Sector: Credit Unions & Community Banking
Centris Federal Credit Union
Building Growth by Committing to Members
Nebraska, USA
At a Glance
• 65% of loan decisions fully automated
• 3 major collections processes fully digitized
• 90-day ramp-up time for new hires
• Seamless core banking integration
• Yearly upgrades keep platform current and secure
For Centris Federal Credit Union, delivering on its mission to be a trusted, lifelong financial partner means staying agile. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, with nearly 139,000 members and $1.4B in assets, Centris operates in a competitive market shaped by economic uncertainty and rising delinquency rates.
We’re always looking for smarter ways to help our members, especially during financial stress. Temenos helps us do that by letting us adapt quickly without adding headcount.”
David Ellefson, Vice President, Special Assets, Centris Federal Credit Union
From spreadsheets to smart workflows
Centris first implemented Temenos Collections and Loan Origination in 2014 and has continued to invest with yearly upgrades, most recently to version 24.05 in May 2025.
In Collections, the shift has been dramatic. What once relied on dozens of Excel sheets and disconnected databases is now fully centralized in Temenos. Charge-offs, repossessions, and bankruptcies are all managed through custom workflows, built in-house.
“We used to track charge-offs in a spreadsheet,” David explained. “Now it’s all in Temenos. We built a charge-off queue and workflow that routes accounts, generates reports, and streamlines monthly approvals. It’s clean, consistent, and efficient.”
The same goes for repossessions and bankruptcies, which were migrated from legacy tools to automated workflows in Temenos. “There’s accuracy now. We can pull a report, see exactly where an account stands, and take action. That just wasn’t possible before,” he said.
Faster, smarter lending
Temenos Loan Origination powers all of Centris’ loan decisioning and funding, excluding first mortgages and indirect lending. With custom business rules, scripting, and decision engine integration, the system supports everything from easy loans to home equity line of credit (HELOC) products.
Today, about 65% of approvals are fully automated, thanks to Zest AI integration and a flexible decision rules framework. This gives Centris the speed and consistency needed to stay ahead.
Temenos lets us build what we imagine. We’ve launched multiple products, improved compliance with embedded scripting, and streamlined our workflows. Most updates are done in-house, without vendor tickets”.
David Ellefson, Vice President, Special Assets, Centris Federal Credit Union
Improving from the inside out
Both Collections and Loan Origination teams report strong usability and fast training for new hires. Collectors are fully operational in around 90 days, and loan officers follow consistent, compliant scripts built into the platform.
Members feel the impact, too. With Collections, self-service tools like SMS payment links mean fewer uncomfortable phone calls. “Not everyone wants to talk,” David noted. “A simple text with a secure link lets members take care of it themselves.”
On the lending side, quicker decisions, fewer handoffs, and clear communication create a smooth journey from application to funding.
Centris values Temenos not just for the platform, but for the control it gives back to the business. From creating custom workflows to running new reports, the team isn’t waiting on vendors.
The platform integrates seamlessly with a 3rd party core banking, syncing data in real time. And with minimal downtime and smooth yearly upgrades, it’s a reliable foundation for the future.
I’ve never had a collections tool where we could build what we needed ourselves. With Temenos, we can test ideas, roll out changes, and keep improving without delays.”
David Ellefson, Vice President, Special Assets, Centris Federal Credit Union
A future of smarter systems
Centris is preparing for continued growth, from $1.4B today to a projected $3.5B in assets by 2035. That scale demands technology that can keep up.
A new UI upgrade is planned for 2026. Conversations about AI and cloud are underway, with plans to explore both after current priorities like a new contact center platform are delivered.
“We’re signing a new five-year deal with Temenos because we believe in the platform,” David said. “But we also believe in what’s next. When the time comes, we want to be ready.”
By bringing critical processes into one adaptable system, Centris is freeing up teams, improving service, and laying the foundation for a smarter, more scalable credit union experience.
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Customer Success Stories
Real stories of transformation with Temenos solutions.
Idaho Central Credit Union
Automating loan applications to drive market dominance
Idaho, USA
Idaho Central Credit Union
Automating loan applications to drive market dominance
Idaho, USA
At a Glance
• Instant increase automation in loan applications by 5%
• 20,000 loan applications immediately cleared
• 70% (c.40,000) of all loan
applications completely automated, an increase of 20%
• Loan application and funding times cut by 50%, to 12-18 minutes
• HELOC application periods reduced from one month to 18 days
• Customer base grown by 10-15%
• Customer satisfaction improved by 5-10%
Idaho Central Credit Union (ICCU) is the largest state chartered credit union in Idaho. In the last 5-7 years it has expanded its footprint beyond Idaho, to encompass people living and working in Washington state, and also parts of Oregon. It currently has $10bn in assets, making it in the top 20 credit unions in the country.
Launched in 1940, its mission has been to help members achieve financial success. Alongside traditional consumer services, such as deposits, savings and loans, it offers wealth management, financial planning and insurance products, and also has a business division.
An appetite for innovation
As a member-led organization, ICCU is continually having to adapt to changing consumer sentiment shaped by macro-economic trends. For example, in recent years, high interest-rates have encouraged savers, but put lenders at risk while also increasing living costs, which can negatively impact membership. Innovation has been key to this adaptability, explains Wade Saunders, ICCU’s SVP of Consumer Lending.
“The purpose of our innovation has a lot to do with how our members engage with us. Increasingly that is via digital channels, but we also want to enhance the branch experience, so that whatever channel our members prefer, we are their first choice.”
Futureproofing better lending
A recent focus for ICCU has been on improving the loan application experience for members. Its incumbent Loan Origination System (LOS) had been sunsetted by the vendor, which forced ICCU to look for alternatives. A key criteria was automation.
