Outsourcing business functions to specialized vendors is a proven pathway to growth for credit unions.

What Sam Walton started from a single mom-and-pop convenience store turned into the largest retailer in the world, Walmart. Part of this tremendous success was Walton’s laser focus on the customer. Shopping experience, customer service, price, product, and availability drove customers to Walmart again and again.

Walton didn’t build his business alone. He had a clear mission, created an internal organization with talented, like-minded people, and augmented his operations with outsourcing partners he trusted to fulfill his mission. The same strategy can help credit unions in today’s competitive environment.

Over a century later, credit unions continue to serve niche groups of customers, but the landscape has changed. Credit unions compete with traditional banks, online lenders, and FinTech startups for customers and market share, offering similar financial services and attracting members with better rates, better service, and lower fees. The not-for-profit model relies on keeping operational expenses low, so Walton’s strategy, outsourcing business functions to specialized vendors, is once again a pathway to growth.

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