Grow Your Credit Union

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Oct 2026

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About the show

Each week, host Joshua Barclay and co-host Becky Reed dive into the nitty-gritty of successful credit union operations, exploring innovative approaches and leadership insights. We're more than just a podcast; we're your go-to resource for turning challenges into opportunities. Join us as we laugh a bit, learn a lot, and push the boundaries of what's possible in the credit union world.

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60 recent

October 6, 202625 min

AI Is Gaslighting You Into Thinking You're a Genius

Read the show notes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com There's a new kind of AI failure, and it's sneakier than bad output. The model tells you your mediocre work is brilliant, over and over, just to keep you coming back. Harvard Business Review has a name for the lazy thinking that sets in when you believe it. In this episode: The subtler AI failure that flatters you into thinking mediocre work is brilliant Whether credit unions are losing the mortgage game or just fighting an affordability wall Whether the cooperative movement is still cooperative or just competitors sharing a charter Links from this episode: BOxD "what do credit unions look like in 10 years" survey: https://boxd.us/future-of-credit-unions/survey Host: Joshua Barclay Co-host: Becky Reed Guest: Steph Sherrodd , President and CEO, Sunward

September 15, 202630 min

Don't Leave Your Team Holding the BAG

Read the show notes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com Every CEO loves a Big Audacious Goal . The trouble is what happens next: the goal gets tossed to the team with a fantasy timeline attached, and they are the ones left figuring out how to actually pull it off. In this episode: How credit union leaders can reduce the operational distractions eating their day How to write a strategic plan that gives leaders their time back instead of consuming it What has to be true before a small credit union can build its own AI back office Thanks again to our sponsor, Pure IT. Host: Joshua Barclay Co-host: Becky Reed Guest: Jack Smith , CEO and Co-founder, Pure IT

September 8, 202630 min

A Single Point of Failure Is Never A Good Strategy

Read the show notes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com A 77-year-old credit union did the due diligence, picked a solid vendor, and built a whole strategy on it. Then the vendor went under and took the credit union with it. The lesson isn't about that vendor. It's about what happens when your entire plan has a single point of failure and no way out. In this episode: How credit unions can stand out when every institution has the same AI tools What a collapsed cannabis-banking strategy really teaches about vendor risk Whether stablecoins are the deposit threat everyone fears Plus we talk with Jack Smith , CEO and Co-founder of Pure IT , about CU Intersect, the credit union event actually worth your January. A huge thanks to Pure IT for sponsoring this episode. Learn more at pureitcuso.com. Links from this episode: CU Intersect (January 25-27, 2027, New Orleans): cuintersect.com Host: Joshua Barclay Co-host: Becky Reed Guest: Andrew Mattingly , Chief Operating Officer, FORUM Credit Unions

September 1, 202632 min

You Don't Get a Super Team by Hiring Superstars

Read the show notes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com The best teams run circles around everyone else, and it isn't because they hired the best people. It's because they built a system underneath those people that makes it safe to take a swing and miss. Most credit unions have the talent already. What they're missing is the platform that lets it perform. In this episode: Why high-performing teams come from operating models, not star hires Why the growth stall everyone is panicking about may be the wrong thing to watch Why credit unions keep failing to personalize the digital experience they promise Plus we talk with Jack Smith , CEO and Co-founder of Pure IT , about how credit unions can finally get past AI inaction and put it to work. A huge thanks to Pure IT for sponsoring this episode. Learn more at pureitcuso.com. Host: Joshua Barclay Co-host: Becky Reed Guest: Myrto Koimtzoglou , Chief Operating Officer, Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union

August 18, 202633 min

Is Your Credit Union Just Renting Its Relevance?

Read the show notes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com Membership growth just hit its lowest point since 2011, and the boom years before it may have been borrowed all along, members rented from auto dealers who were never really yours to keep. The credit unions pulling ahead stopped renting and started building relationships they actually own. In this episode: Whether credit unions ever won on relevance or just rented it from auto dealers Why handing out budgeting tips is not the same as building financial wellbeing What AI-driven fraud actually changes for how a credit union operates Host: Joshua Barclay Co-host: Becky Reed Guest: Ryan Marosy , VP of Marketing, Affinity Federal Credit Union

August 4, 202641 min

Stop Cleaning Up Fraud. Start Seeing It Coming.

