The biggest decisions in a core banking system change arefrequently made prior to the project's actual start. In a recentCU Times interview, Black Hills Federal Credit Unionoffered an inside look at its pre-conversion choices.

For the first of a series of articles documenting its conversion journey, the $1.07 billion, Rapid City, S.D.-basedcredit union revealed its course of action – from developing astrategic initiative through RFPs, vendor interviews and scorecardsto making a core selection.

BHFCU SVP of IT John Buxton recalled a number of events that ledthe credit union to consider a new core system during the last quarter of 2015.