Green Finance as a Growth Opportunity for CUs

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As the world grapples with climate change, we’re seeing a growing demand for green finance solutions. This is an opportunity for credit unions to capitalize on this growing market and benefit from potential growth opportunities.

By embracing green finance, credit unions can increase their profile as responsible lenders and be part of the fight against climate change. Green finance involves offering financial products that support environmental sustainability and combat climate change – such as renewable energy investments or financing eco-friendly projects.

This type of finance also has the potential to generate significant returns by investing in businesses that prioritize environmental responsibility. Credit unions can take advantage of these economic opportunities while simultaneously helping to create a greener future.

Inflation Reduction Act Spurs Green Finance in 2023

Recently, community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and minority depository institutions (MDIs) will be using provisions from the Inflation Reduction Act to expand their green lending.

This is just the latest in a number of green finance initiatives that we are likely to see grow in 2023 and beyond. But what is green finance and how can you leverage these initiatives at your credit union to create the growth you can feel good about?

The Future of Banking

As interest rates climbed and then plateaued in 2022, so does short-term profitability. But if the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that nothing is certain even in the short term.

This is where green finance makes its move.

So much of the financial forecasting we previously relied on has garnered mixed results as of late. Because of this, credit unions and banks are looking for ways to diversify their services and appeal to members who have their eyes on the future.

In McKinsey’s “Global Banking Annual Review 2022,” analysts go through some of the major factors driving banking into a “new era.” The review recommends for banks and credit unions to evolve from “more traditional business models to more future-proof platforms.”

These future-proof business models include focus areas like differentiated customer relationships, new customer access, and revenue sources, and innovation based on truly entrepreneurial endeavors. But one of the biggest ways to future-proof, according to McKinsey, is to target “environmental transformations.”

These transformations are led by the growing need for sustainable and green finance initiatives.

CU Growth & Green Lending

According to the 2022 McKinsey report, “the volume of sustainable syndicated loans, including green loans and sustainability-linked loans, totaled $683 billion in 2021, up by more than 200 percent from 2020.” The volume of sustainable bonds was up by 80% from 2020.

Financial industry changes are often valued below many other industries, and that is partially due to the net losses that are recorded by certain subsections of the industry overall. Despite all that, sustainable debt markets fared better than the overall debt markets. This upward movement is not likely to slow in the coming years, as initiatives around the globe are harnessing green finance as a way to expand sustainable initiatives.

These initiatives also help credit unions share in the investment and building of resiliency in the communities they serve. As consumer behavior and green initiatives gain traction, it also creates opportunities for credit unions to be on the front lines, supporting and financing those changes in areas that need it the most.

Why CUs Should Promote Green Lending Now

The McKinsey report goes on to talk about how the growing market for green finance also shows that few banks and credit unions have the short-term ability to finance some of the largest green initiatives that are gaining popularity including infrastructure, green hydrogen, green fuels, biomass, and carbon capture and storage.

But this creates a unique opportunity for credit unions, especially those in IRA-qualifying spaces, to start working with local community initiatives and small businesses on loans for these great green ideas.

Solar and wind power have been the topic of green finance and green lending for several years, even in areas that are not densely populated. These areas, where many credit unions thrive, will see an uptick in interest for these renewable energy resources, and that is a great opportunity to start working on offering sustainable loan packages and other programs that speak to this interest in businesses and infrastructures going green.

As more and more businesses and governments lean towards these green initiatives, it’s important that your credit union already has the infrastructure and capacity to serve this audience in the near and distant future.

Use Your CU Data to Pave the Way Forward with IMS DataArchiver

Data discovery is a great way to see what your credit union history looks like when it comes to green finance initiatives. The IMS DataArchiver is your SaaS solution for exploring rapidly growing amounts of data from on-premise storage to cloud storage and everything in between. It protects your data and also gives you helpful tools for finding specific data types with data visualization and e-discovery features. 

Essential Network Performance Metrics for the Financial Industry

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Cybersecurity is a major concern for companies across all industries, especially in the financial sector. The financial industry is facing a unique set of challenges. With vast amounts of sensitive information being exchanged, organizations must take extra precautions to protect their data. To ensure that their networks are safe, financial institutions should be aware of key performance metrics.

Let’s discuss the top network performance metrics for the financial industry and why they’re important for organizations to understand.

Network Performance Metrics to Watch: Bandwidth

There are many instances when you hear phrases like “we don’t have the bandwidth for that.” Often, this conveys a sense that whatever solution or course of action you’ve proposed, the current infrastructure of your credit union can’t handle it. This is what makes bandwidth one of the essential network performance metrics for the financial industry.

Bandwidth is the term used to describe the rate of maximum data transfer in your network over a certain amount of time.

