TYME Was Money

In Wisconsin in the 1990s, if you needed to get cash, you didn’t go to the ATM machine, you went to the TYME (yes, pronounced “time”) machine. TYME, short for Take Your Money Everywhere, was one of the first U.S. shared electronic funds transfer networks.

It was so well-branded that we didn’t realize how ridiculous it sounded to outsiders when we asked where the nearest TYME machine was. In 2002, TYME merged into PULSE, but no one goes to the “PULSE machine” today.

So why should a credit union put the logos for the networks it belongs to on its cards? Those “bugs” on the back “serve no useful purpose, and they complicate the process of getting all the approvals you need when you make changes,” says CUES member Brenda Crane, SVP/COO of $833 million Credit Union 1, Rantoul, Ill. While debit clearing and ATM network contracts frequently include language that requires them, many credit unions are asking to waive the requirement. Read more in “PIN Debit Decisions”.

Our cover story this month tells the story of CUES’ 2017 Outstanding Chief Executive Chuck Purvis, CUDE, CCE. As CEO of Coastal Credit Union in Raleigh, N.C., Purvis has proven to be an innovator and collaborator. “I tend to look for possibilities that other people don’t see,” he says. “I also am a pretty big thinker. I’m not one who reacts well to the phrase, ‘We can’t do that.’ It spurs me to figure out how we can do it.” That spirit led to a very successful collaboration that resulted in video tellers as we know them today. Read more about Purvis and his remarkable CU career.

Like Purvis, I am inclined to start with “How can we do this?” instead of “Can we?” When trying to convince co-workers, colleagues, even (especially?) my 9-year-old son to approach problems from a “how-to” perspective, four tips from Jonah Berger will likely be of particular help. Berger, Ph.D., author of Invisible Influence and marketing professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, explains “How to be More Influential”. Need more Berger? You can hear him in person at CUES’ Directors Conference, Dec. 10-13 in Marco Island, Fla.

Here is a problem close to home for me and many of your employees: Women are falling short in their retirement savings. In 2015, the median household retirement savings reported by American women was $34,000 compared to $115,000 for men. That’s a big gap. Why should employers care? Financial stress takes a toll on workers, with many saying they’ve spent work time dealing with a personal financial matter and some even taking time off to deal with an issue or the stress that comes with a financial problem. How can your credit union help? Jennifer Norr, VP/marketing and strategy at CUESolutions provider CUNA Mutual Retirement Solutions, offers six ways that CUs can help narrow that gap in their female employees’ and members’ retirement savings on p. 40.

Happy International Credit Union Day on Oct. 19! Later this month, be sure to visit cues.org to read how credit unions are making members’ dreams thrive. How does your credit union plan to celebrate? I’d love to hear what you have planned (theresa@cues.org.)

Theresa Witham
Managing Editor/Publisher