NYMBUS®, a leading provider of banking technology solutions, today introduced SMB Launch for Credit Unions. An extension of the company’s award-winning Launch solution, Nymbus’ latest offering equips credit unions with a lightweight, cost effective toolbox of state-of-the art technology and services catered specifically to meet the needs of today’s underserved small and medium sized businesses.

Significant drivers of economic growth, job creation and new innovation in the United States (US)—SMBs represent 99.7 percent of all US businesses and almost half of total private sector employment. Meanwhile, a recent Forbes article states only one third of SMBs feel their primary bank understands their needs or appreciates their business.

“In 2021, the Nymbus CUSO prioritized a national listening tour to connect and hear from more than 50 credit union leadership teams. One of the critical opportunities we identified from these conversations is that by finding the right solutions to help SMBs thrive, we can support members and our larger communities with greater impact,” said Nymbus CUSO President John Janclaes.

With its complete suite of banking technology, tools and on-demand services, Nymbus Launch has gained tremendous momentum for moving any size financial institution forward. Available to be easily implemented, Nymbus’ newest SMB Launch offering is a full digital solution with business checking, spending accounts, and unsecured business lending running in parallel with existing infrastructures.

“After hearing from the credit union leaders, we moved quickly to create an experienced roundtable of credit union executives and experts to understand the most impactful products and services for SMB members,” furthered Janclaes. “Because speed to market is critical, our team is incredibly proud to now introduce SMB Launch for Credit Unions. Those willing to take the leap and capitalize on this capability for intentional innovation will be rewarded with improved customer satisfaction, higher engagement and deeper, more profitable SMB relationships.”

Ascend Federal Credit Union, the largest credit union in Middle Tennessee, announced today that it has promoted Renee Crosslin to vice president of talent development and culture. In her new role, Crosslin, who continues reporting to Chief Human Resources Officer Peggy Stubblefield, will be responsible for helping oversee the credit union’s leadership development, talent management, and culture and inclusion initiatives.
 
“Renee has been instrumental in retaining and developing exceptional talent and helping build a great company culture for our employees,” said Stubblefield. “This promotion recognizes her many contributions and success in enhancing our training and culture programs. Renee is a valuable member of our team, and we look forward to her ongoing contributions to help our credit union continue growing in Middle Tennessee.”
 
Crosslin has 22 years of training and financial services experience. She joined Ascend in 2008 as a sales and service trainer and was promoted in 2013 to assistant vice president of training and development. In that role, she helped plan, design and implement training and development programs. Before that, Crosslin spent eight years in sales and service roles with financial services companies in the South.
 
“Since joining Ascend, I have been fortunate to work with an outstanding leadership team that has been dedicated to building a thriving company culture,” said Crosslin. “Our employees are the key to Ascend’s growth and success, and are essential to providing superior service to our members. I am grateful to Peggy for this opportunity to further enhance our training and professional development programs.”
 
Crosslin earned her Master of Business Administration in data analytics and Bachelor of Arts in management and leadership from Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville.
 
A Nashville native and longtime resident of Manchester, Crosslin is married and has two children. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time on the lake and supporting her children’s many activities.

​Credit Union Student Choice, the leading provider of higher education financing solutions to America’s credit unions, announced that it has partnered with The Summit Federal Credit Union ($1.2 billion; 89,036 members; Rochester, New York) to offer its members education lending solutions for both private student loans and student loan refinance.
 
“Since 1941, The Summit has been focused on supporting and contributing to the communities we serve,” said Mark Gregory, Vice President of Lending for The Summit FCU. “We have offered private education financing options to our members in the past but are looking forward to working with Student Choice to deliver a broader scope of private student lending solutions to our membership. Student Choice focuses on innovative solutions, personalized service and financial education just as our credit union does, and we are excited to partner with them.”
 
The Summit FCU will offer in-school financing for both undergraduate and graduate students, as well Student Choice’s refinance product.
 
“Student Choice provides educational webinars, one-on-one support, and individualized counseling to help borrowers truly understand the lending process,” Gregory added. “Paying for college or repaying student loans can be confusing and overwhelming for families; the tools Student Choice provides help make the process easier to understand so students can make responsible choices about paying for college.”
 
“Consumers have faced a great deal of upheaval in the past few years and need trusted, local financial institutions they can rely on,” said Scott Patterson, President and CEO of Student Choice. “Like The Summit and all our credit union partners, Student Choice focuses on fair-value lending that can build lifelong member relationships. In our case, that means convenient education funding solutions paired with personalized resources to help borrowers make educated decisions today and in the future.”
 