“We wanted to identify points of friction in our processes that can be eliminated with automation, and create the ability to process loan applications without employee-intervention.”
Wade explains that Temenos was one of the first options out of the gate, because of the ability to customize its solution. ICCU also had an eye on the future, and a partner that could support deposits and accounts as well as loans. More generally, this scalability was a key reason why ICCU selected Temenos. Having experienced growth of up to 20% in the last decade, and forecasting a similar trajectory, ICCU wanted a provider that could manage this expansion.
“We wanted a technology partner that is willing to grow with us, and invest in its entire suite of solutions as we continue to scale.”
Immediate impact
ICCU deployed three products from the Temenos digital platform: Account Origination (through Journey Manager) which went live in 2020; as well as Collections and Loan Origination (both live from 2021). The impact was immediate.
On day one of flipping the switch on Account Origination, we increased automation in loan applications by 5%. From a workload perspective, that was an immediate relief. We were able to clear over 20,000 loan applications, and redeploy the manpower to learn other parts of the new system.”
Wade Saunders, SVP of Consumer Lending at ICCU
Wade puts this success down to the expertise that Temenos has in managing large deployment projects.
“We didn’t have any red flags with the launch, and that’s down to all the testing we did with Temenos, and the transparency of our conversations. Being able to be really honest with each other, and take points professionally not personally, has been a key feature of our partnership so far.”
One area where the new solutions have had a big impact is the ICCU’s credit card division.
Previously we needed a person to process every credit card application. Temenos enabled us, almost immediately, to automate that. A person could apply online, get approval, get their loan documents, sign them and get access to their funds all without the involvement of an employee.”
Wade Saunders, SVP of Consumer Lending at ICCU
ICCU has also applied the Temenos solution to its HELOC (home equity line of credit) product, with similar impact. HELOC applications had been taking up to a month to process; this has been reduced to around 18 days, 41% faster.
“We’re now able to order property title documents and integrate that within the system, so we avoid the delays from errors in manually inputting this information.”
Act like an underwriter
A major benefit of Temenos has been the ability to leverage historical underwriting data in the system, explains Wade.
“Because we have the data about how an underwriter is likely to score an application, we can go straight to approving or declining them, and so decrease the amount of ‘undecideds’ that need to be manually checked.”
Today, 70% of all ICCU’s loan and credit applications are processed completely automatically.
Today, with the push of a button, loans are processed and funded without a person having to do anything. We’re talking about 30-40,000 loans every year that don’t require any manual intervention.”
Wade Saunders, SVP of Consumer Lending at ICCU
Today, a customer can complete a loan application and receive funding in as little as 12-18 minutes, around 50% faster than before. And by using the data to continually retrain the system, Wade and his team will see that percentage improve further.
Accuracy, first time
Temenos IMM (‘Image Management Module’), an integrated feature of Originations, has also had profound benefits.
“We’ve seen an increase in the accuracy of the loan documents, so we don’t have to chase up members for the correct information.”
This has not only made the process more efficient. “These are key compliance documents. So the fact we can trust Temenos’ IMM more than our previous solution means we can go faster with the confidence that we are maintaining regulatory standards.”
The new system also makes it easier for members to submit the documents needed to support their application, by allowing them to upload them to a central portal instead of emailing, faxing or sending by post.
Happier customers = more customers
The result of all this has been to increase digital engagement and satisfaction; on the latter, the company has seen an increase of 5-10% in recent years. This growing reputation has attracted new customers. In the last few years, ICCU has grown its membership by 10-15%.
Temenos has helped us to figure out what a great online experience looks like. We’ve now got a viable product that is enabling us to accelerate in the market, and a partner that is proactively driving us to make more improvements.”
Wade Saunders, SVP of Consumer Lending at ICCU
Just the start…
ICCU is making good on its strategy to achieve growth through a deepening partnership with Temenos. Wade is looking to apply auto-decision making to its HELOCs business.
Looking to the future, Temenos’ API architecture offers huge potential, says Wade. “It gives us access to Temenos’ partner ecosystem, plus other vendors with solutions we may want to integrate. That’s almost limitless capabilities to allow us to move in any direction we want to.”
One example that Wade and his team are now exploring is the connector with ‘Dealertrack’. That integration will allow ICCU to automatically populate information from car dealers into Temenos, and so significantly reduce manual processes and paperwork when making car loans.
He is also keen to expand Temenos to reshape the company’s network loan business. “Our contractors use one of eight different loan systems and processes. So there’s a huge scope to bring efficiencies here too.”
Whichever direction ICCU will choose, Wade is confident that the relatively new partnership with Temenos has durability. That was recently evidenced when Wade was invited to share his story at the Temenos Credit Union Fall Forum. “We have hundreds of vendors, but our relationship with Temenos means a lot.”
Idaho Central Credit Union
Automating loan applications to drive market dominance
Idaho, USA
At a Glance
• Loan applications cut from 7 mins to 2.5 mins
• Increase in loan volume by 35% in 3 months
• Loan productivity grew at 17%
• Development of new ancillary loan products
• NPS score increased from 76 to 82
Texans Credit Union provides a full suite of financial products and services, including across digital and mobile channels. Launched in 1953, today it has more than 120,000 members across Texas, including the employees of the state’s 100 largest businesses. It operates 11 branches, and manages over $2.1 billion in assets.
For JJ Bai, Vice President of Programming at Texans Credit Union, growth has been achieved with the ability to stay in step with what their customers need. “There are always uncertainties in financial markets. Our job is to forecast the weather and prepare for the financial storms, when they come. It’s about creating opportunities while others are managing the chaos.”
