5 Reasons You Should Attend the Economic Forum

News for Member/Owners of Catalyst Corporate Federal Credit Union
SCAN
September 2015
Catalyst Corporate
Turns Four
5 Reasons You Should Attend
the Economic Forum
This month marks the fourth anniversary of Catalyst Corporate’s inception in
September 2011. In four years, Catalyst
Corporate has seen its membership grow
to more than 1,300 – adding 10 capitalized
members so far this year.
“Since its last anniversary, Catalyst
Corporate has placed a priority on
enhancing its existing services, while adding
new, convenience-based services that can
help both credit unions and their members,”
said Kathy Garner, President/CEO of
Catalyst Corporate.
During the past year, Catalyst Corporate
has introduced Checking with Benefits,
is preparing to roll out Picture Pay and is
working on other services, such as ACH Data Mining.
“Checking with Benefits” is a rewards
program that can help make a credit
union’s checking accounts more attractive
to members and potential members and
generate fee income. The product, called
“BaZing,” enhances a checking program with
a powerful menu of benefits, delivered by a
mobile app that can be customized with the
credit union’s own branding.
Among the benefits credit union
members can use are: local and national
retailer discounts, travel accident insurance,
cell phone protection, 24-hour roadside assistance, personal identity theft protection, and
pharmacy, vision and hearing discounts.
Catalyst Corporate is also rolling out
a new Picture Pay mobile photo bill pay
service in October that will allow credit union
members to pay bills using the camera on
their mobile devices.
“Catalyst Corporate has achieved many
successes in its first four years,” Garner
said. “We are working to be responsive to
our members’ needs and are pleased that
members are responding favorably. We look
forward to continued success in the coming year.”
For more information about Catalyst Corporate and its services, visit
www.catalystcorp.org.
Catalyst Corporate’s 38th annual Economic Forum is October 5-7 at the Omni Mandalay at Las Colinas in Irving, Texas, and you should be there! Here are five reasons why:
1. Strategic Direction. This year’s
Economic Forum, entitled “Perception vs.
Reality,” is designed to help credit unions
differentiate between misperceptions
and realities in a difficult-to-understand
economic climate and to identify concrete
strategies for conducting business
successfully in the months ahead.
2. Big Ideas. The Economic Forum will
feature leading financial and economic
experts who will offer their
perspectives on credit union
topics of interest, such as
optimizing investments,
understanding regulatory
challenges, opportunities
in the housing market and
trends affecting consumer
behavior. On the first day,
attendees will be able to
select from breakout sessions
in two separate “tracks”: a Director’s
Track, designed especially for volunteers,
and a Manager’s Track focused on ALM
and investment management.
3. CPE Credits. Economic Forum
attendees may earn up to 13 CPE credits
in the economics and marketing fields of
study. Attendees will be able to identify
critical elements and classical principles
of economics, list economic trends and
forecasts and identify marketing trends.
4. Networking. Opportunities will be
numerous for credit union leaders to
interact with peers for socializing and
sharing solutions to industry challenges.
An optional “Night at the Museum” dining
event is scheduled at the spectacular
Perot Museum of Nature and Science on
Monday, October 5. And, you can come
early or stay late to attend the worldfamous State Fair of Texas.
5. Location. The event will be held at the
Omni Mandalay at Las Colinas, a serene
retreat located in the center of the bustling Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
Rooms are $179 per night, on a first
come, first-served basis.
For details and online registration, visit
Conferences under Learning Center at
www.catalystcorp.org. The Early Bird
discounted registration deadline is
September 17.
Early Bird Ends Soon!
SCAN is published monthly for the
member/owners of Catalyst Corporate
Federal Credit Union by the Catalyst
communications and marketing
department. Expanded content and
archived issues may be found online
at www.catalystcorp.org. For questions
or comments on this issue or to submit
content ideas for future issues of
SCAN, please contact Jana Fowler
at [email protected] or
800-442-5763, Ext. 7844.
6801 Parkwood Boulevard
Plano, Texas 75024
catalystcorp.org
© 2015 Catalyst Corporate Federal
Credit Union. All rights reserved.
TranZact SimpliCD Portal Racks Up $62 Million in Trades First Year Catalyst Corporate’s TranZact SimpliCD
portal, introduced a year ago, has been well
received. The portal enables credit unions
to place self-service orders for certificates
of deposit in the SimpliCD program. In its
first year, CD purchases through the portal
totaled $62 million from 309 trades with 45
credit unions. Sales volume from the portal
accounted for about 10 percent of Catalyst
Corporate’s SimpliCD total sales volume.
With the SimpliCD portal:
• Authorized users can view all CDs in the SimpliCD program that are available
for purchase.
• Offerings are grouped by maturity date,
with rates sorted from high to low.
• The amount the credit union can
purchase is clearly visible, with built-in
controls that prevent purchasing a larger
CD than is legally permissible.
• The system generates an automatic
“order placed” email, followed by a
purchase confirmation from the Catalyst
Corporate investment representative.
In addition to self-service purchase of
CDs, the new program organizes the credit
union’s SimpliCD holdings in one place.
The list of holdings can be copied to Excel
for easy transfer to the credit union’s data
processing system. The system also houses
SimpliCD purchase confirmations with performance reviews. These convenient benefits,
delivered through TranZact, are available to
credit unions at no additional cost. To learn more, contact a National Sales
Executive at investmentsinfo@catalystcorp.
org or 800-301-6196.
Need funds?
SimpliCD Issuance makes it simple for credit unions to raise liquidity. And, issuing through
SimpliCD is as hassle-free as investing through SimpliCD.
Issuing federally insured share certificates through SimpliCD allows credit unions to
leverage a nationwide network of more than 4,300 credit union relationships to generate funds.
SimpliCD Issuance can serve as a primary source for liquidity within this framework
by attracting deposits from credit unions that invest excess liquidity through the SimpliCD
program. SimpliCD Issuance can complement or provide a competitive alternative to Federal
Home Loan Bank advances or other funding alternatives.
In the past two years, SimpliCD has helped issuers raise more than $6 billion, in sizes
ranging from $100,000 to $50 million per transaction.
For more information, visit Brokerage Services under Investments at www.catalystcorp.org.
Upcoming Webinars
What’s Next for Mobile Banking?
Analyzing MBS & CMO Investments
Register for Upcoming Events at www.catalystcorp.org.
Thursday, September 24, 2 p.m. CT
Wednesday, September 30, 1 p.m. CT
Soon almost every financial institution will
offer the “Big 5” features of mobile financial
service – mobile banking, mobile bill pay,
mobile deposits, branch/ATM locators and
person-to-person payments. But what’s
next? Catalyst Corporate, in conjunction
with StrategyCorps, will conduct a complimentary webinar that will showcase mobile
app demonstrations, customer research
videos and industry case studies to help
credit unions prepare for the future.
This complimentary webinar will review mortgage-backed securities and collateralized
mortgage obligations and present insights
for using them effectively. Topics include: the
fundamentals of MBS/CMO structure, the role
of MBS/CMOs in the investment portfolio,
how to use MBS/CMOs to achieve investment goals, how to decipher Bloomberg MBS
screens, in-depth discussion about risks, and
how Catalyst and CU Investment Solutions
add value to the investment process.
TranZact for the Accounting
Department
Wednesday, September 23, 1 p.m. CT
This complimentary webinar will help
accounting staff manage their Catalyst
Corporate accounts more efficiently in
TranZact. The session will cover account
descriptions, communication options, tips for
reconcilement, and much more.