CU*Answers, the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based cooperative CUSO, recently announced that an agreement had been executed with Honolulu-based Hawaii Central Federal Credit Union for core data processing and other strategic services. With its January 2019 conversion, the credit union will become the CUSO’s first Hawaii-based core data processing client.
When asked why they choose CU*Answers, Drake Tanabe, president/general manager of Hawaii Central FCU, replied: “After a lengthy search involving countless meetings and visiting of other credit unions, we were impressed with the suite of products and services that CU*Answers is able to provide. Their core system, CU*BASE, will allow our employees to better service our members through a feature rich, user-friendly interface. As a CUSO, they share the same values and beliefs we do, and we look forward to providing our members with state-of-the-art quality products and services for many years to come.”
Scott Collins, EVP of national sales for CU*Answers commented: “We are very excited that Hawaii Central has selected our cooperative not only as their new core data processing solution, but also as their strategic partner to help them take their member-facing services to a new level. Drake has built an excellent team and is doing some exciting things in the Honolulu area, so we are thrilled that our collective teams will be working closely to support their business plan for many years to come.”
When asked to comment about Hawaii Central becoming the CUSO’s first customer-owner in the state, Collins noted: “Expanding into any new state is not something we take lightly and finding a first-mover partner who shares our core values is certainly a critical success factor. Over the past several months, I have had the pleasure of working with over a dozen members of the HCFCU team during their due diligence, and I have no doubt this will be a great partnership.”
Collins added that Hawaii Central FCU has become the cooperative’s 133rd equal-owner following their recent stock purchase.