Posts By: Denise Wymore

CU*Answers, a 100% credit union-owned CUSO, held their 2019 Annual Leadership Conference and Stockholders Meeting on June 19^th at the JW Marriott Hotel in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. The event brought together credit union leadership from across the country for a briefing on the organization’s overall direction and major projects for the coming year.

This year’s conference theme was “Unique, Not Original.” CU*Answers CEO Randy Karnes was joined on stage by long-time industry icon Chip Filson for a discussion around the question, “can we be transformative pioneers for our futures?” Said Karnes as he introduced the conference theme to the group, “Every credit union and person in our network is unique. For our cooperative to be strong, every organization’s creativity and need to be unique must be honored and fostered by our collective.” Karnes explained today’s credit union leaders are connected to the original concepts, organizations, and individuals from our industry’s history who proved that consumer-owners could succeed.… Read more

CU*Answers is pleased to announce it has successfully completed disaster recovery testing of the ItsMe247.comPersonal Internet Branch member security site. During the test, the website was moved to CU*Answers’ backup data center and live traffic was served from this location for the 5-hour duration of the test. The live test was executed as planned without issue.

“Testing the recovery of member-facing web and mobile applications brings with it a unique set of challenges. Coordinating and orchestrating the recovery over the public internet with integration to more than 60 third-party vendors requires planning, preparation, and practice. If you’re not testing on a regular basis, you’re just guessing,” said Jim Lawrence, Vice President of Business Continuity CBCP, CISSP.

Personal Internet Branch, or PIB, is an internet application that allows credit union members to customize and secure their online banking experience including setting hours of access, geolocation restrictions, device registration, second layer access codes for transfers and bill pay operations, and more.… Read more

In efforts to improve the quality of life for people in their community, eDOC Innovations’ 4th Annual Step Challenge, No Lazy Days in May, raised $700 for the Vermont Community Foundation by walking more than 9.3 million steps (about 4,655 miles). As in the past, staff from both eDOC Innovations and CU*Answers joined together to hit the road in the spirit of CUSO collaboration.

Steven Davis, 1st place winner, walked almost a million steps in the 5-week challenge, with almost 30 miles in just one day! Second place winner Ramon Cano walked 822,885 steps, and Keith Kramer took 3rd place with 524,508 steps. “This is a tough crowd to beat,” laughed Tristan Kiel, organizer of the event. “All three are 1st place winners, Kramer in 2018, Davis in 2017, and Cano in 2016. At the award ceremony on June 5th, Davis was still limping, and Cano joked, ‘I’m sick of walking!’”

The No Lazy Days Step Challenge reflects eDOC Innovations’ concern for the local community, one of the core cooperative principles.… Read more

Immersive Full Day Events Bring Industry Expertise to Doorsteps of Credit Unions

CO-OP Financial Services is bringing payments and digital transformation expertise to regional credit union leaders through six, single-day “Roadshow” events running July-October in locations across the country. Attendees will learn strategies for identifying and leveraging new opportunities for growth and optimizing member experience, network with other credit union leaders and come away with new tools to immediately put into action.

According to Samantha Paxson, Chief Experience Officer for CO-OP, the Roadshow events are an extension of the peer networking and strategic learning exercises that happen each year at the THINK conference.

“At THINK 19 in May, we explored the many doors that rapid evolution and adoption of technology are opening for credit unions,” said Paxson. “As consumers connect, engage and relate to service providers in new, empowering ways, the potential for credit unions has never been more promising. With the smaller, more interactive setting of the Roadshow events, credit union leaders will have a greater opportunity to ask specific questions and walk away with a richer roadmap for transformation.”… Read more

CU*Answers Imaging Solutions and RVA Financial Credit Union have teamed up to build an integration between CU*BASE^®, CU*Answers’ core processing platform, and RVA Financial’s chosen assisted self-service solution, the Nautilus Hyosung 7800 product. This integration will allow members to access functions on the machine, using self-service or the video teller, that go well beyond typical ATM capabilities due to the integration with the CU*BASE core processing product. Members will be able to perform transfers, make payments and even take an advance on a line of credit.

Rick Preble, CEO of RVA Financial, shared: “We are always looking at how to best serve our membership. The ITM integration will extend service hours and make banking more convenient for our members. By allowing members to self-serve on our ITM with this advanced set of features made possible through core integration, we free up resources on the teller line which we can repurpose for member interactions focused on deepening relationships.… Read more