Challenge
Bragg Mutual Federal Credit Union was a $60 million institution serving more than 9,000 members in North Carolina, and when Steve Foley became the CEO in late 2018, he faced a major challenge.
As a small credit union, remaining independent was a major concern of the Board of Directors, when mergers among credit unions were being announced seemingly on a weekly basis. To remain independent, Foley knew the institution would need digital and self-directed online banking services to compete for financial services during the next 10 years.
Foley’s predecessor had locked in a long-term core contract shortly before he arrived. The credit union was using an outdated core system that limited its growth potential and member satisfaction. Additionally, the core system was labor-intensive, lacked digital capabilities and did not offer any enhanced online services to help the credit union grow. He knew that the credit union needed to switch to a more modern and flexible core system that could meet the evolving needs of its members and staff.
“We had to decide between losing members and products now or taking the short-term financial hit to grow relationships by providing better services,” said Foley.
Solution
Foley decided to buy out the core contract and switch to CU*SOUTH, a full-service, 100% credit union-owned CUSO that offers CU*BASE, a powerful and affordable core system. CU*BASE is designed to help credit unions grow their membership, increase their efficiency and enhance their service. CU*BASE offers many features and benefits that Bragg Mutual was looking for, including:
- Online loan applications and account opening
- Self-service options for members, such as loan extensions and early pay
- Seamless integration with ITM network and call center
- Real-time updates and reports
- Non-interest income generation
Results
Since switching to CU*SOUTH in 2020, Bragg Mutual has experienced significant growth and improvement in its performance and member satisfaction. Some of the results include:
- Growing from $60 million to $110 million in assets in less than three years
- Memberships grew from 9,000 to 11,700
- Average deposits per member grew from $6,784.00 to $9,315.00
- Receiving 70% of loan applications online
- Average of 50 new membership applications received online each month
- Reducing costs and risks with a secure payment program
- Increasing non-interest income with early pay option
- Resolving 90% of member calls with CU*SOUTH call center
- Fee income increase due to CU*SOUTH product training featuring on-demand payroll posting
- A significant reduction in member phone calls to check balances, deposits, etc.
- Increased member self-service via online or mobile banking
- Total online logins increased from less than 35,000 per month to over 100,000 per month from members
Foley said he is very happy with the decision to switch to CU*SOUTH and the results it has brought to his credit union.
“Having many more digital options is what helped us get there. CU*SOUTH has a lot of nice options,” said Foley. “I think buying out the contract and converting in 2020, while expensive, was worth it for us. Switching to CU*SOUTH was our best decision to remain independent. We were able to grow as a credit union because of the new core.”
CU*SOUTH is building a collaborative, peer-to-peer community of Credit Unions
through shared development of technology and service platforms. CU*SOUTH is headquartered on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, with a nationwide network of CU experts.
