FRISCO, Texas – Credit unions trying to compete with big banks and card firms with just a basic credit card can find it a tough game to win. The problem for CUs is the complex multiple-card plans consumers want, including separate commercial, consumer, and merchant card accounts and such incentives as zero-percent balance transfers and different APRs, require card processing capabilities beyond what most credit unions currently use. It is this gap in how credit unions build and manage their credit card portfolios that IntegraSys, a Fiserv subsidiary in Frisco, Texas, saw itself filling when it launched its CredIT Card Processing Services. “It's a new area for credit unions,” said Kendall Workman, IntegraSys's alliance manager of EFT services. “Credit unions as a whole are beginning to break more into commercial banking and business accounts at credit unions. In the past, pretty much a lot of it has been focused on consumers. We believe that with our offering we can help the credit unions go more into business banking and business account support.” CredIT is a credit card processing service available to credit unions that use IntegraSys for core processing. A credit union using the service gets an integrated solution that supports up to 99 separate Visa and MasterCard programs, along with the functionality needed to establish credit card records for each member cardholder, to process transactions in real-time, and to handle statements, billing, and payment processing. In addition, a credit union can opt to outsource to IntegraSys some or all of its cardholder-service support. “What we've done is partnered with another Fiserv business unit – Fiserv Credit Processing Services – to deliver consumer, commercial, and merchant credit-card processing services to our credit-union clients,” said Workman. “When a credit union buys core data processing services from IntegraSys we can make available credit card information in our core system so that tellers and support individuals within the credit union have access to the tools, features, and functions needed to support the program on behalf of their members. Likewise, the members of the credit union can access credit card account information through our online bill pay services.” It all makes sense to Michael W. Williamson, vice president of lending at UMassFive College Federal Credit Union, a $200 million 24,000-member institution in Hadley, Mass. UMassFive had a credit card program that included gold, standard, and student cards, but Williamson said the program was “basically languishing,” with about 5,500 cardholders and outstandings that were holding steady or going down at $6 million or $7 million. With a good 4% margin of profitability, however, it was one of UMassFive's more lucrative products. “I wanted to breathe some life into it,” Williamson said. “Everything I've read said that if you have a platinum card there is more of a tendency on the part of the cardholder to use that card, as opposed to a classic, say, and platinum cardholders generally have more services per household – almost over three. Right now, we're just under two products per household. We wanted to come up with a platinum card program and add some benefits so our members would be enticed to use it more – do some line increases and some other enhancements to better market the product.” UMassFive was already an IntegraSys customer, though it had been using Certegy Inc. for its credit cards. “They have a good program, but there was a better tie-in with IntegraSys because they're our core processor,” Williamson said. “There were advantages they brought to the table that we couldn't get with anybody else.” The only drawback is having to reissue cards, because Certegy retains ownership of the batch identification numbers it issues. Because CredIT is basically a service bureau offering, implementation is fairly straightforward on the IT side. The solution is fully outsourced and processed on the Fiserv Credit Processing Services VisionPLUS account processing system. The conversion process, however, is a bit complicated. UMassFive has a conversion date of July 28, “which sounds like a long time from now but there is an awful lot that needs to be done,” said Williamson. “We are identifying the steps we need to make this a seamless, successful conversion. We formed a project team, as did IntegraSys. We have to select a new card, design our own card, and work through another vendor to produce the plastic for it. We're going to a branding focus. Of course, a credit card is in the wallet of everybody who has one. That's our little marketing piece that they carry with them.” Once the new program is in place, Williamson projects growth of about 1,000 cards per year and outstandings of $11 million to $12 million over the next two to three years. Equally important, he says, is the opportunity to “deepen and protect the relationship with our members. If they have a credit card someplace else, then someone else will be touching them for their financial services. We want them to come to us.” [email protected]