Why Credit Union Vendor Management Matters

Regulations seem to change quicker than the seasons when you’re a financial institution. These frequent changes can lead to compliance chaos if your credit union isn’t ahead of the game by having comprehensive systems firmly in place. One necessary regulatory need that often gets overlooked is vendor management.

CUNA and Abound Resources partnered to survey credit unions about their vendor management programs and discovered:

• 93% believe vendor management will be an urgent or very important priority over the next two years.
• 33% of executives in charge of vendor management are dissatisfied with their programs.
• Executives in charge of vendor management spend more than a quarter (27%) of their time dealing with vendor management issues.
• 89% of credit unions request financials from critical or high-risk vendors – but only 33% of them actually review those financials.

Take the Lead

This data is a great example of why credit unions need to take the lead in their own due diligence by having their own security measures and systems in place to uncover and gaps on their own. Most credit unions, due to their limited resources, tend to rely heavily on third-party vendors. This can limit a credit union’s ability to monitor and ensure compliance and security measures are being met.

A simple solution for this due diligence dilemma is to enlist the assistance of a third-party vendor management service that makes it easy for credit unions to organize and keep tabs on their vendors – all in one place. This can facilitate day-to-day operations as well as any necessary visits from regulatory examiners. The time to rely on vendors to adhere to regulations and maintain compliance is over. Credit unions need to take full ownership of these relationships and protect themselves from any potential breeches by utilizing respected outside vendor management services. 

Discover how CU Solutions Group can help you with your vendor management needs.