The goal is to monitor and optimize your network’s bandwidth without going over the limit.

If your favorite retail store encounters a bandwidth problem that leads to downtime on its website, it can regain the trust of customers with sales and smart marketing. But credit unions are financial institutions, something that people rely on 24/7. Downtime and bandwidth issues for you can mean the loss of lifelong members.

People want infinite and unlimited access to their financial accounts. They want faster funds transfers, instant deposits, and payment options. This doesn’t leave much room for error. In fact, it makes it more crucial for your credit union to ensure that you have the bandwidth to handle whatever may come. And in these uncertain financial times, there are so many variables that your members will look to you to plan for and protect them from.

Level of Preparedness

Level of preparedness is a network metric that helps you determine how many of the devices on your network are fully patched and up to date. This is an important metric for credit unions and other businesses in the financial sector because it can help you detect and eliminate vulnerable devices and services.

Scanning for and managing vulnerabilities can also greatly reduce security breaches and lower IT and other costs.

Security Incidents/Intrusion Attempts

How many times has an attacker gained access to your information, assets, and/or network? How many times has an attacker attempted to access these items? Those numbers tell a story.

Of course, no cybersecurity effort should be without a thorough and frequent look into security incidents and intrusion attempts. Keeping an eye on these numbers allows you to recognize vulnerability trends more quickly.

Effective network performance keeps your vulnerabilities low. This means your analysis of security incidents and intrusion attempts should yield consistent results over time. That is, your numbers will stay consistent if your IT operations continue to evolve to protect your data from the latest threats.

If your IT program isn’t keeping things secure, time is of the essence. And it saves you time to keep yourself and your credit union leadership teams apprised of the number of incidents month to month and year to year.

Packet Loss

Packet loss measures the number of data packets lost during a transfer between two destinations in your network. Packets are the tiny pieces of data that are being sent and received over digital channels. This includes everything from downloaded files to email correspondence and more. There are many things that cause packet loss from software issues to network congestion or router problems.

Here’s a helpful tutorial on how to test for and fix packet loss issues.

Unidentified Devices on Internal Networks

Though most people imagine a hacking or breach attempt as having originated from “outside the castle walls,” it’s important to remember that every employee and member who accesses your network has the ability to corrupt it.

Employees can introduce viruses and other malicious code via their personal devices and habits. This can lead to issues as you are working toward building an efficient IT network.  

Company vs. Peer Performance

A high-level KPI to watch for in the list of network performance metrics for the financial industry is company versus peer performance. An efficient IT network, especially in the financial sector, should be able to keep performance above the average level for your industry.

You can compare a range of basic network metrics, including many of the ones we listed above. There are several reporting companies that have industry averages available online for you to compare against.

This is a metric that is more important when it comes to positioning your success in the industry. In essence, you won’t need this metric to improve specific cybersecurity efforts. But you will need these comparisons to show your board members and other credit union leaders that you are aware of the industry standards and are working toward and achieving those levels at the time you report to these governing bodies.

Network Connection

Checking connection is a big performance metric for ensuring optimal network performance. This metric shows you the connectivity between all the devices, nodes, and systems in your network.

You can use this metric to find and minimize service interruptions before they cost you customers and important data or operations.

IMS uses the premier backup solution for credit unions. This allows you to keep your credit union data up to date and stored securely at an offsite IMS data center. In addition to backup and recovery, this Rubrik backup solution also includes continuous data protection, ransomware recovery, replication and disaster recovery, virtualized environments, and Windows and Unix protection.

Learning from the Digital Experience at Top 100 Credit Unions

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Credit unions are a popular financial institution for many, yet the digital experience offered to their members can vary greatly. There are lots of insights and ways credit unions can use the digital experience at the top 100 credit unions to augment and transform their own offerings and operations.

Recently, Finalytics.ai released its 2023 Credit Union Digital Experience report, which they call the “annual deep dive into the largest credit unions in America by asset size, to analyze digital experiences across the industry.”

This report evaluates credit unions based on several items, including website, online account origination, analytics, member experience as a whole, cybersecurity, and privacy offerings. We wanted to take a look at these findings and see what trends are emerging.

In the modern-day, digital experiences are becoming a cornerstone of the financial industry. Credit unions have been taking advantage of these advancements to better serve their members. By analyzing the strategies implemented by these successful organizations, we can gain insight into how credit unions can create an effective digital experience for their members and improve overall customer satisfaction.

Let’s examine what we can learn from the digital experience of the top 100 credit unions in terms of user-friendliness, accessibility and services offered.

