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The Gift of Saying “No” to Bad Data
Most financial institutions think their data problems come from missing fields or outdated systems. In reality, the bigger threat is the data you shouldn’t have allowed in at all.
Here’s the truth:
Bad data is more expensive than no data.
It’s how you end up reporting a member as both 27 and 81.
It’s how dashboards contradict each other.
It’s how audits uncover surprises your teams didn’t even know existed.
And it’s why so many credit unions spend more time cleaning data than using it.
The Problem Isn’t Data — It’s Ownership
Big banks don’t win because they have perfect data.
They win because they have clear, enforceable ownership of it.
Every field, every table, every definition has someone accountable for:
- Accuracy
- Updates
- Rules
- Exceptions
- Communication
“Everyone owns the data.”
“We all care about quality.”
“Anyone can update this field if needed.”
Unfortunately, shared responsibility almost always turns into no responsibility.
That’s how errors persist quietly for years.
That’s how fields get repurposed without notice.
That’s how cleanup becomes a once-a-year fire drill instead of a routine habit.
Governance reduces operational risk. Strong governance protects your institution from:
- Inconsistent regulatory reporting
- Inaccurate loan analytics
- Mismatched GLs
- Unreliable segmentation
- Flawed dashboards
- Audit escalations
The Fix: Give Every Field an Adult in the Room
You don’t need a complex governance council to get started. What you need is ownership — clear, named, documented.
Practical examples:
- Lending owns loan-level fields and definitions.
- Finance owns GL mapping, hierarchies, and reconciliations.
- Marketing owns segmentation and campaign-related attributes.
- Operations owns account structure, statuses, and member identifiers.
When ownership is clear:
- Cleanup becomes continuous
- Exceptions get resolved instead of ignored
- Definitions stop drifting
- Reporting becomes consistent across teams
- Dashboards stop requiring translation
A data field with no owner is a liability. A field with an owner becomes an asset.
You don’t need a 200-page governance manual. Start with:
- Documented definitions for high-impact fields
- Naming standards
- Update rules
- Validation steps
- A simple place to record questions and decisions
Once this foundational structure is in place, data quality doesn’t just improve — it stabilizes. Bad data stops entering the system. Good data finally starts working for you.
The Simple Truth
Better analytics begins with saying “no” — no to bad inputs, no to unclear ownership, and no to data that doesn’t follow your rules. Big banks aren’t better because they collect more. They’re better because they’re disciplined enough to protect what they collect. Community FIs can do the same — with clearer roles, cleaner processes, and a governance model that the whole organization can actually follow.
The Data Nerds’ Day 2 Gift:
A governance model where every field has an adult in the room.
Because data only becomes powerful when someone is responsible for keeping it clean.
Ready to build a data governance structure your team will actually use?
Lodestar helps credit unions establish practical ownership models, define roles that make sense, and roll out governance processes that improve data quality from day one — without overwhelming your teams.