Fiserv and Symitar, a division of Jack Henry & Associates,dominate the core processing business for credit unions, and thesegraphics from Callahan & Associates show just how much.(Click on each graph to enlarge.)

According to Callahan's 2014 Market Share Guide/Credit UnionCore Processing, Fiserv, which built its business through twodecades of acquisitions before consolidating its credit uniondivisions a couple years ago and then buyingOpen Solutions last year, has the lion's share of themarket overall, providing core processing services to about 2,400of the nation's 7,000 or so credit unions.

Symitar has a big footprint, too, especially among larger creditunions, with more than 500 on its flagship Episys platform andanother 170 running the Cruise solution for smallercredit unions.

Meanwhile, among the smallest asset class, FedCompstill comes in second behind Fiserv, serving more than 800credit unions, although consolidations and closings have helped cutits client list that once numbered around 2,000.

According to Callahan, CUSOs still maintain a solid niche in thecore processing market, including those that run their ownplatforms, such as CU*Answers, EPL and Share One, and others thatserve as service bureaus for Symitar customers (Member DrivenTechnologies), Fiserv DNA users (COCC) and CU*Answers (CU*South andCU*Northwest).

Other ownership structures exist in the space, including atSynergent, a Maine league-owned Symitar service bureau, andMinnesota-based Sharetec Systems, which claims nearly 300 customerson its platform and is owned by four regional distributors acrossthe country.