Credit union member statements are a necessary service. Generally, they keep members informed about the details of their account history, which is reason enough to send them out. But sending them is also the law, so you gotta do what you gotta do.

Or do you?

Maybe this is a technicality here, but you don’t have to send statements to your members. You could hire a third-party statement printing service and let them send statements to your members. But should you?

Here are a few reasons why credit unions should at least consider outsourcing their statement printing.

Leaning on Experience

Many credit union employees wear many hats. While that may be true literally, it’s definitely true literally. Credit union employees are often called to perform several tasks within their department, making them jacks of all trades. Consequently, they may not specialize their skills to quite the same level as vendors.

Going down the statement printing outsourcing road means bringing in people with a very specific set of skills. They’ll bring years of experience to one small aspect of a credit union—in this case, member statement printing.

That experience means they’ll do it faster, with more polish, and often for less than it would cost in-house.

Getting Comfortable with Data

Statement printing vendors work with many different core data output formats daily. You can rest assured that any outsourced statement printing vendor will be able to quickly recognize your data output format and turn it into something your members can understand.

One of the side benefits of hiring vendors who know core data is how comfortable they get with it. You can rest assured knowing that statement printing vendors are probably more familiar with your core data outputs than most of your in-house staff.

Making It Pretty

Anyone who makes statement printing their job is going to make some pretty statements. (No, that’s not an oxymoron—it can be done!)

Outsourcing statement printing can help credit unions quickly design attractive statements. They’ll pack statement information neatly onto the page, minimizing white space while maximizing readability. And they’ll help you achieve the brand look you want. Plus, requesting changes is simple, and turnaround times are remarkably fast.

To Outsource or Not to Outsource…

Essentially, every credit union has the option to print in-house or to outsource their statement printing. There are pros and cons to both solutions. However, there’s a reason why so many credit unions opt to outsource their statement printing.

When you consider the years of experience that vendors bring to the table, it starts making sense to outsource that particular service. Then, their flexibility and speed with design push the needle a little further.

Still, the two biggest reasons to consider statement printing outsourcing are these:

Free up time for your staff to work on higher-level work. Don’t make them design, print, and send out statements.

Save money on labor, printing, postage, and more. Many credit unions actually save money by outsourcing statement printing.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, the decision is yours. However, if you’ve considered outsourcing your credit union’s statement printing, it would be worth doing a cost-benefit analysis.

Some statement vendors (such as XDI) will not only show you what they can do with your statements—they’ll also give you a quote on what your credit union’s monthly cost would be.