PASADENA, Calif. -
"Messages sent over the public Internet are subject to many different kinds of threats," said Dave Cerwinski, director, sales and marketing at the $3.9-billion CU's CUSO, Wescom Resources Group. "It's not a safe channel for private financial data."
The problem is not isolated to Wescom: credit unions nationwide hear with regularity from their members who send an unsecured e-mail to the CU's public e-mail address and include an account number or Social Security Number.
In June 2006, Wescom offered members a better option: contact the credit union through its new secure messaging solution, eMailbox.
"eMailbox opens up the ability for us to have detailed communications back and forth with our members through e-mail-without any data security risk," explained Cerwinski.
Developed by Wescom using the Microsoft .NET programming framework, the eMailbox e-mail application operates within the credit union's encrypted homebanking sessions.
"We wanted something that fit within the skins of our own Internet banking solution, which was also developed in-house," Cerwinski said. "We wanted members to feel fully comfortable with the fact that they are within their secured login session. Third-party solutions had a different look and feel that could not be modified to the degree we needed."
After logging-in to homebanking, members can use eMailbox to compose a secure message and attach confidential documents, if necessary. In turn, when Wescom e-mails a member through eMailbox, new message alerts appear within homebanking and are also sent to the member's e-mail address of choice.
"Members can be reached for the notification of a message through any e-mail handle whatsoever, including handles associated with mobile devices such as cell phones and Blackberries," Cerwinski said.
Members appear to be happy with eMailbox, he continued. "The solution is handling between 8,000 to 10,000 secure e-mails per month." Of course, not every member knows about or remembers to use eMailbox, said Cerwinski. "We do still get those public e-mails. It is a continuing education process."
Prior to eMailbox, members had only two options for electronic messaging: contacting Wescom via public e-mails or via transaction inquiry forms embedded behind secure homebanking.
Whereas the first option was not secure at all, the second option offered only one-way security-members could send secure messages but Wescom could not reply. Instead, the CU had to respond by making a phone call or posting a letter to the member.
eMailbox not only increases the security of communicating with members, it also saves money for the CU, according to Cerwinski.
"Since this product typically eliminates a phone call, we believe it has a 50% cost savings," he said. "This is because member inquiries and requests that flow through our call center have been measured to average about twice the cost of an inquiry through the email channel."
eMailbox was designed to fit right into Wescom's existing email server, making it easy for staff to use and maintain, added Cerwinski.
"The beauty of this solution is that it integrated with our existing Microsoft Exchange server," he said. "Staff was already well-trained on Microsoft Outlook. IT staff did not want another application to manage. Virus scans and security features already built into Exchange could be extended into the eMailbox system. And the detailed routing rules built into Exchange, such as keyword subject-line routing, could be supported without reinventing the wheel." Through partnerships with Wescom Resources Group, five other credit unions are also using eMailbox.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
www.wescom.org
www.wescomresources.com
