, sometimes it’s showing up with empathy
Not every interaction should be about selling something. Sometimes it’s about showing up.
— David Ladic
One of the most resonant parts of the exchange was the reframing of service.
David argued that institutions often over-optimize for product sales and miss a broader definition of service:
- Showing up during difficult moments (fraud incidents, life events, government shutdowns)
- Delivering financial education as a responsibility, not a cross-sell
- Offering reassurance and guidance, not just pricing incentives
It’s a subtle point with big implications: the trust-building moments aren’t always tied to product uptake, but they drive loyalty over time.
7) Conversational banking and AI will raise the bar—context and tone will matter
AI will enhance the experience, but there will always be a human in the loop.
— Jaspreet Chawla
When the conversation turned to AI and conversational experiences, the group leaned into nuance:
- AI can improve efficiency and responsiveness
- But a “human in the loop” remains critical for many member interactions
- The best conversational experiences will combine real-time context with the right tone
A memorable callout: even if the data is correct, bad tone can break trust. The future is going to reward credit unions that respond to their members with context, empathy, and relevance.
8) The future of product strategy: from balance-based pricing to behavior-based propositions
Credit unions don’t win by out-scaling fintechs — they win by executing their mission better.
— David Ladic
Looking forward, David suggested relationship pricing is evolving beyond balances:
- Toward behaviors and lifecycle signals
- Toward product “propositions” made up of flexible attributes
- Toward experiences that adapt as members hit milestones—without forcing them to switch products
Jaspreet added another forward-looking theme: real-time responsiveness is becoming a baseline expectation (think Waze, order tracking, live guidance). Banking is still often too batch-oriented, insights arriving after the moment has passed.
Closing thought: compete on trust—execute with speed
The Credit Union Exchange discussion reinforced something credit unions have always known: mission and member trust are powerful differentiators. But in an environment shaped by fintech speed and platform expectations, differentiation also requires modern execution, especially around product flexibility, pricing, personalization, and consistent experiences.
In short, the conclusion of the Exchange was this: The aim isn’t technology for technology’s sake. It’s outcomes.
- Member success and progress
- Faster, governed change
- Less friction, more relevance
- Trust reinforced through consistent “moments that matter”