Read the show notes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com JOIN NCU-ISAO FOR A FREE TABLETOP EXERCISE ON AUGUST 27TH, 2026 Most credit unions only catch fraud after the money's gone. They budget for the cleanup, staff for the cleanup, build their whole defense around the cleanup, and it's costing them far more than the loss itself. The credit unions pulling ahead are the ones who stopped waiting for the loss and started predicting it. In this episode: Why the true cost of fraud runs far beyond the dollar amount lost Why fraud is outgrowing its old home inside IT How disconnected data across departments lets mule accounts sit undetected What NCU-ISAO's intelligence-sharing network actually does for its member credit unions A huge thanks to our sponsor, NCU-ISAO. Learn more at ncuisao.org. Host: Joshua Barclay Co-host: Becky Reed Guest: Brian Hinze , President and CEO, NCU-ISAO

July 29, 202629 min

There's More Than One Way to Back Your Best People

Your best employee is ready to move up. There's no seat open. That doesn't mean there's nowhere for them to go. In this episode: Whether AI ownership belongs to one executive or the whole organization What to do when a star employee is ready to move up and there is no seat open What the Credit Union Board Modernization Act actually changes now that it is law A huge thanks to our sponsor, The Family Security Plan. Learn more at familysecurityplan.com. Host: Joshua Barclay Co-host: James McBride , Let's Go CU Services Guest: Jackie Belusko , Vice President, Member Relationships and Service, Sun East Federal Credit Union

July 7, 202632 min

Communities Don't Form the Way They Did in 1934

Read the show notes and full transcript on our site: growyourcreditunion.com Credit unions were built around the people you knew. Your neighbors, your coworkers, the people you could not avoid. Now communities form on Discord servers, Substack feeds, and shared Slack channels. So should we be pushing for rules that reflect that? In this episode: Why AI is making broken credit union processes faster rather than better, and what to fix first Whether field of membership rules are now working against the mission they were designed to protect What rising negative equity in auto lending means for credit unions still treating indirect as a growth strategy Host: Joshua Barclay Co-host: James McBride , Let's Go CU Services Guest: Jason Tilley , CIO, 1st Advantage Federal Credit Union

June 23, 202626 min

Is Your Member Experience Giving DMV Vibes?

div]:bg-bg-000/50 [&_pre>div]:border-0.5 [&_pre>div]:border-border-400 [&_.ignore-pre-bg>div]:bg-transparent [&_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pl-2 [&_.standard-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,ul,ol,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pr-8 [&_.progressive-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pl-2 [&_.progressive-markdown_:is(p,blockquote,ul,ol,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6)]:pr-8"> _*]:min-w-0 gap-3 standard-markdown"> The experience is where trust gets made or broken. Credit unions have always assumed theirs was safe. But somewhere between the app that locks you out and the branch that feels like a Saturday at the DMV, that assumption started expiring. In this episode: Why credit union values are failing to connect with younger generations and what to do about it What member data credit unions already have and are not acting on nearly enough Whether the trust advantage credit unions have long assumed over banks is still real A huge thanks to our sponsor, Pure IT . Host: Joshua Barclay Co-host: Becky Reed Guest: Kaylee Ganus , Chief Marketing Officer, United Federal Credit Union

June 16, 202635 min

Technology Moves in Dog Years

Credit unions are running networks that look nothing like the ones they started with. Knowing exactly what is connected, who approved it, and what it permits turns out to be harder than it sounds. In this episode: Who is actually on the hook when a fintech vendor relationship goes wrong Why routine connectivity decisions carry risks that boards rarely understand What regulators actually expect when they ask credit unions to prove their vendor oversight is real A huge thanks to our sponsor, Pure IT Host: Joshua Barclay Sponsored Guests: Trent Henson , CIO, Pure IT Kyle Stutzman , SVP of Product Strategy, Kinective