Alliant Credit Union: An Emphasis on Membership

With over 500,000 members nationwide and $12 billion in assets, Alliant Credit Union is one of the largest non-profit financial cooperatives owned by its members. Originally a credit union for United Airlines employees, Alliant has since diversified its membership base to include over a hundred sponsor organizations and residents of the Chicago area. But what has led to its successful growth in the financial service sector? How has it adapted to the technological challenges of modern consumer banking?

CEO Dave Mooney (right) and CTO Alan Pitcher (left) explain how Alliant’s digital features help it stand out in the consumer banking market.

On the first day of Business Today’s Breakout Trip, Crossroads of Humans and Machines, to Chicago, trip attendees met with CEO Dave Mooney and CTO Alan Pitcher to learn how their company has evolved with the needs of their consumers. They opened the discussion by sharing Alliant’s mission with the group: “to provide members consistently superior financial value while simplifying and enabling how people save, borrow, and pay.”

According to Mooney, there is a systematic shift in consumer banking preferences that has streamlined several technological changes in financial institutions. Pitcher emphasized that the overlap between modern technology and financial institutions has made their model attractive to their growing membership base. Previously, banks would be selected based on consumer proximity to branch location, causing an “arms race” between competing financial institutions to control consumer real estate by opening more branches across the U.S. However, the advent of the Internet, improvement in telecommunications, and accessibility to mobile technology has reduced service at in-person branch locations.

In the case of Alliant, it has evolved into a digital credit union, providing members with the same services that a physical bank would offer on their online, mobile and phone platforms. Additionally, Alliant’s strong focus on its membership is backed by its use of data analytics, meaningful software development, and advanced security protocols to enhance user experience across its modern platforms. In turn, these changes have resulted in increased membership despite closing all but two physical branches. It’s clear that Alliant values the growing demand for convenient financial services among consumers and will continue innovating the banking sector to best support its members.

This piece was adapted from Breakout participant Joe Dimarino’s work.