Student Choice enables credit unions of all sizes to make private education loans that are held on their own balance sheet. Since launching in 2008, the CUSO has helped nearly 300 partner credit unions originate more than $4 billion in private education loans to 115,000 families.

CUCollaborate is proud to announce that David Baumann, longtime Washington reporter and founder of the industry news website Washington Credit Union Daily, will be joining the team as a writer and editor.

In his new role, David will continue to produce the same great work reporting on regulations, legislation and political developments affecting credit unions he has long put out daily on his own site. All of his future articles will now appear exclusively on the CUCollaborate Blog, which will naturally shift to a more frequent publication schedule with a finer eye on industry happenings in the capital.

David brings a wealth of experience to the company. Prior to launching his own outlet, he spent more than four years as Washington correspondent for the Credit Union Times, and has also written and edited for many of D.C.’s leading publications, including CongressDaily, National Journal magazine and Congressional Quarterly Weekly across a career dedicated to journalism.

In 2005, he was part of a team honored with a National Headliner Award for a special issue of National Journal on “The State of Congress,” and holds a B.A. in political science from The George Washington University to go along with an M.A. in journalism from Indiana University.

“I couldn’t be happier to be joining CUCollaborate,” said Baumann. “I love covering the credit union industry and my work will now be able to reach a larger audience through a company that truly cares about the industry and its well-being. I can't wait to get started.”
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CUCollaborate Founder and CEO Sam Brownell was likewise thrilled and eager for the partnership to begin. “Having David on board will allow us to stay on top of day-to-day events and produce informative content on an entirely new level,” he explained. “Along with our readers, I’m sure we as a company will also learn a ton from having him on the team.”

​One Detroit Credit Union, with $56 million in assets and 11,000+ members, announced today that it will launch a new mobile banking app with its long-standing partner and digital banking provider Bankjoy.
 
Mobile banking 2.0 represents a significant upgrade to the credit union’s current mobile banking platform. Both based in Detroit, One Detroit Credit Union has partnered with Bankjoy for its online and mobile banking technology since 2017 and is continuing that partnership to elevate the member experience and expand services to underserved residents.
 
Created by credit union executives, Bankjoy delivers modern banking technology, including mobile, online, e-statements, online account opening, online loan application, and conversational AI to banks and credit unions of all sizes. The platform features cutting-edge integrations to quickly upgrade the digital baking experience and provide beautiful products with advanced features, simple navigation, and a modern look and feel. Additionally, Bankjoy streamlines payments, including A2A and P2P, to deliver a true, end-to-end digital service ecosystem.
 
Among the credit union’s upgrades, which will immediately be available to members when the app launches, are:

• Streamlined user experience design, making it simple for members to manage their accounts
• A weekly spending widget to help with household budgeting
• Ability to block or unblock a debit card in the app
• Upgrades to the loan features, giving members more power to manage loan payments

 
Members currently using online and mobile banking will be able to keep their existing login when the new app launches.
 
Minority-led One Detroit Credit Union is one of six credit unions to recently renew its partnership with Bankjoy. Formed in 1935 as the Detroit Newspaper Industrial Credit Union, One Detroit initially served people who worked in the newspaper industry. In the 1970s, it changed its name to be more inclusive of other industries such as radio, television, printing and publishing. The credit union continued to expand, helping to fill the financial services gap within its communities. Today, it aims to unify the community of Detroiters by delivering outstanding services backed by modern banking technology like Bankjoy.
 
Joumana Mcdad, Executive Vice President of One Detroit, said, “A key part of our mission is to help people in our community who have been overlooked by the mainstream banking system by providing them with credible, fair and reasonably priced financial products and services. By working with Bankjoy, we are maintaining that commitment, ensuring that our members can bank how and when they want through the best digital tools available. We look forward to continuing our partnership with the Bankjoy team.”
 
“As fellow Detroiters, we have tremendous admiration for One Detroit’s mission and their effort to positively impact and change the lives of our shared community,” said Michael Duncan, CEO of Bankjoy. “By bringing together industry leaders and modern digital technology, we can drive greater financial inclusion of underserved individuals, especially in Detroit. We are proud to be a part of One Detroit’s journey and support the launch of their next mobile banking platform.”
 
Detroit continues to be a major focus for improving financial inclusion. According to the FDIC’s “How America Banks” survey, the number of minority households without a bank account significantly outweighs those from non-minority households. In fact, the survey found that 13.8% of Black and 12.2% of Hispanic households were unbanked, compared with just 2.5% of white households.
 
To support efforts, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) #GetBanked campaign was expanded to reach Detroit, as well as Dallas and L.A., after successful campaigns in other cities last year. Additionally, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) launched Detroit REACh last month to organize and initiate formal efforts to promote greater access to affordable homeownership, enhance small business financing, and expand access to credit for economically disadvantaged and underserved communities in Detroit.
 
