3 minutes
Sponsored by Kony.
Faced with the pressure of adapting to the digital requirements of today’s consumers, $1.7 billion ORNL Federal Credit Union developed an enterprise mobility strategy built on Kony’s cloud-based mobile platform to help retain the CU’s current member base and grow membership.
Serving Mobile-Savvy Members
Like many other mid-sized retail financial institutions, ORNL FCU had seen the advantage it once enjoyed as a credit union known for its superior service evaporate, amid a wave of mobile technology advancements by larger banks. Also like its peers, ORNL FCU realized it needed to attract and retain digital natives as a critical component of its ongoing health.
“We have an increasingly young demographic,” says President/CEO Colin Anderson, a CUES member. “It’s those members who really want the mobile banking channel.”
But rather than simply design a “me, too” banking application just to level the playing field and give members what they wanted, ORNL FCU decided to take things a step further and give members more than they could have hoped for.
“Our members not only want banking at their fingertips, but better service—service they are not getting from the big banks,” says Anderson.
Flexible Mobile Platform Accelerates Delivery
After a careful review of 20 potential vendor partners, the Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based credit union chose Kony’s flexible mobile platform as the technology foundation for its mobile strategy, replacing its core banking system mobile app. Kony’s platform was the only one ORNL FCU evaluated that was able to meet all its requirements.
Even better was that “Kony had very few limitations related to connecting to our vendor partners and our core banking systems,” says CUES member Dawn Brummett, CCE, SVP/chief operations officer. “Working with Kony, we were able to accelerate the timeframe to deliver a fully functional mobile banking app.”
That has enabled ORNL FCU to add a dose of innovation to its mobile footprint. For instance, the CU had been offering members an online personal financial management tool that could be more valuable if it were customized for mobile devices. Brummett and her team had Kony and software-maker MX work together to create communication links and data-sharing capabilities so that the tool could be integrated into ORNL FCU’s mobile application. Now members can manage all their accounts—whether they’re at ORNL FCU or elsewhere—from one mobile app.
ORNL FCU is also able to bring in data from third parties such as MeridianLink, which the CU relies on for loan and membership applications. With more than 30,000 of its nearly 150,000 members using ORNL’s mobile app already, the credit union plans to pursue similar data integrations with at least a half dozen other partners.
Transforming into a Trailblazer
If it sounds like ORNL FCU is placing a large bet on mobile, that’s because the CU’s leadership understands the potential rewards of having an agile and effective mobile channel.
With the Kony platform in place, ORNL FCU has big plans to put even more power in its members’ hands. The credit union is working on ways to auto-populate fields when members are completing processes via the app, and the CU also wants to give members the ability to block or replace lost or missing cards, as well as tools to manage their debit cards more effectively.
“What we’ve done is just the tip of the iceberg,” says Brummett. “By leveraging mobile, we will continue to innovate and come up with new ways to deliver what our members need now and in the future.”
ORNL FCU intends to leverage the Kony platform to consistently roll out features that preserve and build upon its long-standing reputation for stellar customer service.
So far, so good, according to Anderson. “Our new capabilities provide exactly what our membership is looking for.”
