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And First Entertainment Credit Union Begat CineFi.

Say what?

First Entertainment is the big show business credit union. Based in Hollywood, it has assets of around $2.1 billion and serves around 90,000 members, many of them who work in Hollywood, doing everything from acting to the skilled crafts (such as set building) that create Hollywood’s magic.

On the show is Stephen Owen, CEO of First Entertainment and he is here to tell what CineFi is, why First Entertainment birthed it, and why it is based in Atlanta, GA, some 2300 miles removed from Hollywood.

CinedFi is a digital only institution, no branches, and right now its offerings consist of checking and savings, although Owen says the plan is to augment that product slate later in 2026.

How to become a CineFi member? The FOM consists of a handful of Georgia counties, centered around Atlanta, and although the aim is to serve the large number of entertainment industry professionals who live in the Atlanta area,CineFi is open to others as well. Owen explains in the show.

Understand, CineFi does not have its own charter. Owen tells how it came into existence - and he adds that there may be CineFis opening elsewhere in the country.

Ours is an age when the creation of new credit unions is rare indeed. You can count on one hand how many were birthed in the US in 2025 and have a finger to spare.

That’s rare indeed.

So the creation of CineFi is an exciting event and it just may give CEOs and boards of other credit unions the impulse to do something similar.

How cool would that be?

Listen up.

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In mid February, Curql, the collective of 160+ credit unions, announced its first blockchain investment into Stablecore, a company that provides digital asset infrastructure for credit unions.

Literally hundreds of billions of dollars now are flowing into stablecoin, a digital currency backed by fiat currency and accordingly it has little volatility.

Big banks are pouncing on stablecoins but the credit union problem is a lack of tools for managing digital currencies. Enter Stablecore which is designed to enable credit unions to manage member portfolios of digital currencies. It’s a solution that’s needed and that’s why Curql chose to put money into Stablecore.

On the show are Nick Evens, President and CEO of Curql, and Alex Treece, CEO and co-founder of Stablecore,

Along the way, Nick offers insights into Curql’s investment strategy and Alex issues an invite to credit unions that might be interested in a pilot that he is putting together.

Sure, you are glad that you sat out Bitcoin but stablecoin is a very different entity. Now’s the time to get to know about it.

Listen up.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com

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Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto

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Are you still relying on product based rewards for members?

Meet the new tool on the block: relationship building.

A trigger is that interchange rates are under attack and, for many financial institutions, it’s been interchange that funded the rewards programs.

So what’s the new approach? On the show is Beth McCoy, CEO of CORA Loyalty, who provides a roadmap for building member relationships that benefit both the member and the institution.

CORA Loyalty explains what it does this way: “Loyalty leaders are shifting from card-centric to relationship-focused campaigns. The approach rewards customers for activities across the institution: maintaining checking accounts, paying account fees, using credit and debit cards, transacting regularly, and long-term relationships.”

“The goal isn’t card spend, but broader and longer lasting outcomes like growing deposits, encouraging treasury management adoption, and strengthening the full banking relationship.”

Sound good?

Listen up.

Like what you are hearing? Find out how you can help sponsor this podcast here. Very affordable sponsorship packages are available. Email rjmcgarvey@gmail.com

And like this podcast on whatever service you use to stream it. That matters.

Find out more about CU2.0 and the digital transformation of credit unions here. It's a journey every credit union needs to take. Pronto