In times of uncertainty, credit unions must be able to deliver outstanding products, services and experiences to the marketplace. In today’s fast-moving financial services climate, this means providing both members and employees with the personalization, speed and agility they demand.
Today’s consumers are comfortable with brands understanding them on an individual level, in exchange for receiving personalized, convenient experiences. To accomplish this, organizations must be able to deliver holistic “lifestyle solutions” informed by needs-based consumer insights. And they should determine how to do so within a fully re-imagined—and constantly evolving—ecosystem of value.
One of the best-known examples of this ecosystem approach is Apple. Upon the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, consumers became comfortable with the look and feel of the Apple operating system. When the iPad, Apple Watch and other products were subsequently introduced, customers intuitively understood how to use them. Because the Apple ecosystem was built upon a common platform and interface, users were able to adopt new solutions faster, as they were already comfortable with the underlying technology.
In much the same way,the Co-op digital ecosystem empowers credit unions to adopt and onboard new technology more quickly and easily, offering a better experience to end users—the credit union’s members and team. Because the front-end user interface is consistent, users can quickly gain comfort and expertise, meaning that members are served faster, with fewer errors and less frustration.
Through the use of easy-to-program APIs, the ecosystem is also infinitely scalable.
“The Co-op ecosystem was designed in such a way that we can reuse components as we roll out new solutions,” says Rob Goodwin, VP of Sales at Co-op. “Whether it’s Springboard, our administrative tool, Insights Center, which provides deep data reporting and analytics, or the Co-op Developer Portal, all of Co-op’s solutions work seamlessly together within the same ecosystem that our credit unions are already comfortable using.”
Realizing the Value of the Ecosystem Through Payments
Many providers of financial services technology have—consciously or not—followed an acquisition-driven, “portfolio” strategy for growth. Such firms focus on acquiring market solutions and bolting them onto their current offerings, without consideration for integration or strategic fit. Unfortunately, in many cases credit unions are forced to use these various solutions because they are packaged in with the core products they have purchased from that vendor.
In contrast, Co-op has adopted a platform strategy, designed around providing unique, best-in-market solutions that are delivered through a single underlying technology. This is important, as Co-op’s position is and always has been to “build, buy or partner with” technology on behalf of credit unions as we believe credit unions should be able to choose the right partner based on their needs.
“Co-op has very consciously designed our suite of solutions around a single, end-to-end platform designed to deliver growth opportunities to credit unions, and better experiences to their employees and members,” says Bruce Dragt, Chief Product Officer at Co-op Solutions. “Because it’s designed as an open platform, credit unions can work with their choice of integration partners to select the best core, digital banking and related solutions to meet their unique needs.”
Co-op’s credit union digital ecosystem consists of 5 core components:
- Servicing and administration: Co-op Springboard® is a single, simple-to-use web-based application that gives credit unions real-time access to cardholder account information – all in one place. It automates many commonly used services, such as researching transactions, accessing and updating cardholder account information, and viewing reports, ensuring superior member service and a simplified account management experience.
- Reporting: Co-op Insights Center is an intuitive, easy-to-use web-based reporting platform that helps you understand your credit, debit, ATM portfolios, and Shared Branch network performance. Serving as the hub of reporting for many of Co-op's solutions including Digital Card Issuance, Zelle®, Co-op Pay Network, and more, it simplifies complex information and provides self-service access to actionable insights to help you unlock growth opportunities and own more member moments.
- Integration: The Co-op Developer Portal is a centralized integration hub that helps your development team and vendor partners discover, develop, test and deploy a full library of Co-op digital solutions, streamlining integration with the Co-op ecosystem.
- Dispute management: Co-op Resolution Center is our proprietary and centralized management platform for cardholder claims designed to close the loop, and ensure member and credit union satisfaction through rapid response times, personalized service and real-time information access.
- Risk management: Co-op Cooper Fraud Score is a dynamic, integrated, real-time machine learning score that helps credit unions react more quickly to fraud trends by reducing false positive ratios, fraud chargebacks and losses from fraud. A score reason code, such as velocity or amount, accompanies Cooper Fraud Score to explain why a transaction scored as it did to aid credit unions and Co-op with any research or action needed to improve performance.
The common denominator around all these core components? Payments.
“Payments represents the gateway to the credit union digital ecosystem,” Goodwin says. “By starting their payment processing operations through Co-op, credit unions can open the door to accessing our full ecosystem and all the benefits that come along with that. It brings greater operational efficiency, flexibility, and interconnectivity across a wide range of best in breed solutions and vendors, ultimately delivering a better member experience.”
Through the power of the Co-op digital ecosystem, credit unions can choose among the best technology and digital solutions that meet their specific needs, and manage them —securely, conveniently, and efficiently— within a single, scalable, and fully integrated platform.
To learn more about the Co-op digital ecosystem for credit unions and how it can help your credit union scale your growth and provide outstanding member service, contact your Co-op sales representative, call 800.782.9042 or email solutions@coop.org.
