How the Nation’s Largest Credit Union is Leaning into Trust to Weather Economic Sea Changes

Many financial marketers — and many Americans — have been living and working through a combination of economic conditions they have never seen before.

Continuing inflation and relatively high interest rates. A news cycle impacting investment markets with the forces of an amusement park ride (without the amusement). A job market that has become, in multiple ways, strange. Tariff policies that seem to change with the day of the week, with effects not yet clear. The potential for a recession looming on the horizon.

"The predictions are all over the place. We’re really trying to stay flexible, practicing our agility skills in order to be ready to be flexible when we need to be," says Pam Piligian, SVP and chief marketing officer at the nation’s largest credit union, $180 billion-assets Navy Federal. She says that management has done scenario planning and is ready for adjustments depending on how things develop. If rates go down and mortgage demand picks up, it has plans for that. If rates remain level, the team anticipates growth — though, slow growth — for a time. And so on.

Navy Federal has been monitoring the pulse of its 14 million-plus membership through sentiment testing. "Overall, our members are more optimistic than the national numbers we have seen from the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers," says Piligian. "We have a lot of theories on why that is, but we don’t really know exactly why."

Piligian has been CMO at Navy Federal for the last eight years but a marketing and advertising executive since the early 1980s. She’s seen her share of ups and downs. She says two consumer measures matter most. One is sentiment and the other is confidence

"If you aren’t very confident about the economy, you are probably going to postpone some of your larger purchases, and we haven’t seen that yet," Piligian says. "We did see what we believe was some forward buying of cars and major appliances in February. Now we’re watching for the ‘new normal,’ whatever that might be."

In recognition of the shifts the world and national economies appear to be making, The Financial Brand asked Piligian what the leading credit union, with operations in U.S. and 27 overseas on-base branches, is doing to meet changing conditions.

People Want Value Now. Show Them How Your Institution Provides It.

Navy Federal serves a broad swath of the nation’s military forces, including not only the Navy and Marine Corps, but also the Army, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard and veterans and civilian Department of Defense employees and contractors. This includes a range of consumers from those living paycheck to paycheck, though not necessarily low-income, to others living more comfortably, but more tightly than beforehand.

"We are seeing more and more people looking for value," says Piligian. Navy Federal is demonstrating that they’re getting it.

Specifically, the credit union has started underscoring the value it provides to its members by sending them emails that itemize how much banking there saved them in 2024.

What does this look like? Piligian gives an example. Credit cards issued by federal credit unions are capped at 18% currently, versus the national average of 24.23% reported in early April by LendingTree.

"We’ve shown them what the cost would have been if they had been carrying a balance at the average rate," says Piligian.

Navy Federal has deployed, and emphasized, services that it offers that can help households control costs. One monitors every subscription a member is paying via Navy Federal each month. "And if they want to cancel something, they can do it through our app," Piligian says.

Another thrust is the promotion of educational content to help members consider how best to handle their finances.

In April, Navy Federal introduced multiple enhancements to its checking accounts. These include services to improve member credit history, credit score monitoring tools, the ability to track accounts and investments at Navy Federal as well as other institutions, eliminating non-sufficient funds fees, as well as checking protection options.

Where a Flight to Safety Can Land in a Recession

What about the risk of a recession? Piligian says this would be a shift for the credit union and members, but one that would actually put Navy Federal in an advantageous place.

"If you think about recessionary times, or economic uncertainties in general, there is sometimes a flight to safety, and we are that flight to safety," says Piligian.

Positioning Navy Federal as a value brand with members may also help it to bring in more new members who like what they hear about. As members’ wallets get strained, more budget help and financial counseling by the credit union will bolster current offerings, she adds.

In times of uncertainty, Piligian thinks "who you put trust in will matter more. If people don’t know what’s happening in lots of different areas, they may put an overemphasis on brands and companies that they trust. We work hard to earn trust every day." (Navy Federal ranked third in customer satisfaction in the recent J.D. Power U.S. Credit Union Satisfaction Study.)

A subset of Navy Federal’s membership base are defense employees and contractors caught up in potential federal contract cancellations and layoffs. Among employees, some have taken early retirement deals, perhaps months shy of when they might have stopped. Others are hesitant to make major monetary moves.

"It’s probably not a time where you’re going to buy a new ‘fill-in-the-blank’ anything," says Piligian. "If you’re thinking you’re going to lose your job, you’re going to wait and weather through that."

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