Process Changes Essential to Core Conversion Planning

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Editor’s note: Direct Federal Credit Union is a one-branch, $750 million credit union located in Needham, Mass. It is undergoing its first core conversion since 1984 and has partnered with CU Times to document its journey until the new core is anticipated go live in 2021. Contributing authors will be members of the project team and each article will tell a story from a different point of view. Read its debut article and continue to follow along at cutimes.com/instantinsights.

Welcome back to Direct Federal Credit Union’s Core Conversion Adventure. How many people reading this article would like to continue to be limited by technology developed in 1984 to drive their business procedures and workflows? I am certain the answer to that question is zero. Our first core conversion since 1984 will be instrumental to our business, and we have no option but to complete this conversion correctly. Any credit union that has been through a core conversion will agree that a key tenant of success is its team having the right mindset. A core conversion will force your credit union to examine every product, every service and every workflow that exists for the organization. That task may seem daunting, and it is. However, at Direct I am confident to say that our mindset of continuous improvement is ready for the challenge.