Overall Digital Experience Winners: Here’s How They Did It

The top 5 credit unions when it came to overall credit union digital experience, were VyStar Credit Union, Alliant Credit Union, CommunityAmerica Credit Union, Wings Financial Credit Union, and Redwood Credit Union. In general, each of these institutions enhanced their members’ digital experience by providing them with the features, aesthetics, and overall experience they preferred.

CU UX (User Experience) Needs to Be Optimized

Finalytics.ai ranks the different categories on a scale from worst to best with scores from 1 to 5. The average user experience (UX) score was 2.31 out of 5, which shows a marked need for improvement across the credit union industry.

In order to improve your own credit union’s UX, product-focused primary navigation is a must. Though this seems like a no-brainer, Finalytics.ai found that slightly more than half of the credit unions studied actually had their products listed in their primary navigation – the website menu.

Members and prospects are often coming to your website for solutions, not philosophies. While your mission and community outreach are hugely important to your brand image, your CU website should cater to those looking for product- and service-based solutions to their current problems and questions.

Think of it this way: if you opened your favorite navigation app or website and had to click through three or four tabs before you could enter in your destination address or name, you’d likely find a new navigation app, right? The same is true for your members: if they need a loan, they want to be able to navigate to your home page and see a tab that will take them to the loan types you offer, or even a digital loan application form.

The member journey should be one that is reflected in the UX of your website. It spans multiple channels, touchpoints, and sessions – this means your online presence needs to help guide them through that journey with as little friction as possible.

Personalization Matters

We’ve talked here and on our sister site’s blog about the importance of including personalization at all steps in the member journey, and the Top 100 credit unions report agrees, naming it a top growth trend.

Only 7 of the top 100 credit unions in the nation are ranking on a deeper level for personalization, and only 21 had some level of personalization included in their online presence.

Along with personalization, segmentation of credit union audiences was also lacking. Those segments (which can include different audience targets and even primary navigation that helps those looking for Business Personal, and Wealth Management insights and products) were considered “well-defined” in just 30% of the website content analyzed by Finalytics.ai.

The Role of Security in the Digital Experience

Part of a credit union’s digital transformation strategy in 2023 and beyond will need to include the way we talk about and protect our members’ data and information. In the Finalytics.ai study, they found that security and privacy content consists of two primary areas: the credit union side (what they’re doing to protect their member information) and the user side (what your members can do to protect their own information).

One way to improve this score, Finalytics.ai found, was to increase the visibility and access to information pertaining to cybersecurity and personal data and banking best practices. If your credit union doesn’t already have a dedicated and highly visible area for users to find tips, tricks, and instructions for safe ways to use your apps, website, and other mobile or online banking offerings, it’s worth the investment to create those resources for your members.

It’s also important to communicate often and stay consistent with your messages to members about the state of your cybersecurity and other digital transformation strategy items. Transparency and honesty can often close the rift for prospects: if you can show your members and potential members that your credit union is committed to offering a similar level of protection that big banks can, it goes a long way in building trust in your brand.

Keeping the Momentum Going

Trust is the key to member satisfaction, and that means being intentional and transparent with your credit union’s offerings and operations this year.

Some exciting and positive findings in the Finalytics 2023 Credit Union Digital Experience Report include growth in all of the following: loans outstanding (16.2% increase year to year), shares and deposits (up 8.1%), and net worth (10.8% growth).

Finalytics.ai also had some insights into the top digital services members value and desire the most, which include:

  • Remote deposit capture
  • Digital cards that can be issued directly to a digital wallet
  • P2P payments
  • Digital wallets
  • Cardless cash withdrawals

With all that emphasis on increasing digital access and solutions, you’ll need powerful data and security solutions, and IMS has you covered.

With our IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) solutions, you can configure resources to meet your CU needs. You can skip the pricey setup and installation of an in-house data center and trust your members’ data to our self-service, enterprise-grade cloud IaaS that was built to meet your credit union’s dynamic needs.

2023 Credit Union Cybersecurity Predictions

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As technology advances, so does the need for heightened credit union cybersecurity measures. When it comes to cybersecurity, credit unions must stay up to date with the latest threats in order to keep their members safe and secure.

As the world of technology continues to evolve, so do the challenges of keeping our data secure. Credit unions in particular face a unique set of cybersecurity threats that must be anticipated and prepared for. We will discuss how credit unions can leverage digital transformation to protect themselves and their members from malicious cyberattacks as well as explore emerging technologies that may be used to combat potential threats.

In this article, we will take a look at what experts predict are some of the major credit union cybersecurity predictions for 2023.

Credit Union Cybersecurity Will Be a Top Risk Management Concern

According to a recent NCUA article, the top 4 risk factors affecting the financial industry in 2023 include interest rate risk, liquidity risk due to inflation concerns, credit risk due to housing and loan market concerns, and cybersecurity risks due to geopolitical issues and growing dynamic threats.

