Today’s mobile banking world is all about performance, user experience and interfaces. However, just as there isn’t one mobile banking user type, no single solution fits all credit unions.
So, what is the best way for credit unions to mobilize their banking? That depends.
“For us it’s not so much about age or member segmentation as it is functionality and the ability to keep our members,” Steve Ervolino, CIO of the $1.4 billion Dupaco Community Credit Union, whose primary member concentration centers around Dubuque, Iowa and eastern Iowa. About 20% of the credit union’s members live outside a branch service area.
“We want them to have their credit union in their pocket, and we’re constantly looking for ways to sustain membership over time even if they move away,” Ervolino said. “Obviously, the bulk of Dupaco’s membership lives within a branch area, and mobile for them is all about convenience.”
In 2011, the credit union enlisted the help of FI-Mobile to expand its mobile banking functionality and provide a branded Dupaco app. FI-Mobile (now part of Sync1 Systems, a CUSO launched in December out of Austin, Texas) provided an interface allowing the credit union to implement any mobile banking service into a single, unified mobile banking app.
CHROME Federal Credit Union, a $137 million, 18,000-member institution based in Canonsburg, Penn., started to adapt several years ago as its members turned toward digital.
Recently, CHROME selected the Miami Beach, Fla.-based NYMBUS’ SmartCore to help the credit union realize its digital-first transformation with a secure online and mobile banking system, rapid digital onboarding, lending services and remote deposit capture.
“A critical pillar of our transformation is redesigning the holistic digital experience for our members,” Christopher George, president/CEO for CHROME, said. “NYMBUS’ core banking platform is years ahead of the legacy vendors that have traditionally owned the market.”
George explained the credit union is scheduled to transition to its new core by mid-2017.
Three credit unions – the $142 million, Jackson, Miss.-based Magnolia Federal Credit Union; the $90 million, Savannah, Ga.-based Georgia Heritage Federal Credit Union and the $113 million, Hamden, Conn.-based Wepawaug-Flagg Federal Credit Union – selected the Detroit-based Bankjoy to negotiate the tricky mobile landscape.
Bankjoy, founded in 2015 by two former credit union IT employees, offers digital direction and solutions.
“Our goal is to provide a full omnichannel experience that credit unions can provide to their members,” Bankjoy CEO Michael Duncan said.
Read more about mobile banking at credit unions in the Jan. 25, 2017 print issue of CU Times.
