​Origence, the leading lending software technology provider, has partnered with SunWest Credit Union to implement the Origence arc platform, including arc DX, arc OS, and arc MX.

With this partnership, the Phoenix-based SunWest Federal Credit Union (55,000+ members, $585 million in assets) is implementing origination, digital experience, and marketing solutions from Origence to create a modern experience for members and potential members – along with a more frictionless origination process for their staff.

“We wanted to offer our current members a truly convenient and accessible digital loan origination experience, along with a smoother onboarding process for new members,” said Josh Sanchez, lending director at SunWest. “We chose Origence arc because it’s an end-to-end solution that helps us transform the entire journey, allowing us to handle everything from personalized messaging to automated marketing campaigns seamlessly.”

Origence arc is comprised of three products, including the arc OS consumer loan and account origination system, which helps credit unions reduce friction in the origination experience. The new arc DX (digital experience) services modern, digital-first members who expect a faster and easier borrowing and account opening experience. Origence arc MX helps credit unions automate marketing activities with digital, mobile, email, and SMS marketing communication capabilities.
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“We are so pleased that SunWest chose to work with Origence,” said Brit Barker, senior vice president of sales at Origence.  “Digital transformation is imperative for every credit union, and we look forward to working with SunWest to help them create the ultimate origination and onboarding experience for their members.” 

​With an eye on forging partnerships built to strengthen fintech offerings available to credit unions, Curql Collective, a Credit Union Service Organization spurring innovation in the credit union industry, has announced it has signed on a new fintech Ecosystem Partner, BankBI. BankBI is designed to help chief financial officers and management teams focus on growing the balance sheet, manage profitability and deliver efficiencies by offering automated financial and performance reporting to deliver actionable daily insights. 
 
As a fintech subscriber to the Collective, the UK-based BankBI offers Curql credit unions innovative solutions to help management teams make data-driven decisions. The pre-packaged banking business intelligence software harnesses credit union data to provide detailed financial performance reporting and product performance analytics, including in-depth loan and deposit analysis, regulatory reports, and more.
 
"We are very excited to join the Curql Collective, as we believe its objectives synchronize perfectly with BankBI's," said Graham Goble, CEO of BankBI. "We look forward to working within the Collective toward delivering on our objectives to bring efficiencies and data-driven management decision-making to the credit union industry." 
 
“We were sincerely impressed by the offerings at BankBI,” said Nick Evens, CEO of Curql Collective. “They have a firm grasp on what credit unions’ reporting needs are, and that’s important for delivering not just a relevant fintech solution but also one that can help credit union leadership make use of the data they already have with incredibly detailed insights.”

​Member Driven Technologies (MDT), a CUSO that hosts the Symitar core processing system from Jack Henry™ to provide a private cloud alternative for core processing and IT needs, today shared commentary on the financial services landscape this year as well as predictions for what’s to come in 2023.
 
More focus will be placed on ROI drivers. As an uncertain economic outlook remains top of mind, credit unions will reprioritize where they spend their technology dollars and effort next year. Expect to see a narrower focus on investing in technology that directly helps optimize costs and boost efficiencies.
 
To be clear, innovation and digitization will remain a key priority; such initiatives are critical to credit unions’ success. But, instead of investing time and money into exploring new areas (such as the metaverse and BNPL), innovation efforts will be dedicated to areas that impact member service, such as digital account opening, online and mobile banking, online loan applications, etc. 
 
Credit unions will reflect on lessons learned in 2022. There were many hard lessons learned this year that credit unions will consider moving forward. Take real time payments, for instance. Many credit unions quickly implemented faster payments in response to member demand but faced an influx of fraud as a result. Next year, institutions will implement more steps to properly evaluate the risk versus reward of new solutions and products. Security will remain a top priority.
Smaller credit unions will look to technology to help keep their doors open. Talent shortages and thinning margins are challenging credit unions across the board, but smaller institutions are especially feeling the impact. These smaller credit unions are struggling to stay on top of barriers that come with successfully running an institution, such as succession planning and rising operating costs. As a result, many are being forced to look to merge or even close their doors entirely.
 
Leaning on technology and strategic partners to optimize margins and bridge talent gaps has become a major lifeline to those challenged to remain independent. Incorporating more automation helps meet needs when positions are difficult to fill (for example, back-office positions have become nearly impossible to replace) and empower employees to do more with the resources available to them. Expect to see reliance on technology like the cloud and AI/RPA increase next year.
 