In July 2022, NCUA approved a rule that requires credit unions to notify NCUA no later than 72 hours after they reasonably believe a reportable cyber incident has occurred. They have created and optimized their ACET (Automated Cybersecurity Evaluation Toolbox) and offer many free resources and checklists to credit unions aiming to adjust and evaluate risk management concerns for the new year.

“Passwordless” Solutions Are at the Forefront of Financial Cybersecurity Solutions

“Passwordless” solutions like MFA (multi-factor authentication) will continue to be a powerful tool in every credit union’s cybersecurity best practices toolkit. As the use of cloud computing and hybrid work and customer service solutions rises, so does the need to ensure all data, no matter where it is stored or sent, is protected by more than a password.

Password auto-fill options like the Google Smart Lock system continue to be popular in both personal and professional settings, and that can create rifts in security. But with MFA, those rifts can often be closed or avoided completely due to the hacker’s need to have more access and devices in order to complete the authentication process.

Because apps and cloud usage have exponentially expanded the attack surface for credit unions, these new technologies require advanced solutions that look much different than the ones that previously governed in-house servers and networks.

Phishing & Email Attacks Among Top Cybersecurity Threats for 2023

A recent article from Forbes outlines the top 5 scams that businesses should be watching for in 2023. They include:

  • Business email compromise (BEC): this includes the use of fake email accounts to harbor or spread threatening software and includes phishing attempts, ransomware, and more.
  • Malware and Ransomware: due to the current geopolitical climate surrounding the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, many political cybersecurity experts believe Russia will use its resources to continue launching ransomware attacks against those governments and entities that do not agree with its current political agenda.
  • Crypto Scams and “pig butchering” scams: Named for the phrase “raising a pig for slaughter,” these attacks start with a friendly message that entices the recipient to create an online relationship with the sender (hacker). As that trust grows, the hacker will then start questioning the recipient about their interests in crypto in an effort to get them to buy into a website that is reputed to have made someone a lot of money, only for that crypto to be stolen from the recipient’s accounts.
  • Cybercrime cash-out process innovation: This is an evolving scam that started with hackers and bad actors asking unsuspecting and uneducated individuals to send gift cards or cryptocurrency in an effort to get around the “cash-out,” where payments that surpass $10,000 and other high-value transactions can be tracked and flagged for suspicious activity.
  • Scamming as a Service: Virtual marketplaces in underground websites are creating and selling end-to-end services that “enable low-skill threat actors to fill their carts and pay with crypto,” Forbes says. These services include full sets of stolen credentials, ready-to-deploy ransomware, phishing, other attacks, and more. Even the bad guys love a good package deal.

Multi-Year Strategic Plans Work Best for Cybersecurity Success

Because cybersecurity threats are ever-changing, credit union and financial industry leaders must be prepared to put their money and their time into multi-year strategic plans. Cybersecurity is a complex beast, and everything and everyone that interacts with a network can create potential threat opportunities.

A mix of internal and external threats are often already beginning to make their way through secure areas, files, and devices throughout the year, and an improvement in key performance metrics, like a decrease in ransomware or phishing attempts, is no reason to ease off or to decrease your institution’s budget for cybersecurity personnel, services, and software.

Organizations with Cybersecurity Network Architecture Will Reduce Financial Security Costs By 90%

Does that sound too good to be true? It’s a certainty by 2024, according to Gartner’s cybersecurity predictions for 2023-2025. Those organizations that switch to a more holistic cybersecurity approach that encompasses not just their devices and network, but all technology that has access to or is integrated with it, are expected to see a 90% reduction in the final costs of security incidents.

Credit union cybersecurity threats are serious and should be caught early to minimize damage and data theft. That’s why IMS offers Polaris Radar, an anomaly detection software that enables your system to recover more quickly and easily from an attack on your credit union network security. Don’t get caught unawares, especially when your members’ personal and financial information may hang in the balance.

3 Benefits of Data Discovery

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Like any business, a credit union’s data is an important asset for its operations. But if you don’t have the ability or expertise to analyze that data and use it effectively, you’re just sitting in a library waiting for the books to teach you something without you ever opening one.

Data discovery is the process of analyzing your credit union’s data using visual aids and other tools that can help those in your business who are less technologically inclined understand the insights housed within that collection of data. The insights gleaned from good data discovery can help your credit union’s bottom line and your employee performance, and even member satisfaction.

There are many reasons why data discovery is essential to the growth and success of your credit union operations. Let’s talk about some of the biggest benefits of data discovery for your credit union.

