Stacy Armijo
“Let's build business models that have a little more courage. Let's build business models that speak to our customers and what they want to accomplish.”
Stacy Armijo has been Chief Experience Officer at Amplify Credit Union since 2018, with a remit she describes as “demand, deposits, payments, and people.” Marketing, retail, payments, HR, and training all sit within that scope, reflecting her belief that the teams shaping a company’s promise should stay closely connected to the people responsible for delivering it.
Armijo’s 17 years in public relations gave her a reputation-first view of customer experience. “Reputations are built on experiences, not intentions,” she says. Digital channels need to provide speed and availability, phone service should prioritize empathy and resolution over average handle time, and branches should leave members feeling more confident and connected.
That same thinking shapes how she approaches technology. Armijo believes credit unions should embrace AI now, even if the full payoff takes years to emerge. She sees predictable, repeatable work as a natural fit for automation, while relationships, empathy, and community presence remain areas where credit unions can differentiate.
Instant payments give her another way to connect experience with business behavior. After Amplify introduced faster money movement, individual accounts grew 12% faster than the overall portfolio, while business accounts grew 25% faster. Armijo sees that as evidence that payment speed is becoming part of how members judge a financial institution and decide where to keep their deposits.
Taken together, those choices show Armijo treating customer experience as an operating principle that goes beyond a simple service function.
Amplify Credit Union is a member-owned financial cooperative offering fee-free banking, mortgages, commercial lending, wealth management, and other financial services. Founded in 1967 by IBM employees in Austin, Amplify now serves more than 50,000 members and manages over $3 billion in assets, with a digital-first model serving members across Texas.