Service Bureau: A Small Credit Union Aims High, with the Right Hosting Partner
By any measure, St. Francis X. Federal Credit Union has come a long way in a short time in terms
of its technology-based services. It wasn’t until early 2005 that the $75 million asset credit union
began offering online financial services to its 7,000 members in Petoskey, Mich.
"We used to be a little bit Fred Flintstone," says president/CEO Scott Bingaman. "We’ve done a lot in the last few years." Today St. Francis X. FCU’s members can go online to conduct account transactions, send in loan applications, get account statements and view check images.
The $443M credit union has reduced costs and enhanced member service by partnering with WRG.
Fresno County FCU had been looking for a way to streamline its ATM deposit processing to save costs and reduce labor. In early 2006, the credit union discovered its answer: Wescom Resources Group's ATM solution. By taking advantage of the automated systems already deployed by WRG, Fresno County gained cost efficiencies through economies of scale that it could not reach on its own. Furthermore, member service was enhanced by use of the technology features such as check and envelope image access.
Ease-of-use is increasingly important as user base broadens.
In 2005, more than 43% of internet users, or about 63 million American adults, used online banking, according to research done by the Pew Internet and American Life Project. At the same time, 35% of all bills were paid online, up from 25% the year before.
Over the past five years, online banking adoption has grown more rapidly than any other leading internet activity. While many experts forecast continued high levels of growth, it may not be as straightforward as that. The evidence suggests that consumers are becoming more particular about online banking and bill paying, choosing their internet banking sites based on features and ease of use, rather than on relationship alone.
As threats become more sophisticated, an institution’s policies and processes need to keep pace.
Trust. It’s a valuable commodity that every company works hard to safeguard. However, as identity theft, phishing scams and hacked systems continue to proliferate, companies – especially in the financial services industry – run the daily risk of losing customers’ trust due to online security breaches.
The Federal Trade Commission reports that in 2005, more than 52 million account records throughout a range of industries were placed in jeopardy because of security breaches. And according to a 2005 report by research firm Computer Economics, the cost of worldwide losses from virus attacks reached $14.2 billion in 2005. While the good news is that 2005 was the first time in three years that total worldwide financial losses from malware (such as viruses, worms, trojans, and spyware) declined, there’s also bad news for those in the financial services industry: the changing nature of hacker attacks
Member-Directed ACH Transfers Help Build Relationships
The Tower Group, a leading research and consulting firm focused on the global financial services industry, estimates that by 2007 a total of 42.5 million households – close to 37 percent of all U.S. households – will be registered to bank online. As these online banking users increase, credit unions will have a significant opportunity to deepen their relationships with their members by expanding their online service offerings. One of the online services that could have a significant influence is memberinitiated funds transfers between financial institutions, or Account-to-Account (A2A) transfers.