Most credit unions are already behind on digital assets. Here’s how AI, stablecoins, and DeFi can become a member-centric advantage instead of a threat.
AI, Digital Assets & Credit Unions’ Next Advantage
Most credit unions are already behind on digital assets, and many don’t even know it.
While boards debate whether crypto is a fad, members are opening accounts on trading apps, moving funds to stablecoins, and experimenting with DeFi. That money isn’t just “out there” in cyberspace — it’s leaving local balance sheets and member relationships.
Jed Meyer at St. Cloud Financial Credit Union saw this coming about five years ago. He went from skepticism about digital assets to launching a white-label stablecoin and plugging into DeFi, in partnership with DaLand CUSO and its Coin2Core solution. That shift wasn’t about chasing hype. It was about keeping members’ financial lives — and their data — within a trusted, community-based institution.
This post looks at what their story means for credit unions in 2025, and how AI for credit unions can turn digital assets from a threat into a member-centric opportunity.
Why Digital Assets Are a Credit Union Problem Now
The core issue is simple: member money and member data are drifting away from credit unions into unregulated or lightly regulated platforms.
Over the last few years:
- A growing share of younger members hold crypto or stablecoins.
- Digital wallets and trading apps collect detailed behavioral data.
- Tokenized assets and instant payments are moving from fringe to mainstream.
When members move value into these ecosystems, three things happen:
- Deposits shrink. Less funding for loans, thinner margins, tighter budgets.
- Data disappears. You lose line of sight into members’ real financial lives.
- Relevance erodes. Members see you as the slow, legacy option — even if they still "trust" you more.
Here’s the thing about this moment: if credit unions sit out digital assets, someone else will own that member relationship. That “someone else” might be a trading app, a fintech, or a mega-bank with a tokenization strategy.
“We have to get into the game of convenience so we can continue to prove that credit unions are the best financial institutions for consumers to partner with.” – Jed Meyer
AI is the bridge here. It’s what lets you understand, personalize, and safely integrate digital assets without sacrificing your member-first philosophy.
Inside the St. Cloud & DaLand Play: Coin2Core and Stablecoins
St. Cloud Financial Credit Union didn’t start by trying to build a crypto empire. They started with a member problem: wealth and data were flowing out of the local ecosystem.
From skepticism to strategic move
About five years ago, Meyer recognized that digital assets were touching his members’ lives whether the credit union engaged or not. Once he accepted that reality, the question shifted from "Should we touch this?" to "How do we shape this for our members’ benefit?"
That’s where DaLand CUSO and Coin2Core came in.
What Coin2Core actually does
Coin2Core is essentially a bridge between:
- Member-facing digital asset activity (crypto, stablecoins, DeFi)
- The credit union core (accounts, payments, data, risk controls)
In practice, this kind of solution allows a credit union to:
- Offer on- and off-ramps to digital assets from within its own channels
- Issue or support a white-label stablecoin tied to member deposits
- Maintain visibility into member transactions for compliance and risk
- Keep value circulating locally, instead of letting it sit on external platforms
St. Cloud’s white-label stablecoin is the key move here. It’s not just a shiny token. It’s a programmable representation of member dollars that can exist in modern digital ecosystems while still being anchored to a trusted credit union balance sheet.
This is where AI for credit unions gets practical: you now have a richer, real-time data stream that can feed smarter decisions about lending, fraud, pricing, and member engagement.
How AI Turns Digital Assets into Member-Centric Banking
Connecting to DeFi and digital assets is step one. Using AI to make that connection member-centric is what really matters.
1. AI for real-time fraud detection in digital asset flows
Digital assets change the fraud landscape. Transactions are often:
- Irreversible
- Cross-border by default
- Conducted through unfamiliar counterparties
Traditional rules-based systems struggle with this. AI models, particularly anomaly detection and graph-based analysis, thrive on it.
What this looks like in production:
- AI monitors on/off-ramp transactions between member accounts, stablecoins, and DeFi platforms.
- The system scores each transaction using behavior patterns, device data, timing, and counterparties.
- High-risk activity (e.g., known scam wallets, mule behavior) triggers holds, step-up authentication, or real-time outreach.
Credit unions that plug digital assets into their AI-driven fraud engines will offer something members can’t get from most trading apps: a real safety net.
2. Smarter loan decisioning based on full financial lives
Traditional loan decisioning ignores a big piece of many members’ net worth: their digital asset holdings and on-chain activity.
AI-driven credit models can:
- Incorporate tokenized assets as part of member asset profiles
- Recognize consistent, responsible digital asset behavior as a stability signal
- Detect when members are overexposed to volatile assets and adjust offers or limits
The result isn’t “crypto-backed lending for everyone.” It’s more nuanced:
- Members with strong, diversified on-chain and off-chain histories might qualify for better rates.
- Members who are heavily concentrated in high-volatility tokens might see coaching or warnings before taking on more debt.
This is what member-centric loan decisioning actually looks like in 2025: AI evaluates the whole picture, not just a static credit report.
