Raddon’s Bill Handel: What Credit Unions Should Expect In 2026

By Roy Urrico

Capturing a family’s card business, ongoing digitalization, artificial intelligence (AI) integration, stablecoin adoption and a refocus on member experiences are among the potential 2026 credit union economic trends Bill Handel, general manager and chief economist at Raddon, a Fiserv Company, covered in a Q-and-A session with Finopotamus.

Bill Handel, general manager and chief economist at Raddon.

Handel, described as “a seasoned product development and management consultant who leverages his knowledge of consumer and business needs – along with his understanding of how financial services profitability is achieved” – is responsible for all research and analytics programs at Alpharetta, Ga.-based Raddon, which provides innovative research, analysis and strategic guidance to financial institutions.

What do you see as the major credit union and FI issues or trends?

“There are a number of trends that will be top of mind for credit unions and financial institutions (FIs),” Handel told Finoptamus. “One major trend will be around how credit unions capture the teen and family credit card business.”

Handel referred to recent Raddon research which found 58% of teens trust their parents for financial advice and 63% view their parents as the top source of financial education. “To remain competitive in the teen or family card market, expect to see credit unions and banks expand their partnerships with fintechs in the coming year to develop innovative and impactful solutions for younger consumers.”

To capture this generation, credit unions and banks will need to create seamless, joint parent-teen solutions in order to meet digital expectations, he suggested. “This collaboration will be essential for institutions aiming to be the financial partner for both the current and next generation of consumers.”

Another 2026 developing issue is the ongoing “two-track economy” (also referred to as a “dual economy” or “two-speed economy”) and how to prepare, as uneven growth across sectors persists, Handel observed. “The U.S. economy is splitting, and credit unions are caught in the middle. While GDP and corporate profits remain strong, consumer delinquencies are rising fast, nearing levels last seen during the 2008-09 crisis.”

Handel also noted that “while we’re currently in a time of high risk, there are still opportunities for credit unions to explore growth opportunities.” These opportunities include leveraging digital tools and the ongoing shift towards digitalization.

Key areas where credit unions will experience stress, said Handel, are in loan portfolios, the increase of buy now, pay later (BNPL) usage and the housing market, “but digital tools and data can be used to capitalize on changing trends and offer solutions to consumers.” He added, “This split-economy will persist through 2026, but credit unions and other financial institutions have an opportunity to bolster their risk frameworks and take advantage of new opportunities while using digital tools that augment their decision-making processes.”

Will there be a mainstream FI integration of AI agents and embedded finance?

“Local banks and credit unions will very likely further leverage AI in the year ahead,” said Handel. “AI-powered analytics, driven by open APIs (application programming interfaces), will enable financial institutions to not only address operational inefficiencies but also achieve hyper-personalization to deliver the right content, to the right consumers, at the right time.”

One key AI agent implementation area is the back office, he proposed, where operations are run and friction and bottlenecks persist. “A significant portion of the industry's leaders (72%) have recognized AI's potential here, and are deploying it within their own departments.”

AI-powered analytics can also help deepen customer relationships with advice and guidance on everything from budgeting to cashflow recommendations, he added. “AI tools have the potential to help financial institutions decode their customers' needs and meet them by identifying, tracking and delivering on the unique preferences of individual customers. This can be within non-financial platforms as well.”

Handel explained, “Ultimately, the convergence of AI agents and embedded finance allows FIs to provide invisible, intelligent, and personalized financial services to consumers. FIs will only benefit from embedding AI-driven capabilities throughout their entire operational structure.”

How widespread should we expect credit unions and other financial institutions to adopt digital currencies like stablecoins?

“We’re entering a new era where payments are instant, interoperable, and borderless. Stablecoins and digital currencies deliver faster and smarter payments by combining the reliability of traditional finance with the innovation of blockchain. For credit unions and other financial institutions, adopting stablecoins enables them to incorporate additional functionalities, add data, offer unique settlement features, and enhance transparency across all payments,” said Handel.

“Given stablecoins' ability to enable increased programmability and make cross-border payments cheaper and more efficient, we’ll see forward-looking FIs take advantage of this in the coming year,” Handel asserted. He added, they will partner with fintechs to offer members a 24/7, low-cost digital dollar option for retaining deposits and facilitating transactions. “FIs that embrace stablecoins can use them as a strategic entry point into the broader digital asset ecosystem and a powerful tool for modernization in the year ahead.”

Handel emphasized the new federal regulatory landscape, anchored by the GENIUS Act, is encouraging FIs to embrace stablecoin, which will assist in its growing adoption. “While some local banks and credit unions are concerned about deposit leakage and members using stablecoins to bypass card rails for transactions, the legislation grants credit unions and other FIs the authority to issue and custody their own stablecoins.”

In addition, maintained Handel, institutions that partner with providers now to embed these capabilities into their core systems will secure a clear competitive advantage in the new era of instant, programmable money movement. “We can expect to see credit unions and other FIs adopt stablecoins and digital currencies more widely in the year ahead.”

Should FIs refocus on customer experience (CX) and inclusion?

“Financial Institutions should prioritize customer experience and inclusion, especially as consumers seek more tailored digital services, including seamless, single-app interactions that satisfy their banking needs,” said Handel. “Consumers are increasingly taking a mobile-first approach to banking, given the rise of the digital ecosystem.”

To meet this demand, FIs that offer real-time experiences and inclusive financial tools, such as flexible repayment options and credit-building incentives, gain transaction volume, fees, and, most importantly, customer growth over competitors with less agile offerings, indicated Handel.

“Ultimately, robust investments in user-friendly services, such as customizable payment plans, flexible credit limits, and rewards and loyalty programs, are essential to drive engagement, secure long-term consumer retention and improve the customer experience,” said Handel.

Will financial institutions be involved in an intensified focus on cybersecurity and regulatory compliance?

Financial institutions are already hyperfocused on cybersecurity and regulatory compliance and this will only continue, held Handel. “FIs are challenged to not only grow revenue and profitability, but also to deal with the threat of illegal activity and meet a variety of evolving legal, regulatory compliance, and reporting requirements. In the United States alone, estimates put annual fraud losses between $550 billion and $750 billion, with every dollar lost costing FIs $4.41.”

Handel declared these increased fraudulent incidents and ongoing losses are driving FIs to expand and strengthen their cybersecurity and regulatory measures by adopting multifaceted solutions and sophisticated systems to protect payment methods and ensure they are following and managing regulatory compliance measures effectively to mitigate risks.

“Fighting fraud and meeting regulatory requirements on every front is both essential and challenging, but through implementing security measures such as assessing threats across account lifecycles and managing data analytics, which can all be supplemented. By adding AI and machine learning to the human experience, FIs can gain a powerful weapon in their arsenal to help them recognize suspicious activities and interpret whether the conduct is criminal, or — almost as importantly to reduce friction from the user experience — a false positive,” said Handel.