FALLS CHURCH, Va. - The Encore Electronic Services Cooperative, a credit union-owned organization offering CUs a variety of electronic and card related services, has entered into an alliance with Electronic Transfer Business Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in electronic business analysis. The alliance will mean that Encore member CUs will be able to have their electronic transactions and relationships analyzed for their efficiency and cost savings and make recommendations that might save them some money, explained Tom Reed, CEO of Encore. "Very often credit unions are all over the electronic map," Reed said. "They have their ATM processing with one firm, their debit and credit processing with other firms, and so on. It can be hard to work through all that and understand if those relationships are as efficient and low-cost as they can be." Reed stressed that the alliance will not mean that ETBS will necessarily recommend Encore products or services, but that Encore member CU's will be able to access the firm's consulting services for less expense than they would have otherwise.