Opening ecosystems
Technology has been key to this strategy, says JJ, and in recent years has taken the form of APIs and SDKs that allow Texans to develop and customize solutions. “APIs and SDKs…these are the fundamentals of open banking, which has become critical to competitiveness. Temenos has very comprehensive Rest APIs, which has really opened the door to custom development. That’s why the partnership has become so important.”
Texans started working with Temenos in 2011, deploying Loan Origination and Collections. One impact of the API architecture has been in connecting with third-party loan providers that may offer more suitable products to their members, . “Before, we would not have been able to accommodate these applicants. Now, we have a lending ecosystem that can serve them.”
Faster lending
The improvements continue to come. “Recently, we used the Temenos SDK to revamp the virtual capture aspect of our loan applications” says JJ. “It cut loan application times to just 2.5 minutes from 7 minutes, which led to an increase in loan volumes by 35% in the first three months, which is phenomenal.” A high NPS score of 82 is further evidence that the improved customer experience is working.
JJ explains that this has repercussions beyond the loans business.
Lending has become a really important channel into full membership. The membership growth rate from loans is outpacing overall growth rate.”
JJ Bai, Vice President of Programming at Texans Credit Union
Cross-selling and digitizing
He also points to the development of a new loans ancillary product that enables advisors to cross-sell debt protection add-ons, such as gap, warranty insurance, and multishield. It alone has API integrations with five different vendors.
We have been able to digitize the experience for customers. For example, applicants can view and sign-up to products online, including prospective loan repayment schedules, instead of us having to mail all this out in paper documents and wait for them to be completed and returned. So they are able to make more educated decisions in real-time.”
JJ Bai, Vice President of Programming at Texans Credit Union
The new loans ancillary product also brings improvements to the back-office by automating process flows. “It has been overwhelmingly positive with our test group, so we are now rolling it out to all our advisors.”
Green and flexible
Innovation at Texans is increasingly approached through the lens of environmental sustainability – and to that end, JJ is looking at migrating Loan Origination and Collections from on-premises to cloud, either privately-hosted or in SaaS mode. Alongside the green benefits of moving to cloud, there are also operational gains.
JJ has the ‘dev and test’ flexibility of cloud in mind with plans to expand Texans’ lending portfolio. One is a lease-like vehicle loan product with a balloon payment feature; and also new credit card options. He expects this can be replicated to other areas of the credit union.
When you consider how the Loan Origination and Collections platform has cut workflows and improved productivity by 17%, the cloud version should enable us to improve efficiencies even more.”
JJ Bai, Vice President of Programming at Texans Credit Union
Indispensable
This future planning speaks to the confidence that Texans has in Temenos. “Flexible, expandable, scalable, reliable – this is how we think about Temenos,” says JJ.
It’s a partnership that means we can keep bringing tailored solutions to our members, positioning us at the leading edge of the market.” He adds: “We want our members to think that they can’t do without us, and that’s exactly how we think about Temenos.”
JJ Bai, Vice President of Programming at Texans Credit Union
Idaho Central Credit Union
Automating loan applications to drive market dominance
Idaho, USA
At a Glance
• Consolidated collections operation, giving better user and customer experience
• New starters learn the platform faster than any other system
• Reduced working time 40%
• Cloud deployment has freed up IT resources and increased efficiency
All In Credit Union started as the Army Aviation Center Federal Credit Union in 1966. Today it is a full-service financial institution, serving both retail and business sectors. It offers a wide range of banking, credit, savings and insurance services. It operates 35 branches located across Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and Mississippi. It has 190,000 members and more than $3.3 billion in assets and is ranked among the best credit unions in the US, with a 5-star rating from BauerFinancial.
Growth by Passion
Melanie Robinson, Recovery Solutions Manager at All In CU, says growth over the last 58 years comes down to one thing. “We are passionate about our members and give them everything they need – products, experiences and help – to make their lives better.”
While this passion has been the goal of All In CU since its inception, it has proved more challenging in recent years, explains Melanie. “With the economy here underperforming, many families and communities are increasingly struggling to achieve financial security. Education has become more important to what we do.”
Connected
That ability – to constantly stay ahead of the curve – is really how the credit union defines innovation, she says. APIs have become core to that, using them to connect with other internal systems and third-party solutions: SWBC, FICO (data analytics), and PSCU (MasterCard program administrator), for example.
API connectivity was a key reason why the credit union first decided to deploy the Temenos Collections and Recovery platform, as it promised easy integration with the core system it was about to implement.”
Melanie Robinson, Recovery Solutions Manager at All In Credit Union
Consolidated
All In CU has been working with Temenos since 2017 to deliver on its innovation strategy. “Our previous collection software did not have everything we needed, including connectivity to our core platform, so it was limited in scope to just the delinquent loan part of the business. We wanted a solution that could also work across all the other areas of our collections operation, such as negative checking accounts, auto loans and credit card late payments. We chose Temenos because it offered that consolidation.”
One benefit has been in the customer experience.
Before, we had to hand over customers between systems and have staff available who were specialists in each area. Now, no matter what their case is about, our staff can manage it all from Temenos. That means we serve our customers better and save lots of time too.”
Melanie Robinson, Recovery Solutions Manager at All In Credit Union
Experts Not Required
That switch has been enabled by the usability of the software, says Melanie “Configuration doesn’t require any technical experience, and the interface is very intuitive. I remember when we first deployed Temenos, I was there doing the configuration for our go-live, and I was amazed how easy it was to just tailor everything to our needs. We could set up a workflow for this function or set up cases for this function. It just turned our world around.”
This is replicated whenever a new starter joins the team. “They can get up to speed really quickly. They learn how to use Temenos faster than any other solution we have.”
