Member Lifetime Value isn’t collapsing – it’s quietly leaking. In 2026, credit unions aren’t facing a dramatic member exodus. Instead, something more dangerous is happening – members are staying ‘on paper’ while slowly moving their financial lives elsewhere. Engagement feels busy but hollow. Members still trust their credit union – they just don’t think about it often enough. That behavioural drift is the modern MLV problem. The good news is it’s fixable.

Let’s examine some of the reasons why MLV is stalling in 2026.

1. Member programs too often lack personalisation.
   Many engagement programs look active – emails, points, campaigns going out but feel transactional. Members sense when loyalty is designed to extract behaviour rather than recognise it. When rewards feel generic or predictable, they blend into the background noise of everyday marketing.

2. Relevance is driven purely by demographics.
   Too many programs still treat members as age brackets or product bundles. Members, however live in moments: grocery runs, school expenses, fuel stops, weekend treats. Unless engagement reflect real-life behaviour and priorities, it gets ignored.
3. Digital excellence without emotional gravity misses the mark.
   Great apps make banking easier – but ease is not attachment. Members rarely feel proud of a smooth transaction. Without emotional hooks, digital convenience simply makes it easier to leave – certainly not to return!
4. Community positioning that’s invisible to members.
   Credit unions invest heavily in community causes but members often experience this as corporate messaging rather than personal participation. Community only drives loyalty when members feel part of the impact.
5. Legacy Merchant Service Fee funded models are quietly disappearing.
   Traditional MSF funded programs are under pressure as regulators clamp down on legacy models. All of this while retailers are doing it tough and are eager to market their products and services to your members.   

So, what’s working – and why?

1. Cardlinked engagement in sync with daily life.
   When rewards are automatically triggered by normal card use, members don’t have to remember anything – and that’s the point! Invisible engagement embeds the credit union into everyday behaviour. And with the digital ‘tools’ we now have at our fingertips, members can be kept abreast of offers that are relevant to them as well as uptodate with the causes that are important to them.
2. Purpose that members can personalise stand the test of time.
   Cause alignment becomes powerful when members choose where impact flows. Autonomy transforms goodwill into emotional ownership – and ownership drives retention.
3. Coalition ecosystems expand relevance beyond your core offering.
   By connecting members with local merchants and causes, credit unions can stop being a financial utility and start acting as a community connector.
4. Measurement speaks the language of the boardroom.
   Programs that show uplift in spend per member and retention earn internal momentum will always be supported by management.
5. Seamless integration always wins the day.
   Members are tired of bulging wallets with unused cards that deliver no value. By simply linking their payment via cardlinking, members can take advantage of savings, earn cashback and support the causes they love.

A vivid example

A mid-sized regional credit union noticed something odd: membership numbers were stable, app usage was strong – yet card spend per member was declining. Digging deeper, they realised members were using the app to check balances but using their payment cards for everyday spending. The credit union introduced a cardlinked, cause-enabled engagement layer tied to groceries, fuel and local merchants. Within six months, debit card usage rebounded, younger members re-engaged, and members began talking about the credit union’s impact – not just its rates. The products didn’t change. Behaviour did.

Take Home: How CU’s can lift MLV…

• Design engagement that feels like gratitude, not mindless gamification
• Anchor value to everyday spending moments.
• Let members co-create impact through choice.
• Treat engagement as a growth engine – not a marketing cost

This aligns with widely cited industry evidence showing that Bain & Company reports that increasing retention rates by just 5% can boost profits by 25% to 95%. Despite this, many organisations dedicate up to 70% of their marketing budget to acquisition (Harvard Business Review, 2020).

Ivan Schwartz

CEO Points4Purpose – www.points4purpose.com
ivans@points4purpose.com.au