A new partnership between Corporate Central Credit Union and Ncontracts aims to helpcredit unions with their vendor management and regulatorycompliance efforts.

The $2.5 billion Corporate Central in Muskego, Wis., said itwill offer Ncontracts' formal vendor and contract managementservice to manage third-party risk in a way that is tailored toeach credit union's relationship.

“Ncontracts provides an all-encompassing software solution,coupled with consulting services and paralegal support tostreamline what is quickly becoming a very labor-intensive processwhen performed in house,” said Chris Felton, Corporate Central'sexecutive vice president.

Vendor management is a hot-button issue for credit unions withregulatory focus on service provider oversight, Corporate Centralsaid.

Some of the primary reasons why credit unions have a heightenedinterest in vendor management include reliance on third parties,greater regulatory scrutiny on data privacy and security, and anincreasing number of highly publicized data breaches, according tothe corporate.

Michael Berman, president/CEO of Ncontracts in Brentwood, Tenn.,said every financial institution utilizing the company's serviceshas successfully passed the third party risk management portion oftheir exam.

“This partnership brings a much needed service to credit unionsfaced with growing third-party oversight requirements,” Feltonsaid. “The fact that we can add value to our membership via ourpartnership pricing model with Ncontracts is a positive benefit forour members.”