Warrant Directory Matches Credit Unions with Next-Gen Members

By Roy Urrico

Meeting potential members at the moment of decision and making it easier to discover which credit union matches their needs is what Durham, N.C.-based startup Warrant set out to do. With its recently launched Credit Union Directory — a free AI matchmaking platform designed to close the discovery gap — the company hopes to help younger consumers navigate complex eligibility requirements to find the right credit union fit..

Warrant Founder and CEO Austin Carroll.

The biggest barrier to next-gen membership growth is not rates, fees, or mobile app quality, explained Warrant Founder and CEO Austin Carroll, it is visibility—people cannot choose what they do not know exists.

“Over 144 million Americans belong to a credit union, but millions more are eligible and don't realize they have access to financial institutions that not only offer lower rates, but return every dollar they earn to their members," Carroll told Finopotamus.

Reaching Young Adults

Thirty percent of Gen Z consumers did not know they could join a credit union, according to Attracting Gen Z and Millennials, a 2024 Apiture /Harris Poll survey.

Warrant, which provides a credit union marketing approval platform for brand, compliance, and legal, started Credit Union Directory because “the more we talked to credit unions, the more we realized that a lot of them don't really know how to get in front of more members. There's not really a place for prospective members to figure out if they're eligible to join a specific credit union,” said Carroll.

Rather than competing for attention in crowded ad channels, Credit Union Directory provides tools that let potential members find the credit union at the moment of intent — when they're already searching for a better financial fit. Much eligibility information “is trapped within these small pages on websites and require a lot of research to figure out which credit unions you actually qualify for with the exception of the big ones like Navy Federal,” Carroll noted. “What (Warrant) is trying to do here is create a place where prospective members go to discover credit unions that they would probably not have discovered otherwise.”

Source: Warrant

Becoming Unionized

Credit union marketing teams can claim their profile, customize their listing through a short questionnaire, and update their information on the directory site, Carroll said, adding that there is no contract, integration, or tools to manage.

Interested consumers arrive pre-filtered and already exploring membership — fundamentally changing the acquisition cost equation for credit unions. Potential members can find their “union” or “AI match,” and ask questions, said Carroll. “It tells them a little bit about the credit unions. They can also use the filters on the directory. We constantly promote it.” Carroll noted they also run social media advertising to the site as well. “It's just a free way for credit unions to potentially get more members.”

Carroll continued, “A huge part here is SEO. This is the only directory on the internet that includes all eligibility data. Just being able to be accessible in search and AI search is huge. That's not something that most credit unions are utilizing today because most of them don't even have an eligibility page. And if they do, it is usually not something that can be scraped.”

The biggest thing that we know about Gen Z consumers is the amount of research done prior to a financial decision, suggested Carroll. What used to take consumer a couple of weeks, then days to decide now takes minutes. “Now where we are is 20 minutes because they will click Klarna, that buy now, pay later at checkout, and suddenly they have a new financial institution relationship with very little research,” said Carroll. “So that research has gone way down. And I think that's at the detriment of credit unions.”

Source: Warrant

Mission Driven

Credit Union Directory is separate from the Warrant compliance/marketing product. “You don't have to purchase Warrant to be listed in the directory,” said Carroll. Credit unions just need to fill out a short form and schedule a call. “Then during that call, we would just make sure that the profile is set up and accurate and then they get a login to update their profile at any time.”

Adding additional perspective, Carroll said, “If you can't hit a Gen Zer during that research phase, when they don't even know that a credit union is an option, they are going to go with one of those neobanks or fintechs or JPMorganChase or whatever their parents or friends are currently using. But if you can make them realize that credit unions are an option, and yes, these are the five that they're eligible for, it's very possible that you may be able to win those deals without necessarily spending a ton of capital.”

Carroll continued, “We're really just hoping that the (credit union) community embraces this, uploads their profile and then that way we can get hopefully a million new members matched to the right credit union. That's our goal.”