The woman at the helm of the world's largest credit union

Being CEO of Navy Federal Credit Union is a bit different from running any other financial institution — and not only because it's the largest credit union in the world. 

The job requires an intimate knowledge of the military lifestyle. For the past year, that's meant adjusting the credit union's technology, management and outreach to provide guidance for members who face pressure on many fronts.  

"What I have always tried to do and have been proud to do in the time I've worked here is to just focus on who we are inherently," said Mary McDuffie, Navy Federal's president and CEO. "Our members tend to be young and have challenges that everyone has when starting out in life. They want to make the best decisions for them and need people along the way to help them."

Navy Federal spent the past year prioritizing investments in its omnichannel platform and data infrastructure. Other recent moves include a partnership with the Cybercrime Support Network, a nonprofit that helps victims of fraud. Navy Federal also rebranded its broker-dealer and investment advisory business from Navy Federal Brokerage Services to Navy Federal Investment to reflect a wider range of products. 

"We are not for profit and we plow our earnings back into the service we provide for members. I think that is a good and righteous model," said McDuffie, one of American Banker's Most Powerful Women in Credit Unions for 2022. 

That model has focused on adding digital technology to serve younger members, with more mobile function and access for people who are not as accustomed to phone or branch service as older members. It has also helped Navy Federal reach number two on American Banker's ranking of financial institutions that are best at humanizing the customer experience. Customer experience has increasingly become a challenge for the financial services industry, according to research from Arizent, American Banker's publisher.

Over the past year, the credit union has begun rotating senior executives into different business lines to offer fresh perspectives to staff. For the leaders, it's also a chance to broaden their own perspective and to gain expertise in different areas of financial services.

"We hire people from industries who come with a specific expertise," McDuffie said. "It's been my observation that some of our best leaders are those who have walked a number of paths." 

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Navy Federal's members walk many paths of their own, and the credit union provides financial education for an audience that is younger and likely to relocate. As the impacts of high inflation hit military members, Navy Federal also relies on its knowledge of the military as a profession — and how that lifestyle fits into the larger economy — to inform how it engages with its members.  

"If they are active duty we know how much they make and we have a hand up on helping them manage through difficult times," McDuffie said. "We know that if they want to buy a certain type of car that they can or can't afford it." 

McDuffie has been with Navy Federal for more than two decades, starting in 1999 as vice president of marketing. Her roles have covered communications, lending, delivery channels, and a stint as Chief Operating Officer before becoming CEO three years ago. McDuffie, a graduate of Wellesley College in Massachusetts, has also held executive roles at Porter Novelli and J. Walter Thompson, among other firms. At J. Walter Thompson in the 1980s, she worked out of Jakarta, Indonesia.

"There is a culture to the military and you have to know that language," McDuffie said. "You have to be able to relate."

Her experience at Navy Federal has allowed McDuffie to gain an understanding of the military culture, which has helped her lead staff who also acquire the same knowledge as they work together and gain experience. For example, Navy Federal's staff includes Rear Adm. Dietrich Kuhlmann, who is chief operating officer.

In his naval career, Kuhlmann commanded Submarine Group Nine, which covered all submarine responsibilities in the Pacific Northwest, from 2014. He also was responsible for financial assignments at the Pentagon, including oversight of an $800 billion capital allocation process, providing a background for a career in financial services. 

Navy Federal Credit Union is by far the largest credit union in the U.S., with $159 billion of assets, more than 12 million members, 21,000 employees and 355 branches (189 of which are on or near military installations). Navy Federal is larger than the nearest three U.S. credit unions — State Employees' Credit Union, PenFed Credit Union and BECU — combined, according to Segmint.com

"Navy Federal is the north star of the credit union industry and clearly gives even the largest banks a lot of competition for consumer business," said Jim Adkins, a co-founder and managing partner of Artisan Advisors, adding the credit union is able to successfully navigate its charter restrictions, which state that members must be military or an immediate family member that was or is military. 

Navy Federal also strengthens its brand with the population at large through its ad campaigns, which use humor to demonstrate the dire straits its military members would face if they didn't have access to Navy Federal's services. In one ad, a car loan recipient taking his new vehicle through a car wash imagines what it would have been like if he hadn't received that loan — in his imagination, he is still in the car wash, getting soaked. The ads always end with the tagline "Our members are the mission."

It's a message not only for potential members, but for the credit union industry as a whole. "Just like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America on the bank side, Navy Federal sets the standard in the credit union space," Adkins said.