Rick Patel, CEO & President, Diamond Credit Union

Diamond Credit Union has experienced tremendous growth and transformed its operational strategy over the past year by focusing intensely on digital innovation and internal culture. CEO & President Rick Patel told Invest: in an interview that the organization’s success hinges on a dual commitment to integrating AI and digital technology into the member experience, while also reinforcing its unique corporate philosophy and culture. “A credit union is that financial service business that helps customers, or members, solve their financial challenges, which are on the rise in this economic environment. Credit unions are standing strong to help their membership,” Patel said.

What changes over the past year have had the greatest impact on Diamond Credit Union’s strategy, performance, and operations?

Two big elements have transformed and are transforming our business, leading to our significant growth. The first is digital transformation which has impacted how we reach out to our members and potential members. We have focused on increasing the member experience, from when they join us and when they are experiencing digital banking inside our app, to how we do outreach to them after the fact and how we communicate with them, integrating AI and digital. Combining the two has transformed how we interact with our membership.

The second piece is really focusing on our culture and embracing our culture of unity, which we call “Younity.” What that means is that we take care of our staff, and the staff takes care of our membership. That’s what we believe in. We have won the Best Places to Work label, and we feel that is one of the reasons contributing to our tremendous growth. We were ranked seventh last year in the state, and we will see what happens this year in December.

The third piece is really setting up our business services. We’ve gone out of our way to really build from the ground up a business banking service department that will cater to small businesses. That includes offering the kinds of accounts that a business owner needs, a digital experience that a business owner wants to have, and products and services that they will use to grow their businesses. 

How are you thinking about deepening Diamond’s presence across the markets where you operate?

We are approaching that in multiple ways, using multiple prongs. We have expanded our business development team, which means that we have small-business relationship managers who are out in the field talking to small businesses in their place of work and going to the membership, going to our customers where they are.

We act as a community relationship manager, talking to small businesses about how we can help them and their employees with their financial life.

We are also expanding our branch network in the Greater Philadelphia area, while also continuing to invest in digital technologies and heightening our brand awareness via video and social media as well.

The last piece that I’m really proud of is that we are out and about in the community that we serve. If you look at our annual report, you’ll see there are 60-plus events that we attend. That’s just 60 that I know of. We are out there in the community cleaning creeks, being a member of Big Brother, Big Sister, and supporting the United Way, among other activities.

How is the economic landscape impacting both credit unions and your clients, and how are you navigating any potential hurdles?

In the banking world, interest rates matter a lot, and they have been on an upswing for the last four years. That has impacted financial services in general in so many different ways because our cost to fund a loan is high. That’s the same for every bank or credit union, so it has impacted us.

There’s a sense that interest rates may be coming down to a certain level. The way we have managed through that is by, first, almost always providing the right value across all product lines. We don’t have specials. We want to provide value to our membership across the board. And then having a growth mindset through our culture.

It goes back to that unity, where if you take care of the staff, they will take care of the membership. That is our growth story. We keep investing in people and then provide value in products, whether that’s interest rates, investment in technology, or whether that’s providing more products. The key is about providing value across the board to our membership.

How do you view the credit union model’s role in today’s economic and regulatory climate?

Credit unions are always community-focused. Our theme is people helping people, and that has not changed since the first credit union was opened. That continues to be at the forefront of what we would do. It is an alternative to what a bank would provide, but with the same types of services that a bank would offer. I feel like it is an alternative that customers or members should have when looking at financial services. Credit unions are usually local, and decisions are made locally.

This is one way they’re important because a local person needs a local business to help them with their needs. A credit union is that financial service business that helps customers, or members, solve their financial challenges, which are on the rise in this economic environment. Credit unions are standing strong to help their membership.

Where do you see the most potential to support your members?

The most potential is in catering to our youth. We are setting up a youth banking infrastructure to educate the youth on how to think and act in terms of financial services and banking itself. We at Diamond are certainly doing that in creating a high-tech, high-service model that will support the youth. 

The other piece is focusing on financial planning and wealth management. We are focused on increasing financial planning for our members and managing their wealth. As we approach the 2030s, what we are noticing is that a lot of folks need help with managing their retirement. We’ve invested and grown our financial services and financial planning platform to help with that.

In the middle, you certainly need small businesses and banking in general. So, anything that Diamond does has a 360 view of what a member or a potential member needs. It starts from the youth, educating them about financial services, and making it high-tech and fun. As you come into your working years, it’s making sure we provide value in the products that we offer our members, such as credit cards, auto loans, and mortgages, and then caring for their retirement through financial planning.

That same sort of model would exist for small businesses. So, taking care of small businesses, whether they’re just starting up and need a small business loan, an SBA loan, or they’re growing, and they need someone to take care of their payroll processing.

It’s about taking care of the life cycle of a member’s journey from youth to retirement, and taking care of a small business owner from starting up and then maturing as a business to continue growing. That’s where Diamond Credit Union is investing in high-tech, high-service, but nothing happens without the culture.

What are the top strategic priorities that will shape Diamond over the next three to five years?

The top strategic item continues to be keeping our culture of “Younity” strong. That will define our future. The second is continuing to invest in technology and continuing to invest in our service, aligned with that technology. It is high tech plus high service that will create our success. We will continue to invest in those two things, our culture and our technology, and continue to invest in small businesses and financial planning.