If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
The power of partnership and shared mission will enable us to impact more credit unions and their members for good. Alloya Corporate Federal Credit Union’s recent acquisition of QCash Financial, QCash by Alloya, is a promising development for cooperatives across the country.
QCash has seen exceptional growth in recent years, and Alloya is the optimal partner to protect and enhance the success of the CUSO, and our credit union clients, who entrust QCash to deliver safe and equitable lending solutions for their members
It is hard to imagine a better alignment of values. QCash’s long-standing mission has always been helping credit unions empower themselves in their quest to improve the financial well-being of their communities. Alloya’s mission as a business is to support credit unions’ success and provide the products that will enhance their evolution as a cooperative. Their purpose emphasizes technology development, and that results in a great fit with our product plans.
There is power in credit union service organizations. CUSOs value the credit union movement because they are a part of that movement and understand the needs and practices of the cooperative.
With this structure, credit unions can access CUSO products and services without having to finance the development of the fintech themselves. Many cooperatives are already benefiting from CUSOs, saving time and resources that can be applied more efficiently to members.
The potential of this acquisition offers nationwide possibilities for financial inclusion and access to millions of credit union members and welcomes new members who may not have had prior access to digital lending tools and resources.
According to Bankrate, as of 2021 mobile banking was the primary choice of accessing one’s account for 43.5 percent of U.S. consumers, making it the most common banking method. The majority of consumers, 61 percent, use digital banking services at least once a week. Even more, about a quarter of consumers claim they would prefer to open an account online but are unable to do so at their current financial institution. The point is consumers are asking for accessible and affordable banking tools in the year 2023.
And non-banks have started to catch up to mainstream financial institutions. Over half, or 57 percent, of Millennials and 64 percent of Gen Z currently have an account with a non-traditional institution. QCash CUSO can add yet another piece of the total credit union package that enables members fast access to affordable small-dollar loans just by going to their respective credit union apps.
Alloya continues to simplify and automate credit unions’ operations while expanding on other product solutions with in-house IT and development, including a core processor that went live in March of 2023. Through partnership, QCash has been available to Alloya’s credit union members since June 2022. As a result of the acquisition, we will add a new layer of service: Automated Lending Solutions powered by QCash. With this development, QCash expands its capabilities as a loan origination system that could feature, say, a digital business lending program.
High Tech, High Touch
It has always been important to credit unions how they attract, acquire, and even more important, retain members. Credit unions enhance retention and member lifetime value when they offer extra products to support those facing financial challenges.
Credit unions excel at providing individual, personalized services. As technology continues to reshape the financial services industry, however, credit unions are discovering that they must adapt to stay competitive. As such, fintech CUSOs are more affordable and offer higher-quality than in-house development. Fintech partnerships allow cooperatives access to cutting-edge platforms that help them save staff time through automation, better efficiencies, and streamline operations to enhance the member experience.
Inefficiency carries a high price tag and presents major business barriers and challenges for the credit union movement. By investing in competitive market fintech solutions to create and promote institutional efficiencies, cooperatives nationwide can strengthen trusting and loyal connections to the communities they serve and create progressive growth for their organizations.
The last three years have witnessed a proliferation of fintech apps designed to assist credit unions and working families fighting to claw above a paycheck-to-paycheck existence. Bridging those weeks in between when they have more month than money, they find themselves just muddling through, simply accepting the uncertainties to come while dreaming of the day they don’t have to choose between food for their kids or saving for retirement.
In early August 2020, close to a third of adults around the world, 1.7 billion people, remain unbanked, and about half of those include women, poor households in rural areas, or the unemployed. This mind-blowing figure, reported by Barclays research, illustrates that financial inclusion matters and why fintech is being used around the world to help uplift the underserved and enable their dreams to be realized.
Mariquit Corcoran, head of Barclay’s Ventures U.S., believes digitization holds the key to financial inclusivity and offers a more accessible and manageable future for consumers. “The ability to access technology in the palm of your hand not only increases the speed with which someone can open their virtual wallet and pay their credit card bill, but also increases the options they have to manage their financial products and understand their financial wellness,” she says.
We are proud to share our mission with Alloya Corporate FCU by bringing increased opportunities for financial inclusion, improved economic wellness, and a building block of hope through our Life Event Lending product for credit unions nationwide. Our mobile lending platform enables members stuck in a pinch instant access to funds the minute they need them, not days or even hours after the fact.
While QCash will always go ultra-fast, we look forward to going far with Alloya, together.
