2015 in review: An open letter from EPL’s CEO

The start of a new year affords me two unique opportunities—a chance to reflect in earnest on the successes and failures over the course of the past year, and to affirm strategic goals and areas of focus moving forward.

As easy as it is to get caught up in day-to-day issues, it’s imperative that we, as a team, take a step back and look at the big picture—to piece together the puzzle and appreciate where we stand today in comparison to one year ago. With great confidence, I can say that, to me, 2015 represented 365 days of unprecedented forward movement, growth and visibility for EPL, its customers and its industry partners.

2015 was the year that Dedagroup ICT network entered the U.S. market and identified our company as its first partner by making a multimillion dollar investment in our team. The effects of this have been overwhelmingly positive, providing our team with technological and capital resources that have propelled us from being a relatively small core solutions provider to an industry disruptor that is part of a global brand generating over $3 billion in gross revenue. EPL’s people have always been the driving force behind the successes we’ve enjoyed, and now our team is equipped better than ever to dominate the competition and capture significant new market share. 

EPL’s reputation for exceptional service is rooted in our brand’s identity—customers know it, and so do our competitors. That fact that 2015 marked the return of a former long-time customer, North Alabama Educators Credit Union (NAECU), speaks volumes about the incredible value we create by delivering industry-leading service and solutions. Customers like NAECU who have experienced the EPL difference find that big-box providers simply aren’t equipped to provide the responsiveness and attention that we give our customers every single day.

The warmth of the summer brought a contagious momentum that perforated the room at our 2015 Customer Conference in Orlando, Fla., where we introduced our Dedagroup partners and unveiled EPL’s new direction. We gathered feedback, socialized and together looked toward the future. As we reconvened in the fall at our Product Advisory Team meeting to finalize our new product roadmap, it became clear to me that this palpable momentum had not waivered, but instead gathered steam.

And gather steam we did! Soon after the Product Advisory Team meeting, a strategic partnership with the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions was announced to develop CU Impact, a  core banking platform designed to scale the delivery of innovative products and services offered by credit unions operating in low-income and underserved communities. Throughout 2015, our skilled team was able to  develop new proprietary solutions and deliver 12 releases, including four major product releases for i-POWER®, with areas of focus in accounts payable and lending, as well compliance, security and technology enhancements.

Also, in the fall, our team was thrilled to announce that EPL’s board approved a measure to eliminate the TRiP charge from our customers’ invoices, saving the collective group approximately $1 million per year. TRiP highlighted six specific areas of technology development—security, client platform support, application architecture, database and database architecture, integration services, and hardware and operations—and many key milestones have already been reached. EPL’s continued focus on technology development will ensure the long-term sustainability and viability of i-POWER®.

Internally, we recalibrated our leadership hierarchy, assigning new roles and responsibilities designed to increase growth through an intensified concentration on product and business development. With open arms, the EPL team welcomed our Dedagroup NA colleagues and their wealth of expertise into our offices as additional resources to help us achieve the strategic goals set forth by our Product Advisory Team. The progress we’ve made thus far led us to a consensus that in 2016, in lieu of holding our annual Customer Conference, we will double down on our Product Advisory Team meetings and initiatives, incorporating regional meetings as requested.

Looking back over these tremendous accomplishments, it would not be a stretch to say that perhaps 2015 was our best year to-date. What I can say with certainty is that this past year was only a glimmer of what is to come for our team and our partners at Dedagoup NA.

2016 will see the integration of a real-time general ledger, a new in-house credit card module, improved batch credit card interfaces, new relationship pricing functionality and a few other exciting surprises for our loyal customers.

I’ll leave you with this—none of this would have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our entire team.

Together we solve problems, develop innovative solutions, support one another’s creativity and out-of-the-box thinking, and constantly challenge the status quo. Ordinary efforts don’t produce extraordinary results, and it’s evident to me that nothing about EPL is ordinary. So today, I express my sincerest gratitude to each member of the EPL team for your tremendous efforts, and to each of our customers and partners for traveling the road to greatness with us. I assure you the best is yet to come.



EPL Staff

EPL, Inc. 

