Functionality and technology
Clearly, small to mid-tier US credit unions look able to run the bulk of their business on Keystone. In terms of differentiating Keystone from its competitors,
Corelation claims it is a ‘person-centric system’ as opposed to account-centric. There is a 360 degree member profile and drill-down for customer-specific information, including cash transactions. As a relatively new system, there has been considerable
collaboration with early customers. There is an advisory board and focus groups. The first two signings were clearly partners from this perspective. In addition, Cabrillo Credit Union worked on the card issuing functionality; PrimeWay Federal Credit Union worked on CRM; Michigan First Credit Union worked on loan origination. There is also now an annual client conference (there were 160 attendees at the one in May 2014). The front-end is browser-based and tellers can access
multiple areas from one screen. The system is developed in C++, SQL, Java, and JavaScript with XML and Ajax. There are components for New Account Workflow, Loan
Application Workflow and an Event Management System as part of the standard core, plus ID and passport image capture. There is real-time general ledger posting. Custom Tables allow
Partners
A number of partners provide complementary functionality around the Keystone core and, indeed, since 2013 Corelation has had a ‘recognized vendor program’, which implies a focus on credit unions and integration with Keystone. Long-established Business Data Inc provides a document delivery management system; Elan Financial Services is a specialist
in ATM and debit card processing; Millennial Vision Inc provides an electronic document management system. Optical imaging and data storage, check capture, mobile banking and remote deposit services applications stem from Bluepoint Solutions. CFM provides a cash flow monitor for managing teller cash dispensers and teller cash recylers. Other partners are Centurion Disaster Recovery, Compushare (cloud hosting) and Enacomm (high-volume call applications). In terms of hosting, there is WRG Service Bureau. Houston-based SPCO Credit Union (a 2013 signing, see below) became the
fifth credit union to opt for this partner. WRG also has online and mobile banking applications, operations staff, COLD storage and imaging, and network management. The partnership commenced when Cabrillo Credit Union, which already used WRG, signed as the second taker of Keystone in October 2011 and wanted to maintain its WRG online banking services. WRG is backed by Wescom Credit Union, one of the nation’s largest credit unions ($2.4 billion, 225,000 members).
Uptake and evolution
There were five signings in 2013 comprising California-based Sun Community Federal Credit Union ($300 million, 45,000 members), Detroit-based Communicating Arts Credit Union ($32 million, 8120 members), California-based South Western
Federal Credit Union ($135 million, 11,715 members), SPCO Texas ($37 million, 5138 members), and Alabama State Employees Credit Union ($211 million, 27,440 members). Alongside the aforementioned Desert Schools Federal
Credit Union, Corelation signed three others in Q1 2014 alone (in other words, only one fewer win than in 2013 as a whole). The others were Cheyenne-based Warren Federal Credit
US Financial Services Technology Market Report |
www.ibsintelligence.com 31
users to define records for any new information they want to hold. Users can also add their own scripts via JavaScript. Corelation makes its XML-based API (KeyBridge API) available to banks, so that third parties can develop applications that can interface with Keystone. This will be a ‘key differentiator’ for larger credit unions, said Benavidez, because they often want to heavily customise their systems, for which ‘they don’t necessarily want or need to involve their processor’.
The ability to add new products and to tailor existing ones seems to be a strength, with users backing up the assertion that the flexibility of the system allows faster time-to-market.
At the outset, Corelation claimed that the system had been benchmarked with 400,000 customer accounts, with ‘amazing’ performance which meant it could run ‘the largest credit unions in the country’. There is multi-threading, bringing the ability to simultaneously post transactions across processors. There is a CRM component, KeyInsight, which was added in Q4 2013 and has been cited by a number of signings as a significant factor in their selections. It tracks all member interaction and is intended to identify opportunities for cross- marketing, as well as streamlining access to information for branch and call center staff.
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