Today's mobile banking world is all about performance, user experience and interfaces. However, just as there isn't one mobile banking user type, no single solution fits all credit unions.

So, what is the best way for credit unions to mobilize their banking? That depends.

“For us it's not so much about age or member segmentation as it is functionality and the ability to keep our members,” Steve Ervolino, chief information officer for the $1.4 billion Dupaco Community Credit Union, whose primary member concentration centers around Dubuque, Iowa and eastern Iowa. About 20% of the credit union's members live outside a branch service area.

“We want them to have their credit union in their pocket, and we're constantly looking for ways to sustain membership over time even if they move away,” Ervolino said. “Obviously, the bulk of Dupaco's membership lives within a branch area, and mobile for them is all about convenience.”

In 2011, the credit union enlisted the help of FI-Mobile to expand its mobile banking functionality and provide a branded Dupaco app. FI-Mobile (now part of Sync1 Systems, a CUSO launched in December out of Austin, Texas) provided an interface allowing the credit union to implement any mobile banking service into a single, unified mobile banking app. Popular Dupaco features include mobile deposits, which are now up more than $1 million a month.

“That exceeds the deposit traffic at three of our smallest branches,” Ervolino noted. Recently, the credit union launched an optimized picture pay/bill pay system.

“Sync1 Systems is an entirely new technology platform architected from the ground up to help credit unions succeed in this new world,” Steve Maloney, CEO of Sync1 Systems, which anticipates launching its integrated digital banking, mobile and loan origination platform for credit unions in the first half of 2017, stated.

CHROME Federal Credit Union, a $137 million, 18,000-member institution based in Canonsburg, Penn., started to adapt several years ago as its members turned toward digital.

Recently, CHROME selected the Miami Beach, Fla.-based NYMBUS' SmartCore to help the credit union realize its digital-first transformation with a secure online and mobile banking system, rapid digital onboarding, lending services and remote deposit capture.

“A critical pillar of our transformation is redesigning the holistic digital experience for our members,” CHROME President/CEO Christopher George said. “NYMBUS' core banking platform is years ahead of the legacy vendors that have traditionally owned the market.”

George explained the credit union is scheduled to transition to its new core by mid-2017. NYMBUS' SmartCore unifies all functions within one system and with a single data set. This allows CHROME to automate and simplify workflows while modernizing its existing software and hardware infrastructure. Additionally, SmartCore integrates with CHROME's third-party partners such as Geezeo, MeridianLink, Zendesk, Payveris and PSCU.

“A big advantage NYMBUS' cloud-based platform has versus a legacy provider is that our digital solutions connect to our core services via an API. This enables the customization of the user experience per financial institution,” David Mitchell, NYMBUS' president and chief revenue officer, said.

CHROME is looking to deliver a superior digital engagement experience by utilizing HTML5, which allows for a more diverse and powerful experience, as well as a responsive design that adapts to the screen of any device. NYMBUS allows CHROME to meet these goals.

“A number of the cores are not responsive so they cannot be used on all kinds of devices,” George said. “A lot of them are working to get that fixed, but it is hard using architecture that wasn't designed to do that.”

CHROME executives also expect the mobile experience to appeal to their target market, “soccer moms,” who fall in the 35 to 65 age range and are predominately female, as well as millennials and other mobile/online users.

Derik Sutton, co-founder and president of the Dallas-based Become Labs, which helps financial institutions build custom experiences, worked with CHROME as an advisor to design the credit union's user interface and experience for its mobile platform and website.

“We help design where the digital experience has to be moving forward, partner up with the technology providers and provide some level of support to deliver that,” Sutton said. “I don't think credit unions are doing a good job with differentiating for specific niches or markets in the digital channels at all.”

He added that most financial institutions just want a bank in a box. That results in taking a very generic set of tools to market.

“CHROME has a specific vision for how digital is going to fit its credit union model,” Sutton said.

Three credit unions – the $142 million, Jackson, Miss.-based Magnolia Federal Credit Union; the $90 million, Savannah, Ga.-based Georgia Heritage Federal Credit Union and the $113 million, Hamden, Conn.-based Wepawaug-Flagg Federal Credit Union – selected the Detroit-based Bankjoy to navigate the tricky mobile landscape. Bankjoy, founded in 2015 by two former credit union IT employees, offers digital direction and solutions.

“Our goal is to provide a full omnichannel experience that credit unions can provide to their members,” Bankjoy CEO Michael Duncan said.

Bankjoy also offers its REST-based banking API, which supplies flexibility to customize technology based on needs and core system. Duncan explained it's an easier way to access functionality and data from multiple systems including core, as well as third-party systems such as bill pay, remote deposit capture, loan processing and account origination systems.

Magnolia previously used two other mobile vendors: One for mobile banking and another for mobile deposits. Members had to sign into two different apps to complete routine transactions.

“We wanted a one-stop shop for our mobile app that had a compatible interface with its online banking counterpart. We wanted our members to have the same experience from their phone that they'd have if banking online,” Magnolia President/CEO Michael Waylett said.

“By providing a fully-branded omnichannel experience that offers crucial services like check deposits, loan applications, travel notifications, financial goal management and lost/stolen card blocking, Magnolia can continue to differentiate itself from the competition in its market,” Duncan stated.

Magnolia uses Symitar's Episys core system and is aiming for an early 2017 launch for its new mobile/online system.

Because Georgia Heritage serves more than seven colleges in three counties, its mobile capabilities must target millennials.

“Mobile optimization is important. You can go from a tablet to a phone to a regular PC, and the display doesn't change from one device to the next,” Tim Beeson, director of information technology at Georgia Heritage, said.

Duncan said Bankjoy specializes in tailoring products to deliver the clean user experience and interface that millennials seek.

“We've applied our millennial research to create digital banking services that produce the best brand experience for credit union members,” he said.

Bankjoy also provides Georgia Heritage with most of its digital access technology, including online and mobile banking, bill pay, e-statements, and electronic account and loan applications, which Bankjoy develops on its own or through other technology partners.

“We're pretty agnostic when it comes to our vendor relationships,” Duncan admitted.

Beeson explained, “They work well with third parties, and I want to leverage those relationships. It means less vendor management for me.”

Bankjoy plans to develop Georgia Heritage's digital member and loan apps and directly integrate them to the Corelation core. The company also partnered with Payveris to provide a customized bill pay product for credit unions. In addition, Georgia Heritage will access Microsoft's Azure cloud service platform for data backup through Bankjoy and is beta testing the Detroit firm's voice user interface.

Wepawaug-Flagg, which will utilize Bankjoy's mobile banking and deposit services starting sometime this quarter, primarily serves teachers and municipal employees and has two colleges in its membership field. It runs on ShareOne's NewSolutions core system.

“Our membership needs to get younger, and they require electronic access. This positions us well for attracting and retaining the millennial generation,” Wepawaug-Flagg President/CEO Michael Hinchey said.

Some industry experts acknowledged the difficulties credit unions and technology vendors face.

“There has been a lot of talk around credit unions targeting millennials, but how do they actually do that? Millennials are not a homogenous segment,” Steve Shaw, vice president, strategic marketing for the Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv, observed. “We're seeing a kind of targeting by lifestyle versus age or gender or things like that.”

Sutton summed up the challenge: “Ultimately, the success of community financial institutions in the digital channel is going to be dependent upon taking advantage of unique market niches.” n

Instant Insights /

For Credit Unions, Mobile Banking Is All About User Interface

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