Are you leveraging your core system?

Well, you might say, “Of course we have a core system.” But just having a core system doesn’t mean that it’s being fully leveraged. The deeper question is this: are you truly engaged with your core processor? Are you keeping up with new software updates, participating in training offered, or are you on autopilot? 

Over time core systems change, grow and evolve, offering benefits to your staff and most importantly to your members in the form of increased efficiencies or cost savings.  In the end you are paying for those features in your monthly invoice, but are you taking advantage of all that your core system has to offer? 

Typically, here’s what happens at the beginning of a new core relationship (in other words a conversion.) Everything is looked at from a macro and micro view. You go through your current capabilities, learn of the capabilities of your new core, and at that point in time you “leverage” your core to provide maximum benefit and you vow to stay on top of keeping it leveraged. But over time, you get behind on reading system updates, thinking you’ll circle back when you have more time. Then you don’t make it to training offered. You don’t attend client conferences. It all just kind of slowly snowballs and before you know it, you are years into the relationship and slowly but surely leaving feature functionality on the table that could be benefitting you and your members. 

While there are a numbers of ways to prevent this lag from happening, here’s one way in particular that I have seen work wonders: Designate a person in your credit union as “the” go to person whose job duties require being responsible for the relationship between the core and the credit union. This Core Captain is the information conduit from the core to your credit union. He or she attends the training and the conferences. He or she also combs through the system updates to ensure the credit union is getting the most out of the core. 

If this sounds all too familiar, but you worry you have fallen too far behind to ever “catch up” don’t worry. If you want an evaluation of how you are using the core compared to what the core has to offer (is it being fully leveraged?), then ask for a system utilization audit or a demo just as if you were a prospect.  Bottom line: take action! It’s your system and you are paying for functionality you may not even be using that would make a difference. It’s like leaving money on the table that’s yours, so why not take it?

Wayne Benson

President & CEO

EPL, Inc.