Credit unions can turn card programs into AI‑ready, member‑centric platforms by pairing agent issuing partnerships with smart, data‑driven experiences.
Most credit unions are sitting on a goldmine of member trust but an aging tech stack. That tension shows up most clearly in credit cards: members expect instant approvals, smart alerts, and AI‑driven insights, while many credit unions are still wrestling with batch files and manual workflows.
Here’s the thing about modern card programs: they’re no longer just a product. They’re a data and experience engine that can power your entire AI for credit unions strategy—if you structure them the right way.
That’s why Mitch Pangretic’s description of Elan Credit Card’s “agent issuing” model matters. When a partner effectively becomes your credit card department—technology, risk, marketing, rewards, and servicing—you suddenly have the freedom to focus on what credit unions are best at: member‑centric banking and financial guidance.
This post looks at what that partnership model really means, how it supports AI‑driven, member‑first experiences, and what leaders should demand from any card partner in 2026 and beyond.
From Product To Platform: Why Card Programs Need A Rethink
A modern credit card program is the backbone of digital member engagement. It feeds the data, interactions, and context that make AI actually useful.
Credit unions that treat cards as a side offering miss three big opportunities:
- Continuous member insight – Card transactions reveal income stability, spending patterns, financial stress, and life events long before other data does.
- Real‑time engagement – Alerts, offers, and nudges tied to card behavior are the fastest way to stay relevant on a member’s phone.
- AI training ground – Card data is ideal for AI models in fraud detection, credit decisioning, and financial wellness.
The problem? Running all of this in‑house is brutal:
- You need 24/7 fraud operations and data science talent.
- You’re constantly updating digital experiences to keep pace with big banks and fintechs.
- You’re bearing the full regulatory, compliance, and risk management load.
That’s where the agent issuing model Mitch described comes in.
“When we combine our skills and expertise with credit unions’ ability to service members, it’s a very synergistic relationship.” — Mitch Pangretic, Elan Credit Card
In agent issuing, the partner effectively is your credit card department. They handle technology, risk, servicing, marketing, and rewards while the credit union owns the member relationship and brand experience.
For AI‑driven, member‑centric banking, that division of labor is powerful: your team focuses on member outcomes; your partner focuses on the heavy infrastructure.
What An AI‑Ready Card Partner Actually Does
An AI‑ready card partnership is much more than issuing plastic. It’s a full stack of capabilities that feed and enable your broader AI for credit unions roadmap.
1. Technology And Digital Experience
The right partner brings a production‑ready digital layer your members can use today:
- Mobile app experience – Think instant card controls, real‑time alerts, and access to rewards. Mitch highlighted Elan’s mobile app with:
- Free credit scores
- Budgeting tools
- An “Extend Pay” feature for installment lending
- API‑friendly infrastructure – So your own digital banking or AI tools can pull in card data, balances, and offers in real time.
- Embedded AI features – Fraud monitoring, anomaly detection, and smart notifications baked directly into the card platform.
When this stack is done well, your AI initiatives don’t start from zero. You’re plugging into an environment that already has:
- Clean, structured transaction data
- Real‑time event streams
- A digital experience members actually use
2. Risk, Compliance, And Decisioning
AI promise falls apart if credit risk and compliance aren’t rock solid.
An experienced partner handles:
- Credit decisioning models tuned on millions of accounts
- Fraud detection using machine learning and behavioral analytics
- Regulatory compliance across changing card rules and consumer protections
For most credit unions, replicating that stack internally would mean years of investment, specialized hiring, and constant re‑training. With an agent issuing partner, those capabilities are effectively rented—but tuned to your strategy and risk appetite.
3. Marketing, Rewards, And Product Design
Member‑centric banking means giving people the right card, not just any card.
Mitch talked about the range of options Elan supports: travel rewards, cash back, and credit‑building products. The broader point is this: a strong partner gives you a portfolio, not a one‑size‑fits‑all product.
That opens the door to AI‑driven personalization like:
- Recommending a cash‑back card to members spending heavily on groceries and gas
- Offering secured or “rebuild” products to members with thin or damaged credit files
- Promoting travel rewards when transaction patterns show frequent flights and hotels
You bring the member knowledge. The partner brings the product shelf and targeting tools. Together, you can design AI‑driven offers that feel thoughtful instead of pushy.
Turning Card Features Into Member‑Centric AI Experiences
A lot of vendors talk about AI. The real question is: how does this show up for the member?
The features Mitch called out—mobile app, credit scores, budgeting, Extend Pay—are exactly the kind of touchpoints where AI can serve members every day.
