FRISCO, Texas – U.S. Central's quest to change the system corporates use to access their U.S. Central account has had its challenges. The corporates' corporate decided approximately three years ago to move away from EDS and to Symitar. IntegraSys is the former credit union processing division of EDS, which was sold to Fiserv. EDS has supported the CCUN system for 25 years. IntegraSys reported last week that it has signed a three-year agreement with U.S. Central for IntegraSys to manage the CCUN host system. It's unclear exactly what this deal means for the future of the system. Does it mean U.S. Central is simply being prudent and extending the contract to ensure IntegraSys continues to maintain CCUN? Does it mean U.S. Central is rethinking its commitment to Symitar? "Even though U.S. Central decided to go in a different direction three years ago, we view this as recognition in the value we have. All through this process of U.S. Central going in a different direction, we've continued to perform, we've delivered in every way. I think that's what's given U.S. Central the confidence in us," said Scott Butler, president of IntegraSys. Oddly, Butler says though EDS managed CCUN for 25 years, it never had a license to the source code. That has changed under this new agreement. "We now have access to the code and have the ability to develop and enhance the system," said Butler. "This longer term, minimum three-year agreement gives us opportunities we have not had," said Butler. Meanwhile, Symitar believes U.S. Central is just being prudent from a business standpoint and is still committed to the Symitar platform. So far six corporates have converted to Symitar, with 12 more in the pipeline. Symitar President Kathy Hooker said some of the delays Symitar has had are a result of management changes at both organizations. "The senior management team originally there when this was formed is not there any more. A lot of things have changed in both the world of U.S. Central and of Symitar in the last three years. There have been changes in the project and changes in the scope of different efforts," said Hooker. She does believe that Symitar and U.S. Central have a good working relationship and she plans on continuing with the 12 new implementations. As for the IntegraSys deal, Hooker isn't worried. "I think they're simply being smart and extending that option. It's not really a big deal," she said. Hooker noted that Symitar takes the U.S. Central job very seriously, including creating a separate support team and separate implementation team. "We basically set up a whole corporate credit union team that reports to our director of corporate credit unions who reports to me," she said. Hooker did not know what to make of the source code change. She found it strange that IntegraSys did not already have this relationship. U.S. Central wouldn't say much on this development, except that it is still evaluating system issues. "We're kind of in a position now where we need both of these vendors. We're working with IntegraSys and working with Symitar. We are in the process now of working with membership on the direction we're headed," said U.S. Central spokesperson Jill Stockham. "We're trying to figure out what the best solution is," she said. [email protected]