“You may have a different list of reasons why you are hesitant to bring your credit card program in-house,” said Jim, “but there are a few JMAFCU had to overcome before we could get comfortable with the idea.”

– Jim Ryan, CEO JM Associates FCU

 

Here are the primary “Myths” Jim identified as hurdles to employing in-house credit.

 

– You cannot provide adequate credit card member service in-house.

 

– You must provide live 24-hour customer service.

 

– Credit card processing is too difficult for you or your staff to understand.

 

– Dispute handling is difficult.

 

– You cannot adequately handle fraud prevention. 

For Jim Ryan, President and CEO of JM Associates FCU, the idea of paying a third-party to manage his credit cards didn’t make sense. Jim had spent much of his career working in credit unions and the very idea of outsourcing a strategic service like credit cards was antithetical to the purpose of credit unions. This is especially true for JM Associates FCU, whose primary purpose is to provide the highest quality services to its members. 

Full-service vendors often present the problem of credit union card service as an all or nothing proposition. It isn’t. Sure, there are many features of credit card processing that may be unmanageable for credit unions to facilitate in-house. But even the largest banks contract out some services. Managing the actual movement of money and loan fulfillment, or the ‘switch,’ must be done by a card processor.