You Can Better Understand Your Credit Union Data Logistics

One of the top benefits of data discovery is the knowledge you, your employees, and even your board of Directors will gain on the logistics of your credit union data.

Much like the concept of “the Internet,” how, why, and where your data is stored and used can be a difficult concept to grasp, even though you are likely using or interacting with that data every day.

With data discovery, you can understand where all your different data types are stored and who has access to them. This aids in security matters, as well as productivity. One of the easiest ways to lose momentum in a work environment is to not have the tools or resources you need to complete your tasks.

You can also know which data is being transmitted, how it’s being moved around, and over which channels in your technology network. Data quality starts with data inventory, and a good data discovery tool can help with both of those things.

Data Discovery Reduces Inconsistencies Caused by Multiple Information Silos

Your credit union likely stores and shares information across multiple information silos. Think of it as a filing cabinet system. While the information in these silos may be organized, they aren’t all housed in the same data unit.

These information silos can create serious data issues as you try to aggregate the data you have stored across them all. Inconsistencies in your systems can lead to issues with duplicate information, incorrect versions of dated data, and more. The ability to reconcile these information silos and the data within them is important to your credit union when it comes to keeping data up to date and consistent.

This is even more true now that we are in the age of remote work. If your information silos don’t sync up, you could have staff members or credit union members working off old or incorrect data.

Competitive Advantage Comes from Data-Driven Approaches

The biggest benefits of data discovery come from the competitive advantages you can glean from good data. The days of blanket marketing ads that target whole regions – and even countries – are long gone.

Your approach to data discovery is one of the most valuable tools you can use to grow your credit union member base, offer targeted and high-demand products and services, and teach your staff how to meet the needs of your members and the greater community.

Much like the data housed in information silos must be pulled together, so must your data discovery tool enable you to find the insights that help your credit union operations improve.

In many businesses, certain departments know more (or less) about different initiatives and workflows than others. When this occurs, your operations can lose productivity and even credit union members as you try to hunt down the data and insights you need to form a clear picture of your next steps. Data discovery is a great way to close those gaps in your data analysis.

Data discovery helps drive your understanding of your credit union’s competitive advantages. When you’re able to look at the big picture your full range of data makes, you can create solutions that not only benefit your credit union’s business but can also create differentiators in your market. Data discovery is what positions credit unions to better service specific people and communities than big banks and universal automation do.

IMS Data Archiver: The Key to CU Data Discovery Done Right

The IMS Data Archiver is a powerful data discovery tool that has been tailored to credit union needs. Simple and cost-effective, IMS Data Archiver can save you up to 80% of your primary storage costs, reduce backup times, and can help you manage unlimited file servers in a distributed environment with zero end-user disruption.

This tool includes several powerful tools, a few of which are:

  • Ransomware protection
  • Data life cycle management
  • Built-in data visualization tools
  • Multi-remote site management
  • Data compliance and e-discovery tools
  • Data compression and de-duplication

Check out the data discovery tool and other IMS protection and compliance services on our website or give us a call today.

Hidden Ways Your Credit Union Data Is at Risk

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The importance of protecting your credit union data can’t be overstated. Unfortunately, there are many ways your data can be stolen, corrupted, or lost. From less-than-vigilant password protocols to accidental deletions, malware, and more – each of these threats presents unique challenges and accesses specific vulnerabilities in your cybersecurity and other data systems and puts your data at risk.

There are also many undetected ways you put your data at risk. Many loopholes and vulnerabilities are often found after they’ve been exploited if you don’t know where to look or what to look for. Let’s discuss some of the hidden ways your credit union data is at risk.

Personal Device Usage

Personal devices are used for business projects and functions during working hours but are not company property. There are tons of different types of personal devices, and most of them are connected. This includes things like smartphones, laptops and tablets, smartwatches and accessories, and more.

When you allow your employees to use their own devices to carry out credit union business, you are putting your data at risk of being lost or stolen. Personal devices also aren’t held to the same security and update standards as your company-specific technology.

Device management is a major piece of post-COVID cybersecurity. Each device that connects to your credit union’s network is creating opportunities for breaches because it puts your CU and your member information in more hands, and not all of those hands will treat that data correctly. Whether the data is lost through malicious activities or unintentional employee mishandling, it’s important to think through the amount and types of devices that you want to be able to connect to your data and network systems.

Insufficient Backup Policies

Backups are diverse and indispensable tools for safeguarding your credit union data. But that doesn’t mean every backup works the same way.

When you are exploring and auditing your backup policies, it’s important to not only think about the time and convenience of the backup functions – making sure your backups are run regularly, capturing all your credit union data, and not hindering other network functions.

But it is also wise to think about how long it will take for your backups to restore your data. If an onsite server fails, do you know how long it will take for your offsite backups to restore it? Will it take a full 24 hours? Do you have adequate offsite backups?

