It’s hard to contemplate closing your credit union right after the first of the year, but if there is no internet or phones, what can you do? For Cheney Federal Credit Union, located in Cheney, WA, when an uncapped conduit pipe caused flooding in their electrical room, it meant thinking fast and relocating quickly.

On Saturday December 30, the credit union opened to find that they had lost internet and phones systems. Staff and members were expecting to be open, but without necessary services the staff had to think of a quick resolution to continue to serve their community.

Cheney has some unique relationships forged through the philosophy of credit unions helping credit unions help members. Even their data processor, a cooperative credit union service organization, was there to offer a seamless transition of technology.

Staff of Cheney Federal Credit Union were able to relocate to the Spokane Valley location of Primesource Credit Union. Primesource offered a workstation at their facility and since both credit unions use the same core processor, it was simple.

“We both use CU*NorthWest for data processing and the software lends itself to these kinds of collaborative efforts,” said Margaret Burkholtz, CEO at Primesource Credit Union. “There was no moving of computers or re-loading software or anything like that. They just came and logged in through the community network.”

The technology piece of this puzzle was the easy piece Cheney CEO JoAn Sanders agreed. “CU*NorthWest made it look easy. We could access our member’s data, print out receipts, create and fund loans, run reports and cut checks – virtually anything the member needed. The bottom line is our members were served.”