VyStar’s Lysa Barbano on the growth of credit unions and consumer needs

VyStar’s Lysa Barbano on the growth of credit unions and consumer needs (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — This Florida Business Minds podcast episode introduces listeners to Lysa Barbano, senior vice president and Florida market president with VyStar Credit Union.

The following is a brief excerpt from the conversation, edited for clarity and brevity:

What changes do you see occurring in the credit union industry now and over the next five years?

There has been a tremendous amount of change. But three things really come to mind for me, the consumer preference, the competition out there and regulatory changes. On the consumer side, what we’re seeing is that people want access to services quickly and fully remotely, plus they expect top-notch service, no matter how they access us. This requires us to have an ongoing investment in technology and to continue to meet the needs of our members. We have to stay nimble. We’ve done that by embracing the digital transformations that are needed, offering online mobile banking services, as well as digital payments. We also prioritize training from Day One, when our employees start here, and then throughout their career at VyStar. We’ve also come up with programs to reward and recognize service, not only sales results, but service results. So, it’s important to us.

In terms of competition, things have intensified from online banks to traditional banks and credit unions and money apps such as Zelle and PayPal and things like that. We continue to differentiate ourselves through competitive rates and member service.

The last thing I mentioned is the changes in regulations. There have been a lot of additional compliance requirements and legislative updates, which have impacted operations and our strategic planning. That requires not only us, but all financial institutions to remain nimble, to find ways to gain efficiencies and help our clients understand how to navigate all these necessary changes.

How have you identified what your members are looking for in your services?

 As a not-for-profit, we serve members and communities with a personal touch while addressing complex issues like any other large financial institution. Our roots go back to over 70 years ago when we started on Naval Air Station Jacksonville, and we continue to serve our military personnel and their families while we also work to provide services on bases and across the United States [and] throughout the world because of our online and mobile banking services. In addition to military families, we’re able to work with members from all walks of life, whether it’s a first checking account or a car loan, investing in retirement or starting a business. We do this through our digital delivery and pursuing mergers and acquisitions of other credit unions and banks to achieve diversification across our geography and economies of scale. In January 2023, we completed the acquisition of the First Coast Federal Credit Union. This past March, we completed a merger with 121 Financial Credit Union. We will be converting with them later this year — that’s one of our current projects. We’ve been seeing a lot of growth in Florida, whether it be demographics, we’ve seen a lot of people traveling in, buying homes, we’ve seen a lot of home construction.

How does Florida compare to other states when it comes to credit union growth?

According to the National Credit Union Administration, Florida is one of seven states that saw growth of membership up and through last year. In Q3 2023, we had 1.6% [growth] and VyStar is one of the few financial institutions that continues to grow in the footprint. We are still seeing positive member growth even as we continue to expand.