Ease of use, together with the decision to deploy Temenos in the cloud, has had a knock-on benefit to the rest of the business, explains Melanie.
Because we don’t have to rely on IT support, it frees up that resource for other departments. And if we do have an issue we can’t deal with, we just submit a ticket to the Temenos support desk, and we get a response really quickly.”
Melanie Robinson, Recovery Solutions Manager at All In Credit Union
This echoes her experience during the go-live phase. “Our Temenos consultant gave us great advice about who and how to train on the new system and explained all the functionalities. And he encouraged us to be proactive with questions and ideas. I’d share that advice. It’s no good having some of your people using the system effectively and others not.”
Time is Money
The impact of Temenos on the credit union can be measured in time, says Melanie. “Time is money. So, when you’re able to do something faster, it has a financial implication. And that’s precisely what we’ve achieved. Before Temenos, we worked late into the night – up to 9:00 p.m. – with paper files. Now, our day ends like a regular day should at 5:00 p.m.”
It has also had a positive impact on performance management. “From the platform, I can see which members of my team are performing at their best or who needs a little help.”
One Step Ahead
Always with one eye on the future of All In CU, Melanie explains that Temenos’ API architecture and established relationships with other financial software vendors, instills confidence that the platform can keep delivering.
Whatever we decide to do, we can do from the Temenos platform. It has the scalability and robustness we need to keep innovating and staying ahead of the curve.”
Melanie Robinson, Recovery Solutions Manager at All In Credit Union
Idaho Central Credit Union
Automating loan applications to drive market dominance
Idaho, USA
At a Glance
• Temenos customer for 17 years.
• Collections platform works across entire operation
• 360 degree overview of borrowers
• Faster reporting, close to real-time insights
• Delinquency rate running below average
Vantage Credit Union is headquartered in St. Charles, Missouri. It began as a credit union for teachers and the broader education sector, but has since expanded its base to all residents of the Greater St. Louis area. Today it has almost 70,000 members, and offers a full suite of financial services, including banking, credit, investments and insurance. Vantage has enjoyed excellent growth in recent years. Revenues in 2023 were up to $67.3m from $50.5m in 2021. It has almost $1.2bn in assets.
Community First
For Matt Stegall, Vantage’s Assistant Vice President of Credit Resolution and Recovery, this growth has been the result of “strengthening community ties by delivering convenient, confident, and personalized services to our members.” But that job is becoming harder, he says. “There’s a wider variety of competition in the marketplace now, from neobanks, fintechs, and big banks. Add to that a more proactive regulatory environment and the evolving threats of fraud and cybersecurity, and we’re constantly having to find the right balance between innovating our product portfolio while managing compliance and risk.”
He explains that it’s about looking at their technology stack to ensure it continues to serve members and staff.
We always strive to meet our members where they want to do business in a way that is convenient and safe for them and improves the productivity of our employees.”
Matt Stegall, Assistant Vice President of Credit Resolution and Recovery at Vantage Credit Union
Collections are a large part of that strategy. The value of Vantage’s loan book has increased by 23% to $812.2m from 2021-2023 and represents a significant portion of the overall business.
Recovering outstanding loans is both a commercial necessity, but also a brand play, explains Matt. “We need to engage with borrowers effectively, and in a manner that is in keeping with our community approach.”
Central to the stack
Since 2007, Vantage has entrusted this challenge to Temenos. Its Collections platform has become a critical part of the credit union’s stack. “It’s really become the one-stop repository for all our collection activity,” says Matt. “We use it to organize our standard collections work – setting our collectors’ daily work queues, giving them the information they need on each case, and for analysis. We also use it for special collections tasks like repossessions, bankruptcies, foreclosures, and deceased.”
Accelerating analysis
The reporting capability of the platform, which includes standard reports and ad-hoc analysis, has been very valuable, Matt says. “It’s super important to me. I don’t have to put in a ticket request to build a report, and then wait for it. I can just select datasets and compile reports myself. So I can produce and share insights more regularly, which means my managers are more informed too.”
This has enabled Matt to keep track of the performance of individual collectors, and the rate of collections by stage. “It means that, on any given day of the month, I can see exactly where we stand and what we need to do to achieve our targets. That translates into a lot of success by the end of the month.” This is evidenced by the data. Since using Collections, the credit union’s delinquency rate is running at below peer average.
Clear and connected
This ease of use features across the platform, explains Matt.
All the data is set up in a Windows format, where it’s easy for the end user to grab information, review accounts, and see a 360 degree overview of each member. They can also configure letters and emails without having to ask for help. That’s a big time-saving.”
Matt Stegall, Assistant Vice President of Credit Resolution and Recovery at Vantage Credit Union
Adding new capabilities is equally efficient. “The platform’s APIs provide connections to lots of services. It’s just a case of letting Temenos know what we want and then activating the connector. We’ve recently done that to start a new outsource collection operation and it was so quick and easy.”
Cloud future
Vantage has run Collection on-premises, but is now looking at migrating to cloud. “We’re doing the same for some of our other core systems. Knowing that we can easily ‘lift and shift’ the platform to cloud, without any major re-architecturing or coding, is a big plus.” The move will benefit the credit union’s regulatory obligations, says Matt.
Cloud will give us 24 hour support, with somebody else
monitoring the system.” Version updates will be another area that they can offload. “That all frees up resources that we can redeploy.”Matt Stegall, Assistant Vice President of Credit Resolution and Recovery at Vantage Credit Union
In safe hands
Matt and his team are confident in the cloud support they can expect from Temenos, because they have experienced it during upgrades. The latest of those – to version 23 – took place at the end of 2023. “The upgrade was very organized. I appreciated the project structure and the test scripts that are provided…because as we all know, we can’t think of everything all the time. It’s good to have somebody guide you that’s been through the process numerous times, and who stays with you for the duration of the upgrade.”
