We are in this together. Our shared success is fueled by open dialogue and in taking action in response to the feedback we receive from the credit unions using our solutions day in and day out.
We often talk about “The Synergent Advantage,” which refers to our holistic approach to partnering with credit unions as an extension of their teams. We serve as a single point of access for best-in-class solutions. Whether it is strategic consultation, managed services, marketing assistance, payments, or technology solutions, our focus is on providing exceptional support where and when it is needed.
As our credit union partner, your feedback is valuable and truly gets put into action. Because of the input we received from credit unions, XAccount Change Form enhancements were made to make the tool even more beneficial to everyone.
What Is XAccount Change?
XAccount Change is a feature we developed within our hosted Symitar® Episys® core processing platform that enables credit unions to update all member information across multiple accounts from one screen. This also was developed after receiving valued credit union feedback. With this feature, cross-account file maintenance can be completed through one clean, easy-to-use interface. Fields that can be updated through XAccount Change include:
- Addresses (Physical, Mailing, and/or Alternate)
- Phone Numbers
- Emails
- Preferred Method of Contact
- ID Information
Using the member’s Social Security Number to search improves accuracy and increases efficiency by quickly identifying all accounts associated with the member. Making account changes on one screen that flows to all affected accounts saves significant time for both staff and members.
Addresses can also be verified through full integration with USPS Address Verification or JHA Address Verify.
Creating Change
In February 2021, the Synergent support team received a phone call about the XAccount Change Form. The caller requested the ability to change foreign addresses using the XAccount Change Form, in addition to the existing ability to change domestic addresses. Once this was identified as a candidate to enhance an existing Synergent solution, it was entered as a case into My Synergent.
From that point, the Product Development and Development teams at Synergent worked together to create the enhancement. They started by determining what the business and technical requirements were, as well as the scope of the enhancement. During this process, they found that there were additional enhancements that could make the XAccount Change Form even more beneficial. Those changes were combined into a single release, which was rolled out to all credit union users in April 2022. The enhancements were free for credit union users to access. For the address change specifically, a drop-down field was added for credit unions to select whether an address change was foreign or domestic.
“Identifying additional enhancement opportunities and combining them into a single release improves our ability to communicate changes while maximizing our resources, all to benefit credit unions,” explained Jeff Will, AVP – Product Development for Synergent. “These enhancements were deployed to all credit unions using the Symitar® Episys® core hosted by Synergent.”
The Solution Candidate Process
In the case of the foreign address change enhancement, the process took a little over a year from communication of the idea to implementation of the enhancement. Future candidates are anticipated to move a bit faster, as there now is a Solution Candidate process in place. This formal process did not exist at the time the initial suggestion was made for the foreign address change enhancement.
If your credit union identifies a need, we encourage you to open a case in My Synergent. The Synergent team will then determine whether the need qualifies as a Solution Candidate.
“We place a lot of value on the feedback that we receive from credit unions,” said Will. “We also recognize that the Solution Candidates process will sometimes mean we say “no,” or more accurately, “not now” to an enhancement request, when in the past we may have been quicker to say “yes” to any enhancement or customization request. We have learned that doing what is good for one credit union in the short term may lead to complications for many credit unions in the long term. We know that our responsibility is to act as stewards of Synergent’s resources for the good of all our client credit unions. This formalized, efficient process helps in identifying and evaluating enhancement requests.”
Currently, there are 34 Solution Candidates in various stages of consideration, such as Discovery, Evaluation, Approval, and Scheduling.
“A single request from one credit union may seem like a small change, but it could improve a business process for many credit unions,” concluded Will. “The ripple effect is strong.”
