Two southern credit unions – the $72.9 million Tuscaloosa CU of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and the $7.9 million Red River Mill Employees FCU of Natchitoches, La., – have converted their core processing systems to CU Impact, the first shared core processor created for Community Development Financial Institutions.
The system was developed by the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions and the CUSO EPL, Inc., and is said to combine the Federation's expertise and 40-plus years of experience in working with unbanked and underbanked consumers with EPL's “innovative, open-architecture software solutions,” the Federation said in a press release.
CU Impact's customized core platform “supports and measures the impact of credit union products and services that build members' financial security,” the Federation said. By aggregating the accounting, compliance and processing functions across credit unions with a shared mission, CU Impact also “achieves efficiencies that allow credit unions to invest more in their members and communities.”
"Tuscaloosa CU competes with multi-billion dollar banks and fintech companies," Tommy Cobb, CEO of Tuscaloosa CU, said in a statement. "To remain sustainable, we had to choose a core provider who provides dynamic software that can outpace the changing financial services industry, addresses evolving security challenges and offers strong back-office solutions – all at an affordable price.”
Blake Myers, fintech director at the Federation, called CU Impact a “transformative technology” that combines the “expertise, commitment and capital” of the Federation, EPL and EPL’s majority shareholder, Dedagroup.
"Together, we're able to provide a solution for credit unions of all sizes that allows for the expansion of community-oriented growth, increased impact and an improved member experience," Myers added.
Two New York City-based institutions, the $49.9 million Lower East Side People's FCU and the $10.2 million Neighborhood Trust FCU, are expected to move to CU Impact in late 2017.
