SANTA ROSA, Calif. — Redwood Credit Union's onsite developers here have enhanced online and mobile banking applications with use of a software development kit (SDK), a move that has increased functionality and improved the member experience.
"We targeted transition of non-value-added transactions such as transfers, withdrawals and loan payments to be done in a self-service channel versus the branch," said Redwood CU's Senior Vice President of Information Technology Tony Hildesheim.
To ensure the initiative would be streamlined, Redwood CU partnered with Cornerstone Advisors to vet vendors via a lengthy Request for Proposal (RFP) process. Hildesheim said the Austin, Texas-based Jwaala, which provides software solutions to financial institutions, proved to have the best solution.
"Our goal was to increase the number of these manual transactions from 62% to 70% being done using the self-service channels," said Hildesheim. "As of [July], 72% are done via online, mobile or ATM, and we have also seen an increase in ACH automated transactions."
Deploying SDK
With 247,000 members and 18 branches, including an auto dealership and an insurance agency, the $2.5 billion Redwood CU tapped two of its 25 tech employees to undertake the SDK initiative.
"We purposefully chose a system that used standard programming language so that we could more easily take advantage of their SDK. The system is well-engineered with a layer that allows for customization while not touching the core code," said Hildesheim. "Additionally, they've built a series of web services that make it easy to create a function and reuse it in other areas."
Jwaala's CEO/CTO Andrew Taylor said his company has nearly 50 credit unions using the SDK module. And while he noted that larger credit unions may use the service more than their smaller counterparts, he has seen an uptick in recent years due to the growth of digital channels. Having employees that are code-fluent onsite helps.
"Like anything, your ability to make use of the SDK improves with practice and each project, so having a technical person that can dedicate most of their time to the SDK will be the most successful approach," said Taylor.
From concept to fruition, a credit union should expect a three- to six-month time frame to roll out the SDK module, depending on the scope of the project, Taylor said. While Jwaala provides training and code review sessions, he added that onsite developers should be fluent in the standard set of web technologies such as JavaScript, HTML, CSS and .NET C#.
Redwood CU's rollout took roughly a year, which included a pilot that was launched three months after signing on with Jwaala. "We have a robust solution with redundant back-end databases, front-end web servers, load balancers and firewalls," said Hildesheim. "We relied heavily on virtualization and Cisco's UCS chassis and blade server farm."
To ensure members weren't put out and frustrated by having to upgrade immediately, Hildesheim said his team made the transition process easy. "We did this in waves so that we could monitor how the transitions were going, and to prevent long wait times with our call center for members who needed additional support over the phone."
The new online banking and mobile solution went live in the second quarter of 2012. Less than a year later, 95% of members had self-selected to upgrade. A countdown clock was used to encourage the balance of members to join. Today, Redwood CU's online banking channel has more transactions conducted than all branches combined.
"The online banking system, coupled with a complete refresh of the ATM system, allowed our staff to introduce, train and encourage members to use convenient self-service options versus a trip into the branch," said Hildesheim.
Looking forward, Redwood CU's developers will use the SDK module to "refresh" the existing website and mobile application, including the addition of "quick click lending" to the mobile app.
"The goal is to ensure mobile users can do everything on the mobile platform that they can do on a PC or tablet," said Hildesheim.