3. Hyper-personalized financial wellness in a tokenized world
Most financial wellness tools talk about budgets and savings goals. That’s fine, but incomplete when a member has:
- A checking account
- A savings account
- A crypto wallet
- A stablecoin position
- A DeFi yield strategy
AI-powered financial wellness tools can unify this picture and offer:
- Plain-language explanations of risk/return on current digital asset behavior
- Nudges when on-chain activity suggests potential distress (e.g., rapid liquidations)
- Suggestions to rebalance between digital and traditional products
- Scenario modeling: “If your stablecoin yield drops from 6% to 2%, here’s how your plan changes.”
Credit unions are uniquely positioned to translate digital asset complexity into straightforward, values-based guidance. AI is what makes this scalable across thousands of members.
4. Better member service automation across channels
Members don’t just have questions like “What’s my balance?” anymore. They ask:
- “Why is my transfer to this wallet delayed?”
- “Is this yield opportunity legit or a scam?”
- “What happens to my stablecoins if I lose my phone?”
AI-driven virtual assistants and agent copilots can:
- Pull data from the core, digital asset platforms, and risk systems
- Answer complex, multi-system questions in natural language
- Flag high-risk topics for human follow-up (e.g., suspected fraud, complaints)
Done well, this doesn’t replace your staff. It amplifies them, so front-line teams spend more time on high-value conversations instead of explaining the same basics 40 times a day.
Education: The Missing Piece Most Credit Unions Ignore
You can’t be member-centric around AI and digital assets if your own leaders and staff are quietly confused or skeptical.
Jed Meyer stressed how much internal education mattered in St. Cloud’s journey. That’s not optional; it’s strategic.
Educate your board and executives first
If the board thinks “crypto” every time digital assets come up, you’ll be stuck in risk-avoidance mode forever.
You need structured, ongoing education on:
- The difference between speculative tokens, stablecoins, and tokenized real-world assets
- How DeFi and blockchain rails intersect with payments, lending, and treasury
- Where AI for credit unions reduces risk (e.g., fraud, compliance) instead of increasing it
Clear mental models at the top are what unlock budgets and bold decisions.
Turn your staff into trusted guides
Members already trust your frontline staff more than a random app. The problem is those employees often feel out of their depth with digital assets.
Practical steps that work:
- Short scenario-based training: “A member says this: how do you respond?”
- Internal FAQs covering the 20 most common digital asset questions
- AI-powered internal assistants staff can consult during member conversations
The goal isn’t to make every MSR a blockchain engineer. It’s to ensure they can:
- Explain what your credit union offers in this space
- Warn members about obvious scams and risk behaviors
- Confidently say, “Here’s how we can help you keep this activity safe.”
How to Get Started Without Overextending
The future of money is already tokenized and AI-mediated. Credit unions that wait for a perfect regulatory playbook or “proven” vendor stack will simply be late.
Here’s a practical, staged approach that aligns with a member-centric strategy.
Step 1: Map member reality
Use your existing data and surveys to answer:
- How many members already use trading apps or hold digital assets?
- What age segments are most active?
- Are you seeing unexplained outflows to known trading platforms or stablecoin issuers?
Layer in basic AI analytics on transaction data to spot patterns and segment members by digital asset adoption.
Step 2: Define your role in the digital asset ecosystem
Not every credit union needs to issue a stablecoin tomorrow. But every credit union should decide:
- Will we offer on/off ramps within our own channels?
- Will we integrate with a CUSO or fintech that connects to DeFi on our behalf?
- How do digital assets support our mission: local impact, member empowerment, and financial wellness?
Be explicit: what problems for which members are you solving first?
Step 3: Pilot a focused use case with AI baked in
Pick a targeted initiative such as:
- AI-enhanced fraud monitoring for crypto-related transfers
- A limited pilot of a white-label stablecoin with select business or tech-savvy members
- An AI-powered financial wellness view that includes external wallets (via member-permissioned data)
Design the pilot so that:
- Success metrics are clear (e.g., reduced fraud loss, deposit retention, higher engagement)
- Compliance and risk teams are involved from day one
- Member feedback is actively collected and fed back into the AI and product design
Step 4: Communicate boldly and transparently
Members don’t expect perfection. They expect honesty and alignment with your values.
Tell them:
- Why you’re engaging with digital assets now
- How AI is being used to protect them and personalize service
- Where the boundaries are (what you will and won’t do)
The institutions that combine modern rails (AI and digital assets) with traditional trust (transparency and education) will own the next decade of member loyalty.
Where AI for Credit Unions Goes Next
Leaders from tech, finance, and even governments are already building around tokenized, AI-aware money. As Jon Ungerland pointed out, credit unions aren’t being asked whether they’re comfortable; they’re being asked whether they plan to participate.
The reality? AI and digital assets are not a separate strategy from member-centric banking — they’re the next evolution of it.
If you:
- Keep member wealth and data anchored to your institution
- Use AI to protect, inform, and personalize
- Educate boards, staff, and members with the same seriousness you give to lending and compliance
…you’ll do more than “stay relevant.” You’ll prove, once again, that credit unions are the most aligned financial partners members can choose — even as money itself changes form.
Now is the time to decide: are you going to wait until digital assets and AI reshape your members’ lives from the outside, or help shape that future from the inside?