“Times of economic anxiety are often when members need their credit unions the most. I have no doubt credit unions will rise to the challenge next year, continuing to provide their members with the personal, robust support they need to weather any storm,” said Larry Nichols, CEO and president of MDT. “However, to do so effectively and sustain operations, credit unions will increasingly look to technology and partners that can deliver efficiencies and member service enhancements. MDT is proud to work hand in hand with credit unions across the country in these efforts.”

​A partnership between business analytics and talent services provider Trellance and modern data quality platform provider, DQLabs, is opening the door for more credit unions to access AI-enhanced solutions to observe, measure, and discover the data and analytics that matter. 
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The DQLabs platform eliminates data silos by centralizing your data quality efforts into a single, AI-driven platform. It employs machine learning and smart automation to enable user communities of all types to collaboratively remediate data quality issues, accelerating time to value and resulting in improved business outcomes.
 
“For credit unions to truly achieve the modern data stack, they need to employ a new approach to their ecosystem that scales with their needs, delivers the data that matters, and accelerates the speed at which they can access data to keep up with the pace of innovation,” said DQLabs CEO and Founder, Raj Joseph. Elaborating further he says, “Better integration among technology partners makes it simpler and more cost-effective to adopt increasingly advanced tools, and with each step in this direction, credit unions fortify their position in the competitive financial services market.”
 
The Trellance M360 business analytics platform combined with the DQLabs modern data quality platform enables credit unions to manage growing volumes of data with greater precision and accuracy. The partnership is another important step towards Trellance’s goal of making its M360 platform the single source of trusted enterprise data.
 
Trellance Partner Program Vice President Dianne Kruse said DQLabs is a valuable addition to Trellance’s ecosystem of innovative partners. “A credit union’s competitiveness is dependent on the quality of the data it collects, integrates, and uses to derive insights,” she said. “It is a major challenge for any organization to achieve this at scale, which is why we’re so pleased to make the DQLabs solution more widely available to the credit union industry.”

​Larky, a fintech provider helping financial institutions proactively connect with their audience in the right place and at the right time, has released the second issue of The Larky Lowdown report. This quarterly report centers on push notification use within the financial services industry and shares intriguing data insights on the impact of this unique communication channel.
 
“Financial institutions can leverage push notification technology in a myriad of different ways, and we highly encourage our clients to use a wide range of messages to effectively engage their account holders,” said Kurt Schaldenbrand, Chief Technology Officer and VP of Product at Larky. “This iteration of the Larky Lowdown explores the varying message categories commonly used by financial institutions, which includes Brand Awareness, New Product Promotion, Current Product Expansion, Operational Announcements and Community Events.”
 
Several push notification message categories indicated strong engagement results, as seen via tap-through rates. Report findings include:

• New Product Promotion push notifications (e.g. car loans, mortgages) typically receive the strongest engagement rates – 31% of the messages distributed by financial institutions fall within this category. More than 25% of messages within this category earn exceptional tap-through rates of 20% and above; 

 

• About 25% of Current Product Expansion messages (e.g., increasing existing debit card usage) earn exceptional tap-through rates. These push notifications are distributed by financial institutions about 5% of the time; and,

 

• Operational Announcements (e.g., special branch hours or closings) make up 19% of messages distributed by financial institutions, and this category receives mixed tap-through rates – about half of messages sent earn engagement rates of at least 10% or more.
  
  

Schaldenbrand added, “A notable report finding was that although New Product Promotions often earn the highest engagement rates, likely due to segmented targeting and strong call-to-action statements, these notifications are only the second most popular message category used by financial institutions (FIs). This category is surpassed by Brand Awareness messages, which typically earn lower tap-through engagement rates. While these low rates may appear to indicate a lack of success, this assumption does not account for the purpose of these messages – to keep FIs top of mind for account holders. Brand Awareness messages often do not require a call to action and instead provide value by earning impressions, which cannot be measured as concretely as tap-through rates.”
 
Each issue of the Larky Lowdown report focuses on a particular area of push notification usage among both banks and credit unions. The quarterly report is freely available for download from the Larky website.

