Last Month at the Financial Brand Conference (April 2025), Sean Payant, Chief Strategy Officer at Haberfeld, delivered a powerful challenge to credit union leaders: Stop letting outdated assumptions limit your growth potential.

His session, "Overcoming Strategic Contradictions in the Banking C-Suite", exposed several internal beliefs that sound smart on the surface, but in reality, hold credit unions back from achieving sustainable, meaningful growth.

Why Challenging Assumptions Matters

As credit unions navigate shrinking margins, rising competition, and member expectations that evolve faster than ever, it’s easy to fall into "default thinking."

"It isn’t what we don’t know that gives us trouble… it’s what we think we know that just ain’t so."
– Will Rogers, quoted by Sean Payant

Let’s break down four of the biggest strategic contradictions Sean identified — and what your credit union can do instead.

1. The Expense Reduction Trap

Belief: Cutting expenses is the best path to profitability.
Reality: You can't save your way to sustainable growth. Revenue is the real growth lever.

Many credit unions focus so heavily on budget cuts that they overlook - and even cannibalize - the very opportunities that drive new revenue through member growth.

New Thinking:

• Invest in acquisition marketing (checking accounts first!)
• Expand product penetration with existing members. Use lifecycle marketing to cross sell auto loans, home loans and savings products.

Train and empower staff to deepen relationships and make effective recommendations.

2. Heavy Screening Protects Us from Risk

Belief: We must screen new members heavily to manage risk and non-interest income.
Reality: Over-screening creates unnecessary friction and drives away potential members. In today’s digital world, ease and speed are table stakes.

Sean challenged credit unions to audit their account opening policies:

• Do you require both spouses to be present?
• Do you ask for excessive forms of ID?
• Do you make it harder than it needs to be to join?
• Do you require applicants to come into a branch or mail in forms?
  
  

New Thinking:

• • Simplify onboarding
  • Remove unnecessary barriers
  • Make it easy and welcoming to open an account

3. Operational Training Is Enough

Belief: Operational training is the top priority for staff development.
Reality: Procedural and technical know-how matters, but leadership skills are the key to member experience and team performance.

Sean pointed out that 80% of managers aren’t equipped to lead. This is a massive blind spot.

New Thinking:

• Invest in leadership development programs. Teach coaching, accountability and motivational techniques.
• Create peer-to-peer forums and encourage internal sharing of best practices and success stories.
• Elevate your management team from "operators" to "leaders"
• Recognize and reward effective leadership behaviors
  

4. The Market Focus Myth

Belief: Emerging markets should be our primary focus.
Reality: People do switch financial institutions. 8-12% of households and small businesses switch every year.

Waiting for the "perfect" market means missing the opportunity that’s right in front of you: people who are already ready to switch. Credit unions that pursue ready-to-switch members see a 3x lift in new member growth.

New Thinking:

• Omnichannel outreach. Combine digital ads, direct mail and community events with the right frequency (typically every 6-7 weeks is recommended)
• Make switching easy. Coordinate marketing, lending and service teams to deliver a unified welcome experience.
• Incentivize transfers with compelling offers and bonuses

Final Thought: Audit Your Strategic Beliefs

The path to growth isn’t paved by playing it safe or relying on "the way we’ve always done it." It’s built by courageously challenging internal assumptions and making strategic choices that drive revenue, relationships, and relevance.

Special thanks to Sean Payant and the team at Haberfeld for equipping the industry with these powerful insights.

If you're ready to challenge your credit union's growth-limiting beliefs and design smarter strategies for the future, let's start the conversation.