This support helped them approach the upgrade more effectively than ever, says Matt. “Temenos advised us to appoint a dedicated member of staff to lead on the project, test as much as possible – two to three times a week – and perform mock upgrades.”
It echoes his experience with ongoing technical support.
We rarely have any issues with the platform – it’s so robust – but when we do have to raise a ticket, we get a response and resolution really quickly.”
Matt Stegall, Assistant Vice President of Credit Resolution and Recovery at Vantage Credit Union
Matt says that they have come to view Temenos as an extension of the credit union. “Our aim is to make the lives of our members and our employees easier. And that’s what Temenos does for us.”
Idaho Central Credit Union
Automating loan applications to drive market dominance
Idaho, USA
At a Glance
• Just two to four minutes for applicants to complete online credit card origination
• 9% increase in members, from 190K in 2020 to 218K in 2022
• 85% increase in online loan applications in 18 months, from 700 per month to 1,300 per month
• Enables almost-instant issuing of new credit card loans, with auto loans and HELOC soon to follow
• Helps Wescom strengthen its status as a top-ten credit union in California
Wescom Credit Union provides banking with a human touch to more than 220,000 members who live and work in Southern California. Noted for its unique and friendly member experience and ranked among the top 10% of credit unions in Southern California by size, Wescom manages total assets of $6 billion and serves as the preferred banking partner to the students, faculty, staff and alumni of UCLA.
Wescom embraces a model of continuous innovation to help preserve its competitive edge. The credit union identified its online application processes for consumer lending products as one area that it could improve. Starting with credit card origination, Wescom aimed to create an engaging online journey that would match the warmth and friendliness that its members experience during in-branch interactions.
“As a credit union, we are committed to helping our members build better and more prosperous lives. As both interest rates and inflation rise, the quality and extent of what people can afford is impacted. Affordable lending options and reliable banking services can be a lifeline in challenging times. To retain and grow our membership, we’re always looking for new ways to inspire trust.”
Jeff Smrcka, Vice President, Consumer Lending at Wescom Credit Union
Planning a streamlined application journey
Previously, Wescom relied on aging but still functional systems to support its online credit card loan origination process. For members, the process mainly involved filling out time-consuming digital forms. Non-members had to visit a branch in-person to register before applying for their chosen credit card.
Jeff Smrcka says: “Insisting that non-members went through a separate offline sign-up process was a source of friction that few, if any, of our competitors have tackled. We aimed to accelerate the application journey for existing members and allow non-members to join Wescom and apply for credit cards in one quick, easy process.”
Making a positive impact right away
To support the project, Wescom looked for a tried-and-tested solution that would enable a personalized member journey, integrate seamlessly with its main banking infrastructure, and deliver high levels of automation. The credit union decided to use Temenos Loan Origination, an agile loan and account origination platform and decisioning engine purpose-built for creating frictionless application processes.
Wescom used the Temenos solution to plan, develop, and launch the new application journey for its credit card loans. Soon afterwards, the credit union launched a new credit card specifically for UCLA Alumni, with all applications routed through the new streamlined workflow. Applicants fill out the forms via mobile or browser and can use intuitive DocuSign e-signature tools to complete the process. Wescom also made a series of additional configurations to enable front-line staff to complete online applications on behalf of new members who prefer to visit a branch in-person.
“We always aim to embrace leading-edge technologies, and the Temenos solution fit with our vision perfectly. Temenos is at the forefront of innovation, and they are rolling out new functionality all the time. We were especially impressed with Temenos’ API integration capabilities, which would allow our internal teams to pull data from the system easily if needed. They will also help us meet the open banking requirements that will soon reach the U.S.”
Jeff Smrcka, Vice President, Consumer Lending at Wescom Credit Union
Optimizing online experiences
Using Temenos Loan Origination, Wescom now provides a more seamless and convenient origination journey for its credit cards, free from complexity and hassle. Existing members enjoy a faster, more streamlined experience, while non-members can join Wescom and apply for credit card loans in one quick, simple workflow—without having to visit a branch.
The Temenos solution also enables Wescom to achieve much higher levels of automation in its loan decisioning processes. Applicants who enter their details online and meet defined criteria receive automatic approval for their loan, which means their new credit card can be delivered almost instantly to their digital wallet. Moreover, as internal teams at Wescom now spend less time performing follow-up steps with applicants via phone, text or email, they can focus on more productive work.
“Our online application journey for credit card loans now takes just two to four minutes. Previously, the process would take triple that time for members. And for non-members, there is simply no comparison; it is so much faster and easier for them today, and that’s an innovation that few, if any, of our competitors can match. Even in complex cases when an employee has to complete some extra verifications or underwriting, we have increased the efficiency of our workflows by around 20%.”
Jeff Smrcka, Vice President, Consumer Lending at Wescom Credit Union
Fostering innovation
Wescom is now harnessing the Temenos solution to streamline origination processes for other consumer lending products, including personal loans, auto loans, and home equity—as well as giving users more options for secure authentication when completing their application. When the credit union does receive member feedback on their experiences, it can make changes to processes with greater agility and speed.
Jeff Smrcka says: “The Temenos platform is so flexible and powerful that we can quickly bring new services and enhancements to our members. We’re starting to bring every one of our loan products under a single, powerful origination system with Temenos, with auto loans launched later this year and HELOC [home equity line of credit] next year. By drawing on Temenos support, we’re harnessing the full power of Temenos technology.”
Broadening the membership base
Wescom feels confident that the remodeled loan origination process is contributing to strong membership growth. The credit union has seen online loan applications climb by 85% in 18 months, from 700 per month in June 2021 to 1,300 per month in March 2023, comprising applications from both members and non-members. Wescom’s membership has increased by 9% from 190,000 people in 2020 to 218,000 as of December 2022. The UCLA alumni affinity card is helping the credit union gain members across the United States, far beyond its heartland of Southern California.
“The main drivers of our membership growth in 2022 were credit cards and auto loans, which goes to show that the changes we’re making with Temenos are paying off big time. As word spreads among consumers about the ease and speed of our online journey, we expect to see growth continue well into the future. Working with Temenos, we’re enabling more consistent member experiences across every channel: in branch, online and on the phone. Together, we’re innovating to strengthen our position as one of the leading credit unions nationwide.”
Jeff Smrcka, Vice President, Consumer Lending at Wescom Credit Union
Idaho Central Credit Union
Automating loan applications to drive market dominance
Idaho, USA
At a Glance
• 80% year-on-year increase in new registrations for digital services
• 35% of loans originate on the digital channel within just 10 months after go-live
• 40% drop in call-center volumes, freeing teams up to support members more comprehensively
• 85% reduction in manual back-end processing, reducing the risk of human error
• 83% Net Promoter Score, reflecting member satisfaction and loyalty.
Established in 1964, St Raphael’s Garda Credit Union was formed to serve the needs of An Garda Síochána, Ireland’s national police force. From a membership of 119 people in its first year, the organization has grown to become the country’s largest credit union, now made up of more than 39,000 Gardaí and their families. A not-for-profit co-operation, the organization has a member-centric approach to its business.
Claire Byrne, Chief Executive Officer at St Raphael’s Garda Credit Union, says: “We serve almost every part of the police force, with members living all across Ireland. What sets us apart from other financial institutions are the deep relationships we cultivate with our members which have been built on more than fifty years of mutual trust and respect. Our primary objective is to look after the financial well-being of all our members, and we work hard to truly understand each member’s needs, and to offer them best-in-class lending and savings products and services to help them achieve their financial goals.”
Meeting new expectations
In recent years, consumer expectations around financial services have shifted dramatically. Today, customers increasingly expect the ability to engage with their provider on any channel—branch, contact center, or digital device—and to switch between these channels seamlessly throughout their journey.
“As a not-for-profit co-operative, we can provide lending and savings products at extremely competitive rates, since we’re not dependent on external money markets” explains Claire Byrne. “While great prices, service levels and products are crucial, easy access and speed of decision has become increasingly important and therefore constant investment in how we deliver our services has also become equally important. In Ireland and around the world, the financial services sector is evolving rapidly. As digital banking becomes the norm and new entrants such as fintechs enter the marketplace, it’s vital for St Raphael’s to offer high-quality online and mobile experiences to compete effectively and ensure we remain central in the provision of financial services for our members.”
Targeting digital transformation
To realize its goals, St Raphael’s set out on a far-reaching digital transformation. The aim was to provide members with streamlined digital services: empowering online and mobile users to complete important journeys such as loan origination end to end. St Raphaels will always offer members a choice in the channels they choose to use, whether that is to visit a branch, call a customer service agent, or to utilize our digital channels.
We never take our members’ loyalty for granted. To help us to attract new members and protect hard-won relationships, we decided to reimagine our digital channel from the ground up.”
Claire Byrne, Chief Executive Officer at St Raphael’s Garda Credit Union
Selecting a proven partner
For many years, St Raphael’s has been a leading innovator in Ireland’s financial services industry. When Ireland’s regulatory framework for credit unions was updated, the organization was the first to offer mortgage products to its members. The company was also an early adopter of digital services, working with Temenos to support its first online banking experience using an earlier version of Temenos core banking more than a decade ago. Based on its positive experiences with Temenos Financial Inclusion solution, the credit union decided to build its new digital experiences on the latest generation of the Temenos core banking solution along with Temenos digital banking platform.
“To realize our vision for the omni-channel customer experience, we targeted even tighter integration between our front, middle and back office – and that’s exactly what Temenos allows us to do,” comments Claire Byrne. “As a small business, we greatly appreciate the wealth of technical expertise and customer experience best practices that our partnership with Temenos brings to St Raphael’s. Crucially, with Temenos front-to-back platform, we can deliver consistent journeys across every channel and digital device.”
Realizing the vision
Working with its Temenos business partner Banktech, St Raphael’s mapped out the target workflows and configured Temenos core and digital banking platform to enable the new omni-channel experiences. The solution includes an entirely digital process for loan origination—the first of its kind for any credit union in Ireland.
“Our transformation was complex, and the process was further complicated by the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, which struck right in the middle of the project,” recalls Claire Byrne. “Despite the challenges we faced, the excellent collaboration between our team, Banktech and Temenos helped us to keep our work on track. Although social distancing and lockdown measures forced us to switch from a co-located project team to colleagues working remotely from the UK, India, and the USA, we were determined to succeed—and our switchover to the new solution went very smoothly.”
Ensuring 24/7 services
Today, St Raphael’s uses Temenos Financial Inclusion to support its core banking workflows from end-to-end, while Temenos digital banking platform allows the organization to deliver outstanding digital experiences to its members, online and on mobile.
“The transition to the latest version of Temenos core banking was practically seamless for St Raphael’s employees,” comments Claire Byrne. “The Temenos solution is extremely intuitive, which allowed our people to get started with minimal training. Most importantly, the solution is also extremely resilient and reliable. Our members are front-line staff, working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We need a service that is resilient and reliable, and Temenos core banking enables us to keep our services running smoothly 24 hours a day.” Thanks to intelligent automation powered by our Temenos solutions, members can now apply for lending products from their smartphone and receive an approval within minutes—any time, day or night. After just 10 months, a massive 35% of all our loans now originate on the digital channel, which is a testament to the value our members see in the service.”
Accelerating adoption, generating operational efficiencies, and reducing risk
St Raphael’s members have been quick to embrace the new online and mobile experiences. The organization has measured an 80% year-on-year increase in new registrations for its digital services, and an increasing number now seek out these channels for day-to-day transactions.
Members now have the freedom to carry out their business at the times that are most convenient for them. As a result, we’ve seen a 40% drop in call volumes to our contact centre. Our teams now have more time to help people with more complex needs. And members have responded really well to these improvements, rating St Raphael’s with an incredible Net Promoter Score of 83% in a recent survey.”
Claire Byrne, Chief Executive Officer at St Raphael’s Garda Credit Union
Automation at St Raphael’s isn’t limited to customer-facing services. Behind the scenes, Temenos core banking allows back-office teams to work more efficiently than ever. Claire Byrne confirms: “One of the impacts of the new solution that we didn’t fully anticipate at the beginning of the project was just how much time it would save in the back office—, particularly around regulatory controls. Automation has allowed us to reduce manual processing by around 85%, which cuts the risk of human error and liberates our teams to focus on value-added work.”
Looking to the future
Looking ahead, St Raphael’s plans to build on its success with Temenos and drive continuous enhancements to the customer experience. The next step is the move to the cloud, in collaboration with Temenos.
The impact of our transformation has been phenomenal: we can now deliver even higher-quality services to our customers without driving up cost and complexity for the business. In our sector, continuous innovation is crucial to compete effectively. We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Temenos, and we look forward to working with them to find new ways to improve our services.”
Claire Byrne, Chief Executive Officer at St Raphael’s Garda Credit Union
Temenos Ambassador Awards 2022
Delighted to recognize St. Raphael’s Garda Credit Union as one of the winners of the Innovation Hero Awards for deploying an innovative and impactful project, using a Temenos solution.
We partnered successfully with
Idaho Central Credit Union
Automating loan applications to drive market dominance
Idaho, USA
In Ireland and beyond, the events of 2020 have had a lasting impact on consumer interactions with financial service providers. Previously, Croí Laighean customers preferred to talk person-to-person in a branch; now, 80 percent of interactions are online. For Croí Laighean, the new challenge is how to create a digital presence that rivals the banking giants and emerging fintechs. To achieve this, the credit union will replace its legacy, on-premises systems with an agile model using Temenos community banking solution delivered as a Software-as-a-Service offering. Hosted by Microsoft Azure, the solution will enable Croí Laighean to automate processes and eliminate the cost and complexity of managing infrastructure. The rich functionality will enable the credit union to deliver outstanding digital experiences and personalized services, helping it to compete with larger operators.
We are delighted to partner with Temenos to transform our digital banking capability. The Temenos platform puts us on a par technologically with the world’s biggest banks. The move from on premise software to the Temenos Banking Cloud was a strategic decision that will set us up for success long into the future.”
Paul Kennedy, CEO at Croí Laighean
We partnered successfully with
Idaho Central Credit Union
Automating loan applications to drive market dominance
Idaho, USA
At A Glance
• Launched a separate digital-only arm: Saven Finance, to offer highly competitive interest rates and more savings to its members
• 5 minutes to activate new customers
• Fully automated onboarding journeys
Consumer expectations around banking services are rising, and customers are increasingly seeking out providers that can offer 24/7 access to products on the digital channel. To attract new customers and retain existing account holders, it is more important than ever for financial services organizations to offer high-quality online and mobile banking experiences.
Since it was founded in 1939, FirstOntario Credit Union has continued to enhance and extend its range of banking services to grow its client base, which today stands at 126,000 people across the province of Ontario, Canada. To inspire a new generation of customers to engage with its services, FirstOntario Credit Union set out to create its first digital-only channel.
Furthermore, the credit union also recently decided to launch a separate digital-only arm entitled Saven Finance. The new service would offer online and mobile access to unique high-interest savings accounts and guaranteed investment certificates (GIC) with exceptionally competitive rates to 13.6 million Ontarian citizens.
Launching Saven allows us to have a greater reach to new digitally-focused members with a community-centric mission that shifts the perspective of what it means to be a financial institution. We’ve designed our digital brand to resonate with people who want anywhere / anytime banking. Our vision is to bring a no-nonsense, digital savings experience to those who want to achieve their financial goals through smart saving. To do that we needed to make our online platform easy to use, and enable our members to benefit from our competitive rates.”
Lloyd Smith, CEO at FirstOntario Credit Union
Turning Vision into Reality
After evaluating its back-office systems and processes, FirstOntario Credit Union realized that its core banking system would be unable to deliver the performance, scalability, and flexibility necessary to support the new digital services.
“Our goal is to shape seamless digital experiences, and without the foundation of a future-ready core banking platform, we knew that we couldn’t deliver our target customer journeys,” continues Michael Walsh. “To solve that challenge, we looked for new technology.”
Targeting a Future-Ready Banking Platform
To prepare itself for digital transformation, FirstOntario Credit Union chose Temenos core banking: a cloud-native, API-first core banking system.
As well as delivering on the foundational capabilities of security, performance and scalability, we wanted a core banking platform that would empower us to rapidly develop, test and deploy new services—and Temenos core banking delivered.”
Michael Walsh, Senior Vice president of Information technology at FirstOntario Credit Union
Working together with a team from Temenos, FirstOntario Credit Union deployed Temenos and migrated its core banking services to the new platform.
After two years of stable operations on Temenos core banking, FirstOntario Credit Union was ready to take the next leap forward with the development of its digital channel. As well as choosing a platform to deliver online and mobile banking services, the organization wanted solutions that would automate important journeys such as account opening, enabling it to offer real-time services outside of normal business hours.
To drive its new digital experience, FirstOntario Credit Union chose Temenos digital banking. Michael Walsh comments: “Our positive experience with Temenos core banking made it an easy choice to work with Temenos again for the next phase of our transformation strategy. In addition to providing the technical capabilities we need, the partnership gives us access to Temenos MarketPlace—a curated platform that connects us with FinTech innovations from around the world.”
FirstOntario Credit Union worked closely with Temenos to develop its new digital offerings.
To support the fully digital Saven Financial brand, FirstOntario Credit Union again deployed Temenos core banking and Temenos digital banking. The combination of core banking and omnichannel delivery capabilities provided the end-to-end platform needed to launch the new brand and will enable the swift roll-out of new products and services.
Launching innovative services
FirstOntario Credit Union surged ahead with the development of its digital banking services. Powered by the Temenos platform and a range of FinTech solutions, the organization tested the first prototype of its online and mobile platforms.
One of the biggest benefits we see in working with Temenos is the many FinTech partners already positioned to integrate well with their banking platform. In many cases, Temenos already had the APIs we needed to integrate with strategic partners. When they didn’t, Temenos brought in the resources we needed to facilitate the integration.”
Michael Walsh, Senior Vice president of Information technology at FirstOntario Credit Union
With the new digital platform, FirstOntario Credit Union is expected to deliver fully automated onboarding journeys for new customers, helping it to inspire a new generation of consumers to become members.
“Ultimately, we aim to embrace a digital-first strategy and the work we’re doing with Temenos today is an important step toward that goal,” says Michael Walsh. “In the future, there will be no need for our customers to wait for one of our employees to tell them that their new account has been approved. Everything will be automated from start to finish, and within five minutes customers will be able to access their account online. Initially, we will be delivering these services on our digital-only channel, but we can already see great potential in extending the capabilities to our existing customers.”
With Saven Financial, FirstOntario Credit Union is now offering a straightforward, easy-to-use digital-only service with attractive rates and a frictionless customer experience. The launch of Saven will increase the credit union’s reach with consumers, especially among younger digital-native Ontarians looking for flexible anytime, anywhere financial services. In line with FirstOntario Credit Union’s overall strategy, much of Saven Financial’s profits will be reinvested back into local community initiatives.
Getting a progress report from the experts
The organization is now working with expert consultants from Temenos to help ensure that the new journeys meet its customers’ high expectations. The team ran an in-depth assessment of the proposed online account opening solution and provided insights into how the organization’s approach compared to others in the industry
Michael Walsh continues: “Temenos assessment placed us in the top quadrant for our space, which gave us the reassurance that our development efforts were moving in the right direction. Before we go live with the finished product, we plan to invite Temenos back to evaluate our progress.”
Choosing Temenos core banking is a decision that defines the next decade or more.”
Tom Bijvoet, Chief Administration Officer at FirstOntario Credit Union
FirstOntario Credit Union is confident that the new services will strengthen its leading position in the province.
“The credit union system is built on cooperation, and we regularly meet with our peers to discuss challenges and find solutions,” adds Michael Walsh. “We see that Temenos shares that philosophy, and from day one, they’ve been fully engaged with our business and committed to our success. The amount of investment that Temenos puts into research and development really shines through in the quality of their offering. We have no hesitation in recommending Temenos as a partner and as a world-class banking solution.”
Idaho Central Credit Union
Automating loan applications to drive market dominance
Idaho, USA
At a Glance
● Rolling out new products to alumni quickly and seamlessly
● Accessing online applications through a secure channel that is fully integrated with Temenos software
● Approving credit cards for Stanford alumni in a quickly and securely manner
Stanford Federal Credit Union’s consumer loan origination system was being discontinued, so the credit union needed a new solution that would enable it to evolve with the market. Based in the heart of Silicon Valley with over $2.7 billion in assets, Stanford’s 60,000+ members—the Stanford University community as well as the employees of Google, Facebook, Visa, and over 100 other companies—expected the credit union to deliver products in a seamless, fast, and reliable manner, so it needed a product that could exceed these expectations. Stanford rolled out a board initiative, Consumer Lending Evolution and Optimization, to serve the needs of its members with high efficiency. As the preferred credit card offering for the Stanford University Alumni Association, the credit union wanted to find a way to deliver that product in a seamless, quick, and secure manner.
Creating an Online Credit Card Origination Option
Using Temenos Loan Origination, Stanford built a custom online credit card account opening system. Stanford alumni are able to access the online application through a secure channel that is fully integrated with Temenos software. This allows Stanford to quickly and securely memberize the alumni. “We push these applications right on through and get them into an approval queue,” says Brian Thornton, Chief Lending Officer at Stanford. “We can very quickly approve the credit card for these alumni, and boom… card delivered. It’s awesome!”
Creating Your Own Destiny
“As a CLO, the freedom to partner with financial services provided through API integration is very important,” said Thornton. “We all want to integrate with our preferred vendors, and we are constantly looking to add providers. I want that process to be easy, and I want to be able to control it with my team.”
Temenos’ vision of having an open API allows financial institutions to create their own destiny and choose their own vendor partners. Temenos’ ability to step up and build a solid partnership with its clients also sets them apart.”
Brian Thornton, Chief Lending Officer at Stanford Federal Credit Union
In short, the leadership team at Stanford now operates with complete confidence, knowing they have the software infrastructure in place to support new vendor partnerships, roll out new products to alumni quickly and seamlessly, and continue as a staple of the Stanford University community.