With 19 years of experience managing core processing for credit unions, Walker will lead a new Conversion Team that includes a mix of experienced leaders and credit union product experts.  “A successful conversion requires the leadership of someone who has worked in every area of credit union operations and has an instinctive sense of how all the pieces come together,” says CU*South’s CEO, Leo Vaulin.  “Roger Walker has managed daily operations for dozens of credit unions across different core platforms and servers – it’s like watching a symphony conductor get a perfect performance out of every part of the orchestra.  If something doesn’t seem right, he knows right where to look and how to correct it.”

Walker’s Conversion Team follows a conversion methodology first developed by CU*Answers, a partner CUSO.  “It’s called ‘The Conversion Promise’ – for a good reason,” says Walker.  “The team follows a script that provides consistency in every step.  There are over 175 steps in the project plan, and each one must be done in the correct sequence.  We use a combination of Microsoft Office and some custom web-based collaboration tools to pull everything together and make it readily available to everyone on the team.  We work hard to ensure a smooth conversion for our clients – and for their members.  For members, the best conversion is the one they don’t notice, except to say, “Hey, I love that new online banking system!”

Good staff training is the key, and Walker relies on CSR Manager and lead trainer Starla Honea to assemble a custom training plan that’s a perfect fit for credit unions both large and small.  Jason Martin, CEO of First Neshoba FCU recently converted to CU*BASE.  “CU*South developed a 10-week program that combined self-paced online training with interactive webinars, plus two weeks of dedicated classes in our board room.  The trainers were very professional, and our staff of nine was enthusiastic about learning the new software.”

“Sometimes the smallest credit unions present the biggest training challenge,” says Starla Honea.  “When you have three or four people doing all the work, it’s tough to get everyone together in a training room at the same time.”  Starla’s solution to this is a greater focus on one-on-one interactive webinars.  “Webinars take the stress out of scheduling training”, she explains.  “I can schedule a 90-minute lending class, and we have to make a last-minute change because the loan officer was busy.  With webinars, there’s no investment in travel, so I can easily reschedule without any extra expense.”

Walker takes it all in stride.  “We’re coordinating eight departments in the conversion process – programming, education, product delivery, systems, networking, operations, forms design, and marketing.  We build enough free time into every conversion schedule to allow each client the flexibility they need to get ready, while still getting their work done day-to-day.”

With new conversions scheduled every 6 to 8 weeks, Roger Walker is looking forward to the new challenge.

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“We selected eDOC Innovations for several reasons. First, they have an excellent history in providing innovative tools to credit unions for electronic document management solutions. Second, they are a CUSO which provides us a depth of confidence we couldn’t get through a normal vendor of services. Third, they were affordable. And, most importantly, forth, their complete line of solutions are just what we needed since they complete our strategic foundation to become paperless,” states Carla Decker, President and CEO of District Government EFCU.

District Government Employees FCU is scheduled to implement eDOC’s in-house COLD system for Statements and Reports as well as in-house digital Receipts and Forms in Q4 of 2009. They will also be utilizing eDOC’s CheckLogic solution for Check21 check image transfer, processing and archiving.

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Newrizons will convert from a Compushare in-house processing environment to CU*NorthWests online solution and add many additional technologies as a result of the conversion.

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Horizon Utah Federal Credit Union is a full-service credit union with 5 branches located in the Davis County area. This well established credit union has almost 14,000 members and total assets approaching $100 million.

The CU*Answers business model that of a Cooperative CUSO is unique in the industry, and offers a range of products and services that will benefit the members of Horizon Credit Union and also provides the necessary technology to keep us competitive and secure in a challenging market, said Horizon CEO Randy Gailey. We are looking forward to the added value that collaboration with other CU*Answers owners and clients will bring.

CU*Answers offers its core processing system in both an ASP (service bureau) and In-house processing environment. Each model offers the same level of CU*BASE functionality and is appropriate for credit unions of any size. Horizon Utah will be taking advantage of the CU*BASE Inhouse processing solution. The underlying foundation to provide this environment is IBMs POWER6 server platform running IBM i and its fully integrated DB2 relational database. With over 700,000 systems installed worldwide, the IBM i delivers industry-leading performance with unrivaled customer satisfaction and loyalty. According to CU*Answers, this allows credit union clients to spend time managing their credit union, not managing their servers and databases.

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Newrizons will convert from a Compushare in-house processing environment to CU*NorthWest’s online solution and add many additional technologies as a result of the conversion.

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Scott Page, EVP of CU*Answers says “this level of client commitment desiring to solidify conversion dates throughout 2009 is unprecedented, and speaks volumes for how clients are embracing the CU*Answers CUSO model and CU*BASE processing system. In difficult economic times, CU*Answers clients are very optimistic at opportunities for partnering with other industry peers to create even greater member value at considerably reduced CUSO price points”.