The mistake here is installing backup software or protocols and then forgetting about it. These systems, though they should never fail, should be regularly checked to ensure that you are capturing all the data you need to be backing up. Business processes change, and IT protocols are always evolving.

IMS offers backup services tailored specifically to credit unions. That means these systems were built with your specific data types in mind. Your data backups are automated and your data is secured and stored offsite at an IMS data center.

Digital Supply Chain Weaknesses

The digital supply chain is essentially the network that is created throughout the supply chain to increase integration, dynamic processes, and predictive supply chain operations.

If you have third-party software that you used to create your credit union’s app, which then supplies products and services to your enrolled members, this is just one example of the different ways digital content and programming can intersect with and affect your cybersecurity and your credit union data. For example, a breach in 2021 involved the Kaseya supply chain. Kaseya offers remote management services that many credit unions in the USA use.

Understaffed and Overburdened IT Staff

Credit unions aren’t like big banks. Some are standalone small businesses with a handful of staff members that are diligently serving their communities. Other credit unions are large and can be run much like a corporation.

But right now, there are staffing shortages everywhere. The pandemic has caused what many are calling the Great Resignation, and that means more people than ever are overburdened at work.

And while this is a big hurdle to overcome no matter what industry or department you work in, IT shortages can be much more expensive than just the overtime and loss of productivity costs.

If your IT department isn’t able to keep up with all the day-to-day maintenance, employee and member requests, and other top priority items, something is going to eventually slip through the cracks.

The hiring shortages and issues aren’t going away quickly, and that means technology-based solutions should be your next step. Luckily, that’s what IMS has been doing for credit unions and credit union data for years.

Combat Known and Unknown Data Threats with IMS Today

IMS is the leading data management, backup, disaster recovery, and IaaS service provider for credit unions. Whether you are trying to increase protection from bad actors, unhappy employees, or unprecedented threats like staff mistakes and natural disasters, IMS can help.

Our private cloud services have been designed with credit union data in mind:

With these and other services, tailored specifically to your CU needs, IMS is the perfect solution to help assuage your data fears as we become increasingly reliant on technology and stored data solutions.

Why Your Credit Union Needs Offsite Backup

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Is your credit union considering implementing offsite backup services?

An offsite backup is a tool used to replicate your credit union’s (or any business’s) data and store it on a server or medium that is housed in a different location. While local backups are a good start, those backups stored on a hard drive or other media and are more geared toward protecting your data in the event of a small issue, like corruption of a single file.

Cybersecurity threats have been on the rise for several years, and the pandemic exacerbated that. Here’s why your credit union needs offsite backup.

Disasters & Storage Space

Your credit union is a financial institution that is dedicated to its members. That means the space in your branches and physical locations is better utilized when your data backups are housed outside of that location.

Offsite backups offer the benefit of keeping your office storage space to a minimum so you can house more staff members and member-inclusive areas like lobbies and private meeting rooms.

Storing your data offsite also means any natural or other disasters that affect your credit union operations will not affect your backups. Fire, tornado, hurricane, earthquake – your locations have their own specific weather threats that can disrupt or destroy data and data-housing hardware if all your backups are stored on-site.

Reduced Time & Cost

If you don’t have to pay for the technology that houses your data, and you don’t have to manage the backups, you can save time and money. That’s the beauty of offsite backup services.

You can outsource the purchase and upkeep of your data backup system by partnering with IMS to store your data safely offsite and to have it monitored and protected.

This also saves your IT staff and credit union managers and leaders time by removing some, if not all, of the data backup duties from their plates. Your credit union operations can continue efficiently and cost-effectively.

Increased Security

And speaking of protection, there are several benefits to offsite backup on that front, too.

Should your credit union or branch be hit with malware that affects your entire local network, your offsite backups are still safe. This can decrease the impact of things like ransomware and create great opportunities for near-seamless disaster recovery protocols.

You also remove the opportunity for human error by moving the data offsite. This way, files can’t be confused or stolen through employee error or malicious intent.

Offsite backups are disconnected from your main networks, so any issues you have with those networks will leave your backups completely unaffected.

Peace of Mind

Housing all your assets in one place is never a great business strategy, especially when those assets include sensitive personal and financial information. You and your members will be able to rest easy knowing that their information is protected in a data center with technology that was built to serve credit union needs.

Remote work and hybrid office spaces also mean that the availability of data has changed. Keeping all important backups in one place when your credit union may have people accessing it from unfamiliar homes and public networks has increased the chances of a malicious attack.

By incorporating offsite backup solutions into your business continuity and disaster recovery plans, you can ensure that the big disasters will have virtually no effect on the integrity of your data.

