Chrome Federal Credit Union, formerly Washington CommunityFederal Credit Union, is undergoing a metamorphosis, and when ithas emerged from its cocoon by year-end, it expects to betransformed in the way of technology and member experience.

“We really think we are a technology company providing financialservices, because we think the world is changing and it is notbrick and mortar anymore,” Christopher George, president/CEO,said.

Chrome FCU, which revealed its new name in April 2015 and has 34employees and two branches, is a $131 million, 11,000-memberinstitution located on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, Pa. that setout to differentiate itself in the market.

“Chrome is simply good banking,” George explained. “To us thatmeans easy-to-use accounts, less fees, more stores and smart peoplewho can't wait to help. We'll also be serving up state-of-the-artonline and mobile banking, Chrome Confidence privacy and securityassurance, and more.”

George explained that when he arrived at the credit union almostfive years ago, it had two branches, drive-thru windows,traditional tellers and ATMs. In addition, it took about 10 minutesto boot up the Windows XP computers, he said.

“The credit union had very limited IT resources, and a veryoutdated firewall, website and IT system,” he said.

The credit union, which originally concentrated on credit card,general share and checking accounts, began to see a need for changewhen the steel business – the foundation and origin of the creditunion – dried up. Plus, its location in the back of a mill wastotally desolate and looked like something from a Mad Max movie,George admitted.

In 2010, the credit union installed fiber networks and newfirewalls, updated all its PCs and servers, and created anoperations department.

Then the perfect storm occurred. The credit union had plenty ofresources and observed all the changes in the industry, and thesmartphone emerged as a viable financial tool.

“We flipped the model upside down,” George said. “We feelbanking is going digital, and everyone holds a bank in theirpocket.”

Using analytics, the credit union calculated that 8,000 out of11,000 members did not visit its branches. Plus, one thousand ofits members had just a $5 share account and cost the credit union$1 a month just to maintain them. That had to change.

They set out to find their typical demographic model, whichturned out to be the “soccer mom,” middle-class suburban woman, andthen targeted that group using guerilla and word-of-mouthmarketing.

Amanda Lunger, vice president and chief brand officer, detailedhow the credit union enlisted the help of a Pittsburgh-based branddesign agency to produce a challenger brand, and a Cleveland marketresearch company to create four different personas aimed at theirtargeted market.

“We believe so much in this persona strategy [which representsdifferent levels of financial expertise and involvement] that wegave them names, faces and personalities,” Lunger said.

The credit union also wanted to create a unique onlineproduct.

“The digital experience for most banks and credit unions is justplain horrible,” George stated rather bluntly. “Just becausesomething is a single sign-on does not make it a good userexperience.”

In order to design a “wow” user experience, the credit unionspent a year and a half speaking with about 35 different vendors,looking for those that were willing to share their APIs and assistwith custom-building a solution.

“We tried working with our core vendor at the time, but theycould not provide what we wanted,” George states. “There is asignificant gap between third-party innovation and the cores.”

George credits Wade Arnold of Banno (who is now with the Dallas,Texas-based ProfitStars) for “getting it” and understanding whatChrome FCU aimed to achieve with its mobile and online channels.Arnold, managing director of ProfitStars, founded Banno in 2008 andserved as its CEO until its sale to Jack Henry & Associates inMarch 2014.

Read more: Chrome FCU's online and mobile solutionsare intuitive and user-friendly …

“I give kudos to Jack Henry for acquiring Banno because they arevery innovative,” George said.

From a philosophy standpoint, George and Arnold wanted to makesure their online/mobile solution was intuitive and simple touse.

“When you think of [Chrome FCU's] graphic designing, it is veryheavy on the human elements and feelings of the users' lives, andhow they engage with the credit union versus a product matrix thatthe consumer has to figure out,” Arnold pointed out. “All creditunions should watch this because Chrome FCU gets to the root of thevalue proposition of credit unions.”

Now, as they prepare for their unveiling, George believes thecredit union has succeeded. Chrome FCU's digital, online and mobilebanking is a very unique experience, George explained, adding thatthis would not be possible without an open API from differentthird-party vendors, George explained.

Among the companies the credit union partnered with for thistransformation were Banno (now part of ProfitStars, a Jack Henrycompany) for online and mobile banking; the Monett, Mo.-basedSymitar (also a Jack Henry company), for the core; the Braintree,Mass.-based Geezeo for PFM and the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based PSCUfor credit card processing.

Arnold said working with other Jack Henry solutions made thereal-time integration across channels easier to achieve.

“In this case, Chrome FCU wanted a more horizontal solutionacross all brands,” he said.

All of Chrome's technology solutions are outsourced, including aU.S.-based call center. The credit union does not have an ITperson; instead, it hired good people to manage its ITpartnerships. Basic versions of Chrome FCU's website and mobile appare due out in July, and the unveiling of both fully-enhancedversions will take place by year-end.

The complete website design features a modern retail look andtargets Chrome FCU's primary demographic. In the future, it willalso market to the Chrome FCU small business brand. The site willinclude account opening, loan application, store appointmentscheduling, and chat/help desk integration.

The new mobile app will include real-time core integration,remote deposit capture, bill pay, store appointment scheduling, ahelp desk and geolocation integration.

Based on the credit union's research, most Chrome FCU memberscome to the store once a year, and when they do, they will notice achange there too. The credit union considers its locations storesrather than branches, and they do not include drive-thru ATMs.Chrome FCU also has 30 shared branch locations, and if a memberuses a foreign ATM, they'll be reimbursed for fees.

The first of its two flagship stores is expected to open byAugust 2015, and will be about 5,000 square feet and include a2,500-square-foot community room. Chrome FCU plans to open a totalof eight stores where its target members shop.

“The store is there to host a conversation about financial goalsso we can explain how we can make our members' lives easier withour simple products and services,” George said.

In order to better serve its demographic, the credit unioncreated a universal Chrome FCU associate position for people withstrong skill sets. The associate can take a loan application,answer app questions and help with personal financial management.They are certified financial counselors and receive thoroughtraining in all aspects of the credit union's products andservices. This way, the members need only one point of contact.

As they are more focused on starting conversations thancompleting transactions, the universal associates do not haveoffices. They have iPads, and access to universal offices, atransaction bar, video wall and touchscreen. The credit union hasalso partnered with Starbucks to install a commercial machine thatprovides complimentary coffee, tea and hot chocolate on demand.

“Our end-game is to be about a half billion dollar institutionwith 50,000 members,” George said. Neighboring Allegheny Countyhopes to help the credit union with its expansion, he said.

George concluded the credit union believes mobile will replacebranches as the primary banking vehicle in the near future, andwhen that happens, it will be ready.