Reducing Operating Expenses
By Joyce Moed, Reporter

ORLANDO, Fla.- There are many ways a credit union can reduce its operating expenses, said Robin Hoag, senior director of the Financial Institutions Group Doeren Mayhew.
Hoag offered tips recently at the Florida Credit Union League’s 2008 Annual Convention & Exposition at the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes here during his session titled "50 Ways to Reduce Operating Expenses."

Hoag recommended sharing a call center with other credit unions, and also looking into contract and vendor management outsource options.

"A lot of these offer human resource functions," he said.

Hoag said that many credit unions don’t do this due to the fear of not being in total control.
"A lot of us are control freaks, especially on the executive side," he said. "I look at is an opportunity."

But still, he stressed the importance of collaboration with other credit unions.
"We are competing more than ever before now with other credit unions," he said. "It’s going to be interesting to see the evolution of the industry if we don’t collaborate more in any ways we can."

He said that any credit union in a metropolitan area "has no competitive isolation."

Another way credit unions can cut operating costs is by becoming more green, he said.

"Desktop computers lefts on all night for one year cost $100 a year in electricity," he said.

"You should also redo your ATMS," Hoag said. "Go through and figure out the last time someone really evaluated how much money is sitting in your ATM. If you’ve never run out of cash you obviously have excess. We had a client that cut their cash in half. We’ve seen huge shifts in many of our clients."

Other solutions Hoag offered during the session included marketing mailing refinement and employee benefits and existing or alternative service provider negotiation.

Hoag also suggested for credit unions to eliminate auto renewals on their products.