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• Federated Family Credit Union — Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Chiropractic Federal Credit Union — Farmington, Michigan
• Sentinel Graphics Federal Credit Union — Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
• Lake Huron Credit Union — Saginaw, Michigan
• Allegius Federal Credit Union — Burns Harbor, Indiana
• New Horizons Credit Union — Cincinnati, Ohio
• Franklin County School Employees Federal Credit Union — Columbus, Ohio

CU*Answers now processes for 125+ Credit Unions utilizing its CU*BASE System. These newest clients represent over 40,000 new members. During the past 12 months, 22 credit unions, representing over 163,000 members have chosen CU*BASE as their core processing solution.

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These client signings include:

• Superior Choice Credit Union – Superior, Wisconsin
• Detroit Municipal Credit Union – Detroit, Michigan
• Kensington Valley Community Credit Union — Highland, Michigan
• United Educational Credit Union — Battle Creek, Michigan
• Glacier Hills Credit Union — West Bend, Wisconsin
• Firefighters Credit Union — LaCrosse, Wisconsin
• The Finest Credit Union — New York City, New York

These newest clients represent over 84,000 new members. During the past 12 months, 15 credit unions, representing over 1462,000 members have chosen CU*BASE as their core processing solution.

Gary Elliott, CEO of Superior Choice Credit Union says, “This year marks my 30th year serving financial institutions. Without a doubt, CU*Answers offers a complete software solution unlike anything I have ever witnessed over the course of my career. They have literally thought of everything! Couple their extremely robust software platform with CU*Answers University, the CUSO structure and most importantly their professional and responsive staff and the Credit Union/ Owners gain a true competitive edge in the communities they serve!”

Kathie Trembath, CEO of Detroit Municipal Credit Union states, “CU*Answers CU*BASE platform is extremely user friendly with the ability to offer many additional services to our membership. While performing hardware and software pre-site configuration testing, CU*Answers employees transferred a high level of enthusiasm and energy to my staff, who are very anxious and excited to convert to our new system. I am also very impressed with the number of on-line educational sessions provided gratis for our staff.

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CU*Answers recently announced it had received commitments and/or signed contracts with 17 credit unions for converting to the CU*BASE Member Processing system. CU*Answers is now sold out for completing CU*BASE conversions until early 2009.

This represents the 10th consecutive year in which CU*Answers has “sold out” its client conversion calendar. CU*Answers also announced it has received commitments from 5 additional clients scheduled to convert to CU*BASE in early 2009.

These 2008 client conversions represent approximately 130,000 members converting to the CU*BASE system, and nearly $8 million in combined revenue during the next 60-month period. Scott Page, EVP of Sales says “this truly demonstrates the high level of commitment in which clients are regularly choosing CU*BASE. We feel our record speaks volumes for not only the core competencies included with CU*BASE, but also the CU*Answers business model which focuses upon client ownership and active participation”.

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CU*Answers, A CUSO with clients now in 16 states, announced today that within the past 6 months, seven (7) new clients have signed data processing agreements taking advantage of the CU*BASE Member Processing System. These credit unions will be converting from a variety of different vendor systems from across the country.
Recently acquired Credit Unions include:

• Aberdeen Federal Credit Union in Aberdeen, South Dakota
• First Choice Credit Union in Coldwater, Ohio
• Iosco Community Credit Union in Oscoda, Michigan
• Lenco Credit Union in Adrian, Michigan
• Logan Community Federal Credit Union in Bellefontaine, Ohio
• Northern Hills Federal Credit Union in Sturgis, South Dakota
• PCA Federal Credit Union in Rittman, Ohio

CU*Answers now has 115 Credit Unions utilizing its CU*BASE System. These newest clients represent over 34,000 new members, and projected contract revenues exceeding $2.5 million. During the past 12 months, 16 credit unions, representing over 120,000 members, have chosen CU*BASE as their core application processing solution.

Cindy Griffin, CEO of Northern Hills FCU says, “The Cooperative Business model of CU*Answers will provide us with many opportunities to serve our members better, faster and more completely. We will be able to meet most of our strategic objectives by simply partnering with CU*Answers. We would have added five additional vendors to provide the same products and services at much higher prices, not to mention the excessive amounts of employee time to set up and run the programs.”

David Chambers, CEO of Lenco Credit Union states, “The difference between a traditional data processing vendor and CU*Answers is really the difference between a mega-bank and a really good credit union: it is the power of collaboration.”

These new contract signings continue the trend of credit unions converting to CU*BASE and speaks volumes of how positively the CU*BASE product is being received in the credit union marketplace as being the best alternative data processing system for credit unions.

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