Credit Unions Take Core Conversions Virtual Amid COVID-19 Disruptions

Credit unions and core processing. Source: Shutterstock

A few short months ago, credit unions with a core conversion on the horizon were faced with a choice: Either reschedule their conversion for late summer, when the threat posed by COVID-19 would ostensibly be mitigated enough for employees and vendors to collaborate more effectively onsite, or attempt to keep the project and its many moving parts going with the help of remote communications tools.

It was a question with no obvious answer. A core conversion – the process by which credit unions update their core systems used to process the transactions involved in day-to-day activities such as ATM withdrawals and online and mobile banking – involves a great deal of planning, and credit unions that opted to proceed with their conversions had to balance those demands against the logistical business hurdles posed by COVID-19.