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.”