Cloud-Based Offsite Backup Solutions

IMS offers an automated, unattended backup solution that keeps your data from physical and virtual machines securely stored at an IMS data center.

Our could-based backup services are powered by Rubrik, the premier backup solution on the market. We provide fast and efficient backup that includes both on-premise backup and offsite replication.

Our Rubrik backup solution includes:

  • Backup & recovery
  • Continuous data protection
  • Ransomware Recovery Replication & disaster recovery
  • Virtualized environments
  • Windows & Unix protection

Your data is the digital backbone of your credit union operations. And more and more people are prioritizing security and continuity in their banking and other financial service providers. 

Foster Financial Inclusion at Your CU

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More than half of adult consumers in the US are financially unhealthy, according to a study from the Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI). And of the 1 in 5 Americans who have no bank account, all of them often choose to use nonbank options rather than your member-centered credit union. So how do we increase access to credit union services in a way that captures this huge potential member audience?

Financial inclusion is a concept that is defined by many factors, but the main goal is to ensure that all communities, regardless of race, status, or financial education, have equal access to credit union services and opportunities.

Here are some ways you can foster financial inclusion at your credit union.

Create Digital Solutions

Your members should be from all walks of life. And digital tools are the best way to foster equality in terms of financial barriers to entry. Some of the main reasons people choose not to use banking or credit union services include things like the branch’s hours of operation not working for their schedule, and the inconvenience it causes them when they have to go out of their way and physically visit one of your locations.   

Digital tools can help remove those barriers and create meaningful progress toward full financial inclusion.

These tools can be member-facing or in the background.

For member-facing digital tools, one of the most popular recently has been the inclusion of online self-service forms, account opening, and web loan applications.

And these member-facing solutions are only as good as the digital infrastructure that supports them. That’s why it’s also important to use a leading provider of enterprise data protection like IMS to keep things running smoothly with solutions like compliance and IaaS.

Mobile solutions are also a growing sector within the digital banking realm. Accessibility in banking means meeting your members where it is most convenient for them, whether that’s in your lobby, in their home office, or in their phone screen.

Keep Up with Industry News

Recently, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion was created by Chairwoman Joyce Beatty (D-OH) and Ranking Member Ann Wagner (R-MO).

The goal of the committee is to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion in the financial and banking sectors. Part of the committee’s purpose is to introduce new legislation (called the Financial Access for Underserved Communities Act) that includes expanding classifications for credit unions as “low-income” credit unions. This would mean that if any area is more than 10 miles from the nearest branch of a financial institution, it would receive the “low-income” distinction.

The bill that includes this change would also allow federal credit unions to add these underserved communities to their field of membership.

Legislation is changing all the time, and another way to increase financial inclusion in your credit union and its practices is to keep your ear to the ground when it comes to developing initiatives. Using your credit union’s status and expertise to weigh in on and share important changes to the system can also help educate members and non-members alike.

Share the Importance of Moving Banked Dollars into CUs

Certain big businesses, like NerdWallet, have recently moved assets from big banks into CDs (Certificate of Deposit) in an effort to create more equity in communities that are disproportionately struggling due to the pandemic.

Investments made in order to bring assets to credit unions are a surefire way to help individuals and businesses in your CU’s community. You can encourage and ask bigger businesses with ties to your communities to help in these efforts.

Now, more consumers are holding big businesses accountable and asking that they show their commitment to the communities that support them by giving back to those communities.

Doing this through a credit union can help those individuals and businesses get the same financial opportunities given by big banks, and even get them at competitive rates.

Embrace BNPL

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) solutions are gaining popularity across the country as we work to decrease the number of unbanked and underbanked individuals. This practice allows  

Credit unions can combat the need for prepaid cards in underserved communities by offering BNPL and other debit-forward options with no added fees. This allows you to create meaningful relationships with these communities. You can also use these products and services to boost financial inclusion in the communities your credit union serves.

Use Your Data to Create an Inclusive Future for Your CU

Your data is the gateway to help people access your credit union services. It’s also a way to foster membership growth, problem-solving and troubleshooting, and so much more. In order to promote financial inclusion, it’s important to create a digital atmosphere that can support all of your members’ diverse and unique needs.

The IMS DataArchiver saves up to 80% of primary storage costs and is scalable to manage unlimited file servers in a distributed environment with zero disruption to end-users.

Debunking 3 More Credit Union Cloud Myths

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In a previous blog post, we debunked 3 credit union cloud computing myths, and we’re here to do it again. Cloud computing has been gaining popularity for years, but the events of 2020 and 2021 have accelerated widespread adoption. And with that rapid change comes new concerns. Let’s debunk 3 more common credit union cloud myths.