New Year, New Core

With the New Year comes new resolutions, intended to improve a variety of aspects of life in one way or another. While many associate New Year’s resolutions with the promise to live a healthier lifestyle or drop a bad habit, business owners tend to strive for less cliché goals intended to create long-lasting, positive effects for their company. These may include streamlining operations or achieving strategic growth goals. For credit unions, one such resolution should be to determine if it is the right time to integrate a new core solution and then to take action. 

A reoccurring phenomenon among credit unions is many never think the time is right to begin the process of conversion—so, what better time to make a move than with the start of a new year? Optimizing core functionality can be a key differentiator as you work to hit 2016 growth goals and reach benchmarks in your long-term strategic business plan. This process should be looked at as a solution—an opportunity to improve technology and service offerings, thereby improving the overall member experience for your credit union. To guarantee this process is seamless, you need to ensure both the core and the core provider are the right fit for your credit union, as a one-size-fits-all approach tends to generate inferior results and dissatisfaction.

To effectively begin the process, one of your credit union’s Q1 2016 goals must be to identify your specific needs. Whether your credit union is outpacing its current technology platform or your core provider’s service is lackluster, the motivators that are driving you to make a switch need to be noted and highlighted in your selection process for a new solution. For providers to work collaboratively with credit unions to generate an ideal solution, they must be able to identify how their core can meet the criteria you’ve outlined in your internal technology assessment. A tailored approach by a company that understands your credit union’s needs is a vital component to a successful conversion and leads to achieving your long-term objectives.

As our CEO, Wayne Benson, noted in a recent article in CUToday, “One of the most important questions your credit union must ask, and in turn core providers must answer, is what can we do to streamline the process? There are numerous considerations at play: data protection, compliance and regulatory issues, third party integrations, staff and member experience, customer service, and of course—architectural changes. A provider must factor in these and other variables to ensure inoperability issues are addressed, not created—an unfortunate byproduct of poor customer-vendor communication.”

The key in this process, and in your decision to convert in 2016, is to preserve the mindset of acting proactively rather than reactively. Changing in preparation for shifting member demand and technological evolution is a much more comfortable proposition than changing because one no longer has a choice. Innovation within the financial industry is already happening and will continue to improve, so don’t let the fear of change put you at the back of the pack.  

Cheers to a Happy New Year full of success and growth!


Robin Kolvek

Senior VP of Business Development

EPL, Inc.

EPL goes global, stays personal

It’s no secret that credit unions are in a constant battle to meet the rising demands facing the industry today – increased regulation, higher costs, competitive pressure, succession plans – the list goes on. What is particularly troublesome is that every market forecast ultimately yields the same results: membership is projected to increase, while the actual number of credit unions remains on a steady decline. How do credit unions keep pace with the ever-changing industry? Simple - by maintaining the personalized, high-level of service that credit union members have come to expect as they continue to move away from the big banks in droves. The CUSO’s that empower credit unions to deliver first-rate member service are an integral part of the growth of the credit union movement worldwide, and, not surprisingly, must also fight to stay competitive with each other as the technology landscape rapidly evolves.

EPL, Inc. (EPL) is one such credit union service organization. Founded in Birmingham, Ala., in 1977, EPL offers industry-leading core software and technology solutions to credit unions of all sizes with a unique, competitive kicker: It focuses on providing credit unions the same personalized service that their members expect from them. EPL’s industry position today is one of strength and fortitude, following a significant investment from the Italian IT services firm, Dedagroup NA, earlier this year. But it was not always so, as EPL was not immune to the biggest challenge facing many credit unions and CUSOs today: the market itself.

Let’s rewind for a moment. The premise behind EPL’s formation was to ensure that credit unions had a technology and software solutions company to meet their needs, and over the years, that has always been the case. From the beginning, the “service” aspect of doing business was at the forefront of each endeavor EPL took on, whether it was developing one of the first real-time processing systems in the 1970’s, or helping pioneer shared branching across different regions, or helping credit unions embrace an open-architecture system to better support member-driven strategies on a cost-effective basis. Being an early innovator, EPL was never a stranger to accomplishing more with less – a staple of pride for its founders over the past several decades.

