In its most recent stockholder newsletter, CU*Answers, the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based cooperative CUSO, announced that it had completed a successful core conversion for San Angelo, Texas-based 1st Community Federal Credit Union. With the conversion, 1CFCU also become the first CU*BASE® user to leverage the new interface to the loan origination system from Austin, Texas-based CUSO Sync1 Systems.
When asked to comment on the conversion, 1st Community FCU CEO Bill Nikolauk said, “When we first started talking with the CU*Answers team, we were intrigued by their business model but we weren’t really looking to go through a core conversion. Nobody in their right mind wants to go through a conversion. With that in mind we knew the challenge of the conversion would be worth the great benefits of a more extensive system. Dealing with partners instead of a corporation is always the best option. The more we talked to our peers that were using CU*BASE, the more we thought a core change was exactly what our team and our members needed.”
Nikolauk concluded, “From start to finish, the process was managed extremely well by all the teams. And we couldn’t be happier to now be part of a cooperative that not only has awesome tools, but they also share our values.”
Scott Collins, EVP of National Sales and Marketplace Development for CU*Answers commented, “Our cooperative is excited to not only have another customer-owner in Texas, but also to have our first user of the Sync1 Systems LOS deployed in our network. The project was a tremendous success because all three parties—Sync1, 1CFCU and our team—were committed to bringing cost-effective and game-changing tools to not only the credit union team, but directly to the members as well. The successful launch was the culmination of five months of hard work by all teams, and I commend Bill and his entire team for a job well done. I look forward to many years as business partners and friends.”