MEXICO, Maine-When a credit union headquartered in the mountains of western Maine loses a skilled employee, the loss can be painful and create a vacuum. But that human risk factor is reduced significantly when it comes to IT staff at one CU.
"We just lost our network administrator," shared Matt Kaubris, president and CEO of Oxford Federal Credit Union. Though that employee "didn't get involved in the technology piece as well, it was a reminder that it's difficult to find and keep good qualified technical help in our area of the U.S."
While it is remotely headquartered, Oxford has15,000 members and 14 branches throughout Oxford County and has to respond to a full range of member needs and preferences.
Like many CEOs of smaller credit unions, Kaubris said he recognized that Oxford FCU needed affordable access to the rapidly expanding array of technology tools that are in the market. Not having the personnel or financial resources, however, meant a challenge. Oxford FCU has resolved that challenge by outsourcing its technology to a service bureau to leverage economies of scale and to gain access to a wider selection of services and products.
"Our service provider has all types of products for us," he said.
That provider is Portland, Maine-based Synergent, a subsidiary of the Maine Credit Union League. Following talks with other CUs, Oxford FCU decided to return to Synergent in May 2011 after having taken a 12-year hiatus with another core processing vendor. Synergent bills itself as the largest service bureau to provide the Symitar Episys core processing platform.
Geographical proximity was a definite factor in the decision, said Kaubris. "Synergent's about an hour and a half away from us. Now they take care of our needs in core processing, in technology and all the other services, in a service bureau environment."
Having one-stop service is great, acknowledged Kaubris, but performance has to be key.
Immediate Improvements Seen
"We've already seen an improvement in data processing," he said. "Once again we can devote all our attention to our core business. And I no longer need to have somebody on my staff in charge of software updates and making sure all the computers are working properly. Now we're looking to add additional features such as mobile banking that our members are asking for. That will add a cost to us but it will be well worth it."
Like other credit unions, Oxford is playing catch-up with larger financial institutions in providing mobile banking, a service that Synergent has not fully developed internally. "They will help us evaluate who we think would be the best one for our membership," said Kaubris.
Kaubris explained that in addition to acting as a multi-faceted service bureau, "Synergent does a lot of the due diligence for us" in helping its CUs shop for products and services it does not provide directly. They can offer us two or three vendors and give us the option to pick and choose from vendors they work closely with."
Synergent currently offers two mobile banking options, Access Softek and Co-op.