Alogent (@AlogentCorp), a global banking and financial software leader, announced today that Unify now seamlessly interfaces with Corelation KeyStone, the only dedicated credit union core solution. Unify, Alogent’s patent-pending image acquisition and processing platform, allows financial institutions to power all Day 1 and Day 2 payment channels with the same platform and just one API for a cost-effective use of resources, long-term scalability, and a consistent user journey. 
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“Alogent is committed to advancing the market forward with innovative, flexible platforms built on the latest technology, and aligning ourselves with likeminded partners,” said Jason Schwabline, Alogent’s Chief Strategy Officer. “Extending our partnership with Corelation through this new interface brings credit unions using KeyStone seamless access to the entire Alogent suite of solutions, including payment processing, digital banking and enterprise content and information management.”

Unify bridges a market gap by focusing on both user experience and a refreshed payments infrastructure. Its operating system agnostic, web-based platform is powered by a centralized database, enabling fast access to business intelligence and ​holistic view of all payment channels. Learn more at alogent.com/payment-solutions/unify. 

​TruWest® Credit Union is excited to announce the launch of Home by TruWest Mortgage™, a dedicated brand offering borrowers  a variety of home lending options, competitive rates, unparalleled service and the secure backing of a solid 70-year, community-based financial institution.
 
Recognizing the significance of how many of life’s most important moments revolve around the home, the Home by TruWest Mortgage brand helps to promote rates and products to fit borrowers’ lives and evolving needs. An experienced team supports borrowers with mortgage, refinancing and home equity loans. No matter the need, whether it be a new home purchase, that perfect renovation, a desired upgrade, a loan to help cover the next family event, or a unique situation deserving a more specific, personalized review, the Home by TruWest Mortgage team is there to help.
 
“This brand is about everything that makes up people’s lives,” said Farid Farbod, chief lending officer at TruWest Credit Union. “From the walls, the roof, the doors and windows, and everything in between, Home by TruWest Mortgage is led by real individuals who are committed to helping our members achieve their homeownership goals.”
 
For more information regarding Home by TruWest Mortgage™, please visit www.truwest.org/welcomehome.  

​Janusea, a leading fintech company focused on integrations that connect credit unions and community banks with today’s innovative fintech solutions, has received a $2.4 million investment from Great Lakes Credit Union to help fund the organization’s infrastructure, as it continues to grow and meet the increasing demand of its “universal connector” technology. In addition to the investment, Great Lakes will be partnering with Janusea to implement its platform as needs arise – which will allow future fintech partners to seamlessly connect to its core for quicker, smoother products and services delivery to members.
 
According to Janusea CEO Kyle Stutzman, this investment will ensure Janusea has all the right resources in place to grow and deliver its “universal core translator” technology that will, ultimately, empower credit unions not only to work with fintechs but with other credit unions, as well.
 
“We’re obviously very grateful and excited about what Great Lakes’ investment and partnership means to us and our future,” Stutzman adds. “We’re also excited from the credit union perspective how our technology will help empower their internal developers, allowing them to help other credit unions with our platform – which breaks down barriers and fosters another level of credit union collaboration.”
 
“We see it as a match made in heaven,” Great Lakes CFO Tim Lukomski states. “It’s a unique technology offering that fills a void for us, speeding up integration time to bring our products to market much faster --- which results in a huge advantage against the big banks that we are competing with out there.”
 
Another application Lukomski shared involves small credit unions that have challenges attracting top talent. They could use this technology for specialized projects, such as an accounting service that a bigger credit union could offer smaller credit unions. Janusea’s technology could be used to connect the data between credit unions in this area – as well as many others.
 
“It definitely has broad applicability,” he says. “We have to be flexible and adaptable in today’s fast-paced business environment and this technology allows us to achieve that and more.”

​A commissioned ITM Sentiment Study was recently conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of NCR Corporation, a leading enterprise technology provider. Forrester surveyed 307 interactive teller decision-makers within North American retail banking, including some NCR customers, and 1,213 American bank and credit union customers with personal savings and/or checking accounts. Key findings include:
 
•        Financial institutions are adopting ITMs in response to customers’ expectations for convenience; 40% of organizations reported that customer demands for additional service hours are one of the pain points that drove, or are driving, the organization’s decision to adopt ITMs. And 39% stated that customer demands for faster service and 31% indicated customer demands for underserved locations was the pain point.
 
