Trusted News for Credit Union Leaders
Credit Union Times
MAY 27, 2020 | VOL. 31 | NO. 10 | CUTIMES.COM
FOCUSREPORT:
CORE PROCESSING
A core system conversion is a massive undertaking in and of itself – sowhat happens when a global pandemic gets thrown into the mix? Inthis Focus Report, CUs and core processors discuss how the recentshift to remote work has affected their conversion project plans. Y6
Members AreOwners
It’s time to let themknow. Y14
DataGovernance
Understandthe how andwhy. Y10
Must Reads
WORKING REMOTELY
CU Nails Mock Conversion
In mid-March, the $1.64 billion,Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Allegacy Federal Credit Unionsuccessfully completed a mockconversion to the Brookfield,Wis.-based Fiserv’s DNA core ina remote environment due to theCOVID- 19 pandemic.
By sustaining a thorough com-mand-and-control process andleveraging collaboration tools,the Allegacy and Fiserv teamscommunicated as if they were located in the same facility, allowing them to smoothly carry outa mock conversion. The creditunion is planning to go live onthe new system this month.
“The technology upgrade
takes place over
Memorial Day
weekend, includ-
ing Saturday, May
23, Sunday, May
24 and Monday,
May 25. All up-
dates will be com-
pleted by Tuesday,
May 26 when we
go-live on DNA,” Annette Knight,
chief experience officer for Alle-
gacy, told CU Times in an earlier
interview. “Allegacy is moving
from an in-house/hybrid solu-
tion to a hosted solution. We are
committed to providing the best,
most secure financial experience
possible for our members.”
In addition to using DNA from
Fiserv, Allegacy will implement
many of Fiserv’s surrounding
technology and new third-party
systems, all with the Y16
mid all of the excruci-
ating frustrations dur-
ing the application
process of the Pay-
check Protection Program report-
ed by many financial institutions,
particularly small credit unions,
some of them came through for
“Main Street” businesses. Those
businesses, considered the staples
of local economies, sorely needed
the federal government forgivable
loans to survive the devastation
wrought by the coronavirus eco-
nomic shutdown.
Obviously, larger credit unions
with more resources and person-
nel appeared to fare better, with
some managing to secure hun-
dreds or thousands of PPP loans
for their community’s small com-
panies. Some of those financial
cooperatives reported getting PPP
loans for small businesses that
were turned away by their large
primary financial
institution.
Soon after PPP
was announced,
Mira Ness, presi-
dent/CEO of the
$26 million New
York University
Federal Credit
Union near Washington Square
Park, got an anxious call from one
of its business members, Sarah
Perez Jarrett. She is the CEO of
Salud, a family-owned firm
BUSINESS LENDING
PETER STROZNIAKpstrozniak@cutimes.com
Credit Unions Reveal PPP Loan Wins
Y17
COVID-Era
Marketing
Challenges
CUs
PETER STROZNIAK
pstrozniak@cutimes.com
uring the Great De-
pression when mil-
lions of Americans
lost their jobs, credit
unions demonstrated the differ-
ence of the young movement by
providing much-need credit to
members who were turned away
for loans by commercial banks.
When the coronavirus crisis hit,
leading to a collapsing economy
and the biggest job losses since
the Great Depression, credit
unions quickly sprang into action
by providing a variety of loan relief
options, fee waivers and other fi-
nancial benefits to support mem-
bers. Those actions will go a long
way to strengthen member loyalty
and also generate positive word-
of-mouth marketing in credit
union communities.
Beyond that, credit unionsare concerned about how muchmarketing, if any, they should dobecause they don’t want to beseen as insensitive to the healthand financial challenges manyconsumers are facing. However,life is continuing on, and consumers still need products andservices. And in the age of COVID- 19, marketing presents a rareand wide-open opportunity todemonstrate how and whySTRATEGY
Y18
Knight
Ness