Credit Scores As A Coaching Tool
A free credit score in the card app isn’t just a number. Paired with AI, it can become a personal coach:
- Explaining why the score changed in plain language
- Suggesting one or two specific actions (e.g., “Pay $60 more than your minimum this month to reduce your utilization by 10%”)
- Flagging when a member is close to qualifying for a better rate or product
Credit unions already pride themselves on financial education. AI simply scales that coaching into the mobile moments where decisions actually happen.
Budgeting And Spend Insights
Budgeting tools can feel generic. AI makes them relational.
For example, you could:
- Detect when discretionary spend has spiked for three months and offer a budgeting session
- Identify members at risk of revolving high‑interest balances and surface a personalized plan
- Show micro‑insights like, “You’ve spent 23% less on dining out this month than last” to reinforce good behavior
Because your partner is doing the heavy data processing and event detection, your internal team can focus on message, tone, and escalation paths rather than building models from scratch.
Installment Features Like Extend Pay
“Extend Pay” and similar installment options sit right at the intersection of cards, lending, and financial wellness.
Handled thoughtfully, they can:
- Help members manage large purchases without turning to payday or buy‑now‑pay‑later providers
- Use AI to surface installment offers only when they truly reduce stress or interest cost
- Integrate with your broader lending strategy—flagging when a member might be better served by a personal loan or refinance
This is where member‑centric AI matters. The goal isn’t to maximize short‑term interest revenue; it’s to keep members healthy and loyal for decades.
Why Partnerships + AI Beat Going It Alone
Most credit unions face the same dilemma: they want modern, AI‑enabled services, but they don’t want to become full‑blown tech companies.
The agent issuing model that Mitch described resolves that tension:
- You stay focused on members. Branch staff, contact center teams, and digital channels lean into advice and relationship‑building.
- Your partner handles operational complexity. Transaction processing, fraud operations, dispute management, and platform upgrades sit on their side of the fence.
- You share data and intent. Their credit and payments expertise combines with your local knowledge of members to make smarter decisions.
When those pieces come together, you get:
- Faster rollout of new AI features without multi‑year projects
- Stronger fraud protection and credit risk performance
- Better alignment between card strategy and your overall member‑centric banking vision
And from a leadership point of view, you get something just as valuable: optionality. You’re not locked into your 2025 tech stack; you’ve got a partner whose roadmap, like Elan’s, is built around continuous experience and technology upgrades.
What Credit Union Leaders Should Ask A Card Partner
If you’re evaluating a card partner as part of your AI and digital roadmap, generic RFP questions won’t cut it. You need to understand how they support AI for credit unions at a practical level.
Here are targeted questions I’ve found actually separate vendors from true partners:
-
Data Access & Integration
- How easily can we pull real‑time card data into our own AI models or analytics tools?
- Do you support modern APIs, event streaming, and webhooks?
-
AI Capabilities
- Which parts of the platform already use AI or machine learning today (fraud, servicing, marketing)?
- How are models governed, monitored, and updated?
-
Member Experience
- What does the out‑of‑the‑box mobile experience look like for our members?
- How customizable are alerts, recommendations, and financial wellness features?
-
Alignment With Member‑Centric Banking
- How do you avoid predatory or purely revenue‑maximizing card offers?
- Can we tune targeting rules and guardrails based on our values and policies?
-
Roadmap And Collaboration
- How do credit union partners influence your roadmap?
- What AI‑driven enhancements are you planning in the next 12–24 months?
If a potential partner can’t answer those cleanly—or keeps defaulting to buzzwords—you’ve learned something important.
Bringing It Back To Member‑Centric AI
The core theme of this AI for Credit Unions: Member‑Centric Banking series is simple: technology should make your credit union more human, not less.
That’s exactly where partnerships like Elan’s agent issuing model fit. They give you:
- An AI‑ready infrastructure across payments, risk, and digital experience
- Member‑facing tools like scores, budgeting, and installment features you can personalize
- The breathing room to focus on guidance, education, and local relationships
If your card program still feels like an operational burden instead of a strategic asset, it’s time to rethink it. Start by asking:
- Are we using card data to truly understand and serve our members?
- Do our card experiences reflect our values around financial wellness?
- Is our current setup helping or holding back our AI roadmap?
Credit unions don’t need to match big‑bank budgets to offer smart, AI‑powered experiences. They need the right partners and a clear commitment to member‑centric banking.
The opportunity for 2026 is wide open: turn your credit card program from a legacy product into the engine of your AI strategy—and use it to deepen member trust for the next generation.