Synergent Blog

Improve Competitiveness with Core

Sep 4, 2014 | Blog

“Technology changes so fast now that members benefit when their credit union decides to share this work with experts, so they can concentrate more fully on their needs,” said Richard Dupuis, CEO at Five County Credit Union in Bath, Maine.

Up-to-date technology is a major competitive selling point. “Partnering with a service provider allows us to offer the products and services necessary to say ‘what we offer is just as good as any of the biggest financial institutions,’” Dupuis added. “Being able to offer the latest and greatest in products and services works for us as a terrific cross-selling and member recruitment tool.”

Today’s technology is complex. Over time, an in-house operation may struggle with hardware that has become less reliable and software that is no longer supported. The capital and human resources required to maintain and upgrade this aging system can prevent a credit union from capturing growth opportunities in the marketplace.

At Synergent, our focus has always been to work with credit unions to find the best solution, develop customized enhancements as necessary, and then focus on the best possible delivery and servicing of that solution. We work closely with core processing company Symitar onproduct enhancements, collaborating on requests about our credit union partners’ system needs. Our partners’ collective importance gives us tremendous influence in Symitar’s Episys enhancement request process.

Synergent has also improved the Episys platform by incorporating value-added efficiencies for credit unions, such as an SSN profile showing the extent of each member’s relationship, date utilities for calculating interest rates and dividends, share/loan summaries, a loan application expiration utility and club transfer notices for mailing to members. These products are provided at no extra cost to Synergent users.

The Episys platform offers a great deal of efficiency and support, with clear, data-rich, front-line screens, structured workflows, electronic forms, and an online archive. By adding suchintegrated solutions as Jwaala Better Online Banking, Access Softek Mobile Banking, Ensenta Mobile Check Deposit, MeridianLink Opening Act Online Applications, Verafin BSA, Fraud and AML Solution, and iPay Integrated Bill Payment & Presentment, Synergent can create acustomized core solution that will help you move your credit union forward in even the most competitive environment.

Training is a critical but often overlooked part of optimizing usage of a core system, and it’s a discipline that our credit union support teams practice every day. We deliver, support and continuously teach our partners how to use the Episys solution to handle their evolving needs and maximize their investment within the “core.”

For more information on why to look at outsourcing, check out our new strategy paper.