HOLYOKE, Mass.-When it comes to adopting online banking technologies, small to mid-sized credit unions are often caught in a challenging competitive position, as they can't always afford platforms that allow them to compete with larger financial institutions.
"Without this partnership we wouldn't be able to be as affective," said Executive Vice President and COO at Holyoke Credit Union, Jay Wolohan.
Wolohan's reference is to a new partnership between COCC and Online Resources Corp., which will provide integration between digital banking and other banking services. COCC President and CEO Richard Leone explained that the company's flexible core processing platform will be combined with Online Resources' Architect technology.
The new digital banking platform will be hosted by COCC and use the INSIGHT core system as the single source of record, which will eliminate the need for separate databases and daily routines to be synched.
For client credit unions such as Holyoke, "This will be a big benefit to us because we can now offer a more robust online banking resources than we currently have," said Wolohan.
Online Banking Expectations Met
With 15,800 members, 53 employees, three branches and $137 million in assets, Holyoke CU is constantly seeking ways to enhance the online banking member experience, as it is one of the most effective means of making up for what it lacks in branches. The hurdle is usually prohibitive investment costs.
"We have about 3,400 members using online banking services and that number is continually growing," said Wolohan. "This will put us on the same level as larger financial institutions without costing too much."
Holyoke CU is hoping profitability will be realized due to the updated fraud analytics and alerts, member relations management tools and targeted marketing campaigns.
And while the industry learned about the partnership in February, Wolohan said as a longtime COCC client he was briefed during quarterly meetings that were held earlier. He said he has no trepidation over the delivery of service following the partnership, noting the two companies have a long track record.
"We have had a relationship with COCC for 10 years," said Wolohan. "Since the announcement is new, we are not sure of the process or when we are scheduled to receive the upgrade, but I believe that we will find out at our meeting in April."
Beating The Traffic
Leone explained that credit union members will be able to view balances and account details across all banking channels, which should reduce call center traffic. Perhaps the greatest benefit of the partnership is that members will no longer be re-directed away from the credit union's website to separate digital banking sites.
"All digital banking services will be available from the institution's Internet domain," stated Leone, who anticipates that most of COCC's clients will migrate to this new platform.
Moving forward, Wolohan said he is eager to adopt the new services. "This is a great team and they are keeping us up to date on the process. We look forward to utilizing the additional resources for our members."
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