•        Accuracy and speed are top reasons to work with an in-person teller. The survey found that 78% of customers reported that when they visit a branch to conduct a transaction with an in-person teller, accuracy of transaction is most important, followed by 64% indicating the speed of transaction. In contrast, only 20% stated they conduct business with an in-person teller for human interaction.
 
•        Speed, convenience, and availability are the top motivators to use an ITM instead of an in-person teller. Among consumers that have used an ITM, it was found that 70% of customers used an ITM for availability reasons: because it was faster, financial institutions were closed, it was the closest option, or people wanted to socially distance.
 
•        When comparing the transactions customers conduct on an ITM versus with an in-person teller, the top four are the same: check deposit, cash deposit, cash withdrawal with specific bill types and cash check. Institutions have a strong opportunity to leverage ITMs to move more daily transactions away from in-person tellers, leaving more time for in-person tellers to tackle more complex issues.
 
•        There remains a need for greater education and awareness around ITMs. The survey found that 56% of consumers don’t know what an ITM is, and only 41% have used one. Of consumers that have used an ITM, 26% first learned about ITMs by coincidence when coming to the branch for in-person teller interactions, and 21% thought the ITM was a regular ATM before completing a transaction on the machine.
 
•        ITM adoption continues to rise, and the benefits are evident for financial institutions and their customers. 41% of consumers have used an ITM, and of that percentage, nearly 60% of customers have used an ITM in the last three months. Since introducing ITMs, 41% of financial institutions have improved efficiency between 10-20%. And over half have seen a decrease in session wait times.
 
“Our Forrester Consulting research highlights the significant momentum for ITMs that we’ve been seeing not just in the United States but globally as well; in fact, two-thirds of organizations expect ITM investments to increase over the next year,” said Terry Duffy, senior vice president and general manager, Self-Service Banking at NCR. “Introducing and expanding ITMs, enables institutions to operate more efficiently while providing a frictionless, digital-first customer experience. We are confident the strategic use of ITMs will continue to transform how financial institutions and customers interact and collaborate.”
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NCR helps financial institutions bridge digital and physical touchpoints so consumers can bank anytime, anywhere. Through innovative solutions, NCR simplifies and optimizes banking experiences for consumers and staff alike. NCR provides a modern and efficient end-to-end infrastructure that integrates to the broader enterprise and fintech ecosystem to transform, connect and run self-directed banking.

​PSCU, the nation’s premier payments credit union service organization (CUSO), has announced it is expanding its Enhanced Fraud Services offering, enabling credit unions to choose which service level option best fits their fraud and risk mitigation needs.
 
Launched in 2020, PSCU’s Enhanced Fraud Services addresses fraud concerns for credit unions with unique characteristics in their membership portfolio that require a customized approach. It helps credit unions improve the likelihood of spotting fraud by analyzing a financial institution’s catalog of fraud events, and then builds a personalized fraud event response plan to be deployed in conjunction with PSCU’s global fraud fighting rules. The offering now comes in two service levels: Consulting and Monitoring.
 
“Since its introduction nearly three years ago, Enhanced Fraud Services has provided more than 30 credit unions with significant operational efficiencies, heightened detection rates, increased interchange revenue, and an improved member experience,” said Jack Lynch, Chief Risk Officer and President, TriVerity at PSCU. “We are extremely pleased with the success our credit unions have seen thus far and look forward to helping even more credit unions reach and exceed their fraud-fighting goals through our newest offering.”
 
Enhanced Fraud Services Monitoring provides financial institutions with select features from the full offering, assigning a risk program specialist to the credit union to provide an elevated level of monitoring and guidance without the cost of hiring additional credit union staff. The dedicated risk program specialist helps the credit union keep a pulse on fraud risk and trends, provide rule performance reviews and deploy custom strategy sets, ultimately resulting in an enhanced experience for the financial institution and its members.
 
PSCU employs a data lake approach to combat fraud, utilizing a number of technologies and best practices to block fraud at the point of sale, in the contact center and online, among other channels. This includes PSCU’s proprietary Linked Analysis, developed by PSCU’s in-house fraud experts to prevent fraud before it happens by leveraging cross-network analytics. Linked Analysis enables PSCU to link events through artificial intelligence (AI) across different platforms, individuals across different institutions, merchants across any card and all of these points to each other – creating a 360-degree view of a member. Over the past year, the CUSO stopped over $500 million in potential fraud for its Owner credit unions and their members.