One Detroit Credit Union’s new mobile banking features will launch on March 28, 2022. For more information, visit OneDetroitCU.org/One2GO.

Glia, the leading provider of Digital Customer Service (DCS), today announced $45M in Series D funding led by New York based-global venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partners and joined by existing investor Wildcat Capital Management as well as new strategic investors, including RingCentral Ventures™. This latest round of financing brings Glia's total funding to $152M and its valuation to over $1B.

The additional capital will be heavily allocated toward research and development, helping fuel Glia’s proven decade-long commitment to ongoing innovation in Digital Customer Service. Glia plans to further invest in advanced AI, analytics, messaging, voice, and video capabilities. The results will improve the daily lives and digital expectations of consumers and customer service employees alike. Additionally, the capital will aid in the acceleration of Glia’s geographic footprint in order to deliver the benefits of Digital Customer Service to financial institutions all over the globe.

“The future of customer service is digital, and those that have yet to take steps to modernize their support and engagement strategies are already behind,” said Dan Michaeli, Co-Founder and CEO at Glia. “We’re thrilled by our investors’ confidence reflected in the round’s valuation, recognizing that we’ve only scratched the surface of what Glia can accomplish. Our rapid growth and successful relationships with financial services companies of all types demonstrates the urgent need for Digital Customer Service. As we build upon a decade of innovation, this capital will further extend our reach and help even more businesses across the globe reimagine how they connect with customers digitally.”
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“As enterprises digitize processes and services across the board, digital communication is inevitable, and Glia is leading the way in digitally transforming customer service,” said Lonne Jaffe, Managing Director at Insight Partners. “We’re investing more into the company because of its extraordinary growth and momentum and the enormous size of the market opportunity. Most people haven’t yet experienced first-hand the magic and power of Digital Customer Service as consumers, which stems from Glia’s proven ability to create seamless, uninterrupted experiences across CoBrowsing, voice, chat, and video. We’re excited to once again support Glia as they deepen their investment in R&D and continue to set the standard for Digital Customer Service across the globe.”

ValleyStar Credit Union announces Ben McBride as its senior vice president of IT. He joins the executive team, working alongside his colleagues to build innovative and secure member-focused service. 

Ben began his career at ValleyStar Credit Union in 1999 (then known as the Martinsville DuPont Credit Union) as an IT specialist. Seizing opportunities as they arose brought Ben to his current role as SVP of IT. Ben and his team will be a driving force of AI, cybersecurity and ensuring ValleyStar is on the leading edge of breakthrough technologies. 

“Our ValleyStar mission is ‘Employees First. Members Benefit.’ Ben is the perfect example of how our employees can build careers at ValleyStar while executing innovative ideas that benefit our members,” said Mike Warrell, CEO of ValleyStar Credit Union. “His expertise will advance ValleyStar and keep our credit union in front of emerging technologies to benefit the credit union team and all those that it serves.” 

With more than 22 years in the credit union industry, Ben brings his deep-rooted financial industry knowledge to ValleyStar with a focus on advancing secure, cost-effective technology. His member-focused leadership translates into value for credit union members while keeping their financial assets safe. 

Ben holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Ferrum College. 

Business analytics and technology consulting provider Trellance is announcing that it has joined the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining best practices that help ensure a secure cloud computing environment.

Trellance obtained the CSA’s STAR (Security, Trust, Assurance, and Risk) Registry Level 2 certification, which requires a rigorous third-party independent assessment of the security of a cloud service provider. Senior Director of IT Operations and Security Jeff Shrout said Trellance is now recognized as a Trusted Cloud Provider, which is important as more credit unions embrace cloud-based services.

“Credit unions must have trust and confidence in their technology partners and it’s our goal to make the strength of our security practices clear and evident,” Shrout said. “Credit unions don’t need to simply ‘take our word,’ an independent and accredited third-party has audited and validated our adherence to stringent best practices as a cloud service provider.”

Trellance offers both cloud-based and on-premise delivery of its solutions. Recently, more credit unions have moved to cloud-based services, which offer significant benefits such as faster, simpler deployments and cost-effectiveness. In response to the increased demand, Trellance plans to introduce additional cloud services in 2022.

The CSA is a nonprofit organization led by a coalition of industry practitioners, corporations, and other stakeholders that establish and monitor cloud platforms and cloud service providers.  They maintain a publicly assessable registry of cloud service providers and cloud SaaS providers, which is available at cloudsecurityalliance.org.

In addition to being CSASTAR Level 2 certified, Trellance is also compliant with SOC 1 and 2 standards and is Level 1 Service Provider certified with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard.