CU*Answers has encouraged clients utilizing CU*BASE Online Credit Cards to:

• Review the changes and recommendations the CUSO published on January 29th in a special announcement.
• Review the recorded one hour web conference from February 5th that can be downloaded from the Audit Link Advisor site.
• Access the Audit Link Advisor site, which allows credit unions to share strategies, concerns, and policies with others in the network.

The CUSO has also completed the following changes for February statements:

• New late payment warning with late fees
• All three minimum payment warnings
• Consumer counseling number
• Coordinated with Sage, CoWWW, and eDOC Innovations for graphical presentation

Additional explanation of changes completed and those that are pending can be read on the 9th Edition of the Audit Link Advisor, found here: http://advisor.cuanswers.com/.

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CU*Answers provides Talent Source Portals via the Passageways P4 Portal solution, which allows credit unions to organize and structure the collective knowledge of its teams into discrete workgroups of information.  This tool centralizes collaborative communication to increase productivity among staff as it makes needed information easily accessible.  This information is hosted in CU*Answers SAS-70 certified datacenter and managed by WESCO Net professionals, eliminating worry about hardware or system security.

CU*Answers and Passageways have extended the discount rate to all CU*BASE clients, whether they are already Portal users, or interested in more information about the solution.

For more information, access: www.passageways.com/powwow_conference.php

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According to CU*Answers, Patrick Sickels was hired to assist the CUSO in achieving the goal of transparent compliance.   Sickels, CISA, JD, is a former attorney and network engineer who brings a wealth of experience in law and information technology security management.  He boasts extensive practice in building audit programs and will be partnering with CU*A staff to constantly review ways to advance the CUSO’s already strict security and compliance programs.

“An aspect of my role that is both challenging and fun is ensuring our people maintain or exceed their high level of customer service while continuously  improving our overall security,” says Sickels.  “I’ve been very impressed with everyone’s willingness to raise the bar on security and compliance.  As our company grows, the work we do today will pay substantial dividends down the road as regulations become ever more stringent and complex.”

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The Grand Rapids-based CUSOs have provided the following support:

• According to CU*Answers and Xtend, they are crafting a solution that leverages collective CUSO resources.  It is their intent to begin the execution phase in April/May, well in advance of the August 15^th ATM/Debit card “shut off” date.  This should also limit the risk of having members Opt Out between now and then by pulling the trigger on a program too early.  An April Web Conference will be held to discuss these in more detail.
• CU*BASE specification work is already in process (1 byte field to distinguish between one-time and recurring debit transactions based on new ISO field delivered by switches; Opt In identifier with time stamp and EmpID/channel; event creation for notice generation; possible integration with online banking; etc.).  These will likely be phased in throughout the next several CU*BASE releases – updates will be delivered via The Kitchen on the CU*Answers website.
• Xtend intends to deliver an effective Opt In support solution at an affordable price point, and also enlisting partners like CU*Answer on the tool side and Sage on the mailing execution side.

For more information on how CU*Answers and Xtend are responding to regulatory/consumer pressure related to Courtesy Pay and NSF processes, access the CU*Answers website.

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“The power of the network and the power of collaboration are astounding,” exclaims Carol Middaugh, COO at Vacationland FCU. “As we at Vacationland FCU venture into the future by leveraging technology, we look to gain efficiencies not only in operational costs, but also in development and knowledge.  We discovered that many of eDOC’s peers were also those of CU*Answers; and many shared a common bond of being in the infancy stages of developing an electronic document storage solution, while others are farther ahead.”  Middaugh continued to explain that the varying degrees of penetration in the world of e-document management has provided a dynamic group to leverage talents, knowledge and power useful in the creation of strategies, policies and procedures needed in this environment.

Terri Simon, Operations Manager of Ohio Catholic FCU, echoes Middaugh’s enthusiasm for eDOC’s User Group, “After being charged with the task of cleaning and organizing our record retention room, commonly referred to as the “black hole”, I am very excited about Ohio Catholic Federal Credit Unions partnership with eDOC and the collaboration with the other credit unions involved.” states Simon. “Valuable information has already been gained through our phone conferences and I am looking forward to our first Roundtable Conference.  It truly demonstrates the spirit of the Credit Union movement when we join together to improve our ability to serve our members.”

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“As credit unions ‘go green’ one challenge they all have is converting their previous internal paper base into secure electronic documents.” remarks Bret Weekes, President/CEO of eDOC Innovations. “eDOC now offers a complete paper conversion service, Image Now, that reduces the strain of a self-conducted paper conversion, and enables credit unions to focus on running their business. As credit unions ‘go green’ inside their operations they recognize greater ROI on their eDocument strategy.  Credit unions don’t realize how disruptive that process is or the relative costs for doing it.  Leveraging the CUSO is logic, cost-effective and simple way to make the transition.”

Progressive Credit Union, a $344 million dollar CU in New York, NY, is utilizing eDOC’s paper conversion service to convert ninety years worth of paper operations. “Leveraging eDOC‘s paper conversion service reduced our projected internal costs by 38%. That translated to thousands of dollars in cost savings, not to mention convenience,” States Charles Rogers, COO at Progressive CU. “eDOC Innovations is the Go Paperless expert. We used them so we could focus on being a Credit Union.”

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“In addition to just developing good products and collaborating heavily with us, we feel that we also have some responsibility to be active in our participation with eDOC to help other credit unions and the CUSO model allows us to do that in a very real way,” continues Harriman. “We are excited to welcome Cumberland County FCU and the collaborative spirit they bring with them.  We are deeply committed to our peers, driving value to them in many ways,” comments Bret Weekes, President/CEO of eDOC.  “Our peers bring great ideas and innovative thinking to our firm and that has such value to us and the industry.  True collaboration is something we strive to achieve and Cumberland joining the CUSO is to us a reflection that although we aren’t perfect, we are on the right track,” continued Weekes.

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Bret Weekes, President/CEO of eDOC Innovations explained, “We believe that we have an obligation as an industry-owned organization to reach out in collaboration and consultation with credit unions, even if they aren’t yet a user of our products and services.  Our team takes particular satisfaction in working directly with credit union executives who have vision, direction and recognition of the value and impact an e-Document strategy would bring to their credit union, and Jeff is that visionary.”

Mr. Jorgensen elaborates, “I was very impressed by the assistance eDOC was willing to provide.   I feel more confident in my current decision to pursue eDOC as our imaging solutions provider knowing they are this vested in the whole industry’s success”.

“Providing industry expertise to credit unions researching electronic document strategies doesn’t always lead to creating a new partnership.  Regardless of the credit union’s direction, we hope that our insight and industry experience will benefit them – and if it does, then time spent was worth it.  Credit unions can’t do everything themselves.  At eDOC we are firm believers that credit unions need a network of industry experts for support, and we want to be one of those experts”, concludes Weekes.

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Over the past several months, the Grand Rapids-based CUSO has been diligent in communicating how regulation changes may impact credit unions using CU*BASE.  CU*Answers has provided a summary of changes made to statement formats for compliance:

• The location of marketing messages has been moved so that it appears below the perforation, on the left-hand side of the page. (Messages will stay with members even after they send in their payment.)
• Other than the marketing message, information on the top portion of the statement, above the perforation, did not change.
• The verbiage in the new LATE PAYMENT WARNING and MINIMUM PAYMENT WARNING sections are slightly different based on specific credit unions’ credit card product configuration as well as the members’ individual situation, according to the rules of the regulation.
• The toll-free number shown for credit counseling services is the standard number used by all credit unions, per the regulation.

All changes will go into effect with the February credit card statements produced after February 28, 2010.  The CUSO has provided statement samples for those that use Sage Direct for statement services.  To view the PDFs, or to see all communications pertaining to this issue over the past several months, view the CU*Answers Kitchen page at: http://www.cuanswers.com/kitchen/cardact.php.

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This past November, the CUSO held its 5^th Annual CEO Strategies Week, which drew 50 credit union CEOs from across the country.  At that time, CU*Answers CEO, Randy Karnes, announced his intention to offer an abbreviated version that would be opened up to other senior credit union leaders, not just CEOs.

On Thursday, May 13^th from 9:00am until 3:00pm, participants are invited to attend a day of mentoring and coaching in the CU*Answers University Learning Center.  Randy Karnes will share how he would use CU*BASE tools as a credit union CEO to interact with Leadership and Board Teams.   This opportunity provides an environment for brainstorming, addressing topics of concern unique to the credit union industry, and networking with peers while fostering a shared vision for collaboration and innovation.

Registration for the event can be found at: http://www.cuanswers.com/client.php.

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Mr. Beauchamp joins CU*Answers with years of electronic document experience, working previously as the Director of Operations for COWWW Software, and recently in the same role for CU*Answers’ sister CUSO, eDOC Innovations.  In his previous roles he managed Client Service and Implementation teams, and helped hundreds of credit unions with their electronic document strategies.

As Electronic Document Strategies Manager, John is available to help credit unions craft an e-Document strategy tailored to the individual needs of credit unions by wading through concerns such how to get started, improving an existing system, discussing vault choices, warranties, costs and implementation.

For information on the e-Document solutions available to CU*BASE clients, access the new e-Document website at http://edocs.cuanswers.com.

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The major emphases of this year’s marketing efforts were out-of wallet opportunities and lending growth in all member and non-member demographics. Over the next several months the CUSO will be working closely with the staff at each of Calcite’s three branches to hone effective cross-selling skills, increase the level of outbound member communication activity, and more effective utilization of the functionality within their core data processing system (CU*BASE from Grand Rapids-based CU*Answers).

Barb Niedbala, Calcite Credit Union CEO notes, “We couldn’t be more pleased with the program Xtend has helped us to launch this year.  I am confident that the training program we are working on with Xtend will help us do a more effective job of communicating our value to our members and using the CU*BASE tools to support these efforts.”

Julie Gessner, Manager of Communications Services at Xtend, and project leader for the CUSO says, “I am pleased that Calcite selected us as their marketing partner for the coming year.  We set goals together of developing an aggressive calendar that had something going every month as well as an ongoing training plan for the staff throughout the year. We also launched our Member Reach e-communication service to help generate a year-long buzz about the credit union for both the membership and staff.  It should be an exciting and successful year.”

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According to Xtend President Scott Collins, selecting the right partner proved more challenging than expected.  “We have been providing B2B chat services for nearly a year, but we knew that providing B2C support, especially in an authenticated and secure environment like home banking, would require us to partner with an industry expert.  Our preference was to select an enterprise solution, but most of the recognized industry players were an ASP deployment.  In fact, when we first looked at LIVECHAT it did not have an enterprise solution either.  By the time we re-engaged with them this past fall, their enterprise solution was already deployed in several European financial institutions.  Over the next few months, our web services and home banking partners over at CU*Answers will put the LIVECHAT software and support team to the test so that we can move forward with confidence.”

Collins noted that several credit union clients were anxious to participate in the beta testing of the new web chat service and that the CUSO planned to be ready by spring or early summer.

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Loosely based on NBC’s popular “The Biggest Loser” hit, participants will by vying for their chance to win prize money ($1,500 for 1^st place, $750 for 2^nd, and $250 for 3^rd) by losing the highest percentage of body weight during the 12 week challenge.

“I am very excited for the kickoff of this challenge,” remarks Rachel King, Sales Administrator for CU*Answers, and organizer of the contest.  “We’ve recently formed a Healthy Workforce Committee at work, and wanted to do something big to get the ball rolling.  As a Group Fitness Instructor, motivating people to exercise and get healthy is something that I’m very passionate about, so organizing this event seemed like a logical thing to do,” she states. “We knew that there would be a level of interest for participating in the contest, but are pleasantly surprised that this many people in our company have decided to focus on getting healthy, the buzz and anticipation at our offices is tangible,” she continues.

According to the CUSO, in addition to the prize money put up by the company for the winners, there is also a team-based contest running concurrently.  Teams have the opportunity to win points by participating in mini-challenges, running/walking a local 5K race, even given credit for individual cardio or weight training sessions.

“I envisioned the CU*Lose Weight Challenge not just as motivation for employees to lose weight, but also as a relationship building exercise,” states King.  “Some participants are signed up just to get in the routine of improving their lifestyle and physical fitness.  The format is designed so that involvement is rewarded based on making healthy choices, with a team to serve as support system and motivational driver.”

The teams will win weekly prizes based on point total, and compete to win the pot of registration money that was put up by all participants (total of $1,150).

The CU*Lose Weight Challenge is scheduled to kick-off March 1^st.

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“As credit unions ‘go green’ one challenge they all have is converting their previous internal paper base into secure electronic documents.” remarks Bret Weekes, President/CEO of eDOC Innovations. “eDOC now offers a complete paper conversion service, Image Now, that reduces the strain of a self-conducted paper conversion, and enables credit unions to focus on running their business. As credit unions ‘go green’ inside their operations they recognize greater ROI on their eDocument strategy.  Credit unions don’t realize how disruptive that process is or the relative costs for doing it.  Leveraging the CUSO is logic, cost-effective and simple way to make the transition.”

Progressive Credit Union, a $344 million dollar CU in New York, NY, is utilizing eDOC’s paper conversion service to convert ninety years worth of paper operations. “Leveraging eDOC‘s paper conversion service reduced our projected internal costs by 38%. That translated to thousands of dollars in cost savings, not to mention convenience,” States Charles Rogers, COO at Progressive CU. “eDOC Innovations is the Go Paperless expert. We used them so we could focus on being a Credit Union.”

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