Can
a credit union expand market share while increasing its operating efficiency?
That’s the experience of GFA Federal Credit Union, a $195 million institution
located in Gardner, MA. GFA recently upgraded its core processing system to
COCC’s INSIGHT, an outsourced version of Open Solutions’ relational
software. COCC is a member-owned technology outsourcer located in Avon, CT.
“Over the years, COCC has helped position GFA to be a full
service, state-of-the-art financial institution,” said Charles P. Bowles,
President and CEO of GFA Federal Credit Union. “The INSIGHT system
further increases our efficiency while expanding member services.”
Approaching
the upgrade, GFA adopted the mindset of building a better mousetrap. “We went
through the entire organization with an eye to streamlining,” said Tina M.
Sbrega, President and Chief Operating Officer at GFA.
GFA worked with COCC to study current practices and
determine the benefits of change. COCC’s Professional Services Group provided a
jump start on the process. Sbrega reports that the Professional Services Group
“helped us keep track of progress and made sure that we allocated sufficient
time for the upgrade.”
The
results are impressive. “We eliminated 35% of all manually-generated reports,
and reduced or automated 50% of all platform and teller forms,” Sbrega gleamed.
“Because the INSIGHT forms are electronic, every location presents a
consistent member experience.”
Beyond the cost savings, Sbrega reports that INSIGHT
increases the overall level of member information so staff can better respond
to member needs. The profile provides important information such as total
account relationship and income so that staff can direct service efforts.
“Our
tellers love the on-line signatures,” said Sbrega. “It’s a significant time
savings, particularly for other branch inquiries. More importantly, its
improved the delivery of service to our members since we can identify them more
quickly as we process their transactions. Our members also enjoy the fact that
they don’t have to show their identification as often.”
Conversion day produced a terrific surprise when Sbrega saw
the tellers going home early after the branches closed. “They were balancing in
less than half the time,” said Sbrega. “On average, it takes our tellers 5-10
minutes to balance on INSIGHT,” she reports. “They no longer use calculators, eliminating the double effort
throughout the day. If a member walks in with five separate transactions, we
can handle them in one step.”
Prior
to the upgrade, GFA had captured the dominant market share in and around
Gardner, MA with its full product suite. Bowles recounted that GFA was the
first institution in the area with debit cards, home banking, and on-line bill
payment. “We have been able to increase market share and our member-product
ratio with a very favorable operating expense ratio,” said Bowles.
Capturing market share has been a concerted effort. “15
years ago, people came to us for savings accounts and car loans,” said Bowles.
“Now the community comes to us for everything.”
At least 35 percent of GFA’s transactions now occur
electronically via voice response, home banking, and debit card channels. This
enables GFA to serve significantly more members without increasing staff. “The
new clientele are younger and are looking for different types of services,”
Bowles reports. Over the past 10 years, GFA’s overall percentage of members
under 45 years of age has increased from 40% to 46%.
“Without COCC, we would have had to partner with many
vendors and add staff to research each one,” said Bowles. “From our point of
view, outsourcing makes more sense, since the outsourcer does the research and
delivers a finished product. We’ve been pleased with the attention from COCC
and its frequent member meetings to give input. We have a voice and it’s
heard.”