Myth: The Cloud is Only Good for Backup & Disaster Recovery

This myth is a little difficult to debunk because we must omit just a single word (“only”) from the myth to make it true. Cloud computing is a secure way to back up your data, and it’s also an effective option for disaster recovery practices.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. For example, IMS’s Private Cloud Services also include:

  • Infrastructure-as-a-Service provides a safe and secure home for your servers
  • Core Hosting: IMS can manage and operate your credit union’s core system to whatever extent you need
  • Virtual Desktop provides a complete virtual workspace, a crucial element in this newly remote world.
  • Colocation Services keeps your data perpetually available by adding redundancy to your systems.    

Myth: One Cloud Will Rule Them All

There’s also a prevailing double-edged cloud myth, and it is that you either need to be extra meticulous in choosing the one cloud solution that will “do it all,” or that once you have broken the seal and start using one cloud service, you’ll end up needing dozens or hundreds of different cloud providers in order to successfully do all the things you were already achieving with your in-house or data center-based system.

Many organizations choose a multi-cloud strategy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have success with one cloud, and it also doesn’t mean that you will have to collect cloud management systems the way people collect stamps or comic books.

Myth: Cloud Data = Public Data

Another extremely common cloud myth is that once it’s in the cloud, your data is accessible to the public – as in everyone. There are tons of jokes in movie scenes about how once something is up in the cloud, you can’t get it down, and the information (no matter how private or incriminating) is now broadcast for all the world to see.

The Florida Institute of  Certified Public Accountants shared some great insight on why this notion is a myth: “There are public clouds (shared environments) and private clouds (dedicated environments.”

Public clouds like Google, for example, have multiple tenants and typically operate under pay-as-you-go models. A private cloud, however, is a single-tenant environment where all hardware and network components are dedicated to one client (or business).

Either way, there are no options where storing your information in a cloud network is akin to putting your data on a public billboard or allowing random individuals access to your credit union’s sensitive business or member-based data.

Bust Your Credit Union Cloud Myths – See the Results for Yourself

IMS offers Private Cloud Services that can help you safeguard your member data at all times, but especially when your credit union is most vulnerable. Contact IMS for more information.

6 Benefits of Offsite Data Storage

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Colocation is one of the big players when it comes to digitizing your credit union processes and keeping your data safe and secure. Renting offsite physical space to house your data is a great disaster recovery practice, which should be a part of every credit union’s business continuity plan. Here are some of the top benefits of offsite data storage.

Business Continuity & Connectivity

Let’s start with something we already mentioned. Colocation protects your data no matter what happens to the physical locations of any credit union branches by adding redundancy to your system. That means your data is available nearly 100% of the time, ensuring near-perpetual connectivity. The chances of losing access to your data, especially with offsite backups, means your products and services are never disrupted by glitches or natural disasters.

Offsite data storage has become a necessary addition to business continuity plans considering the recent push toward expansive digital banking. 24/7 availability of services and products is something your members have come to expect from their preferred financial institutions.

Cost-Effectiveness

Taking advantage of offsite data storage has comparably low setup costs, and the fees included in maintenance are nothing compared to the guarantees it brings your credit union in terms of uninterrupted service and data loss prevention.

Flexibility

Because your system’s data is backed up in a physical location that isn’t tied to your credit union properties, you have more flexibility in your locations.

Restructuring branches, shutting locations down or adding new ones – everything is possible with offsite data storage. Tying your data backups to a separate location also means that you can optimize your own space for other purposes. No need to save rooms for extra data storage or redundancies.

Support & Service

Your credit union’s IT department already has enough to handle, with the major shifts to digital services. And your tech employees are worth more to your business when they have the resources and the time to focus on assisting members. With IMS colocation and private cloud services, you have access to data and IaaS support every hour of every day, including holidays and nontraditional hours.

Onsite and remote emergency support ensure that your data is protected and optimized, so you can get back to fulfilling your credit union’s true purpose – bringing great financial services and advice to your members.

Scalability

Just like your locations can be scaled easily when your data is stored offsite, your infrastructure and digital needs can be scaled up or back to accommodate whatever phase of growth or consolidation your credit union may be currently going through.

Maintain Control over Your Data

Offsite data storage allows for your data to be managed in a secure secondary location, but you still get to keep control over it. Take advantage if its scalability, customize your data solutions to cover your credit union’s needs, and get the support you need, no matter where or when you need it.

Make Connections, Protect Your CU Data for Good

Colocation services are a core part of your business continuity plan, and your credit union members and employees shouldn’t have to suffer when an unplanned emergency happens. Keep your data safe and your business thriving with IMS’s colocation and private cloud services.

Contact us for more information.