Many industry competitors found capital investment for growth from financial institutions; EPL went a different direction – its customers. By allowing its customers to become shareholders, EPL further strengthened the bond that built its business in the first place: deep relationships. Those relationships yielded courageous and risky innovations. The decision to build i-POWER®, EPL’s core connection suite, was not an easy one and involved a significant investment of both time and money. This intense drive to create a well-resourced organization that could serve as a viable alternative to big box providers continues today. To ensure and improve its future market position, EPL began the process of seeking out an industry partner – a partner that not only shared its values of superior customer service, but also one that believed innovation to be the foundation on which highly successful companies are built.

Enter Dedagroup NA.

While EPL is still credit union-owned, Dedagroup NA, the North American subsidiary of the Italian IT services group, Dedagroup ICT Network, made a multimillion dollar investment – a 70 percent stake – early in 2015. Dedagroup NA not only brought shared values and capital assets to EPL, but also over 40 years’ experience serving financial cooperatives in Italy, Europe, and most recently, Mexico. This new global perspective has allowed EPL to continue to do what it does best: serve its customers through constant innovation.

What does constant innovation look like for a CUSO like EPL? Think expanded proprietary solutions. Think strategic partnerships with premier, best-in-class business partners. Think a cloud-based datacenter structure and real-time solutions. Think access to global technology assets that further strengthen EPL’s already industry-leading core engine, i-POWER®. Lastly, think about connections – customer and member connections driven through data and, most importantly, human interactions.

EPL’s new global perspective has also created a palpable buzz among credit unions nationwide, and already resulted in the return of former longtime customer, North Alabama Educators Credit Union (NAECU). Credit unions like NAECU are excited about EPL’s newfound market position and evolving software and technology solutions, but the foundation upon which EPL was built is its ultimate selling point: EPL takes its relationships with customers very seriously.

EPL’s latest move to keep customers involved in the innovation process is the development of its Product Advisory Team. Since its inception, EPL’s customers have been an integral aspect of the product feedback loop, helping develop new strategies and solutions to enhance the member experience. The recently formed Product Advisory Team will assist EPL in creating solutions that credit unions not only want, but desperately need to stay competitive in the marketplace.

As the credit union industry ebbs and flows, twists and turns, flies and dives, remember – there is a reason that hardworking Americans are turning away from big financial institutions in favor of the credit union movement: the experience. The experience of first-rate service. The experience of being part of something greater than oneself. The experience of knowing that any issue had will be met with the resolve of a real person. The commitment to a first-class experience that credit unions make to their members should be reflected in the partnerships that it forges to deliver on that promise. This demand for excellence will not only help CUSO’s like EPL stay competitive, but also help credit unions of all sizes continue to evolve in a marketplace that knows growth as well as it knows volatility.

EPL Staff

EPL, Inc. 

Mirror mirror on the wall... who are the best member of them all?

Many of our credit unions have "Member Growth" as a core objective ... which is great!  But, I'd like to make one MINOR edit.  Change that objective to:

Growth of THE RIGHT Member.

When you are focusing on the RIGHT member, your universe shrinks and you can become more efficient with your budget.  As a marketer, I would rather report to the Board that we grew our member base with slightly fewer productive and profitable folks than tons of "riff-raff" (using technical, professional vernacular).

You can acquire the very best prospects through mirror modeling.  Focus your efforts on those people who "look like" your current best members.

Identify Your Very Best Members
Pretend, for a minute, that you could take one of your members and stick them in a Xerox machine.  Who would you pick?  Someone with the highest deposits?  The most impressive loan balances?  The most services per household?  Would they have checking?  Would they religiously use their debit card? With i-KNOW, we can even track profitability.

Your answer may be different than the credit union's down the street or the community bank from across town.  You need to define exactly what kind of member you want.

Once you've identified them, pull an address file of every one of your current members who meet the criteria.

Birds of a Feather
Think of your neighborhood.  I'll bet most of your neighbors look a bit like you.  Maybe it's an area with a gaggle of young families with kids.  Or it's a flock of empty nesters.  The socio-economic law of averages says that birds of a feather tend to flock together.  And this can be a powerful tool for targeting.

By defining a narrow target and geo-focusing your marketing efforts to those zip+4s with the highest concentration of your best members, you'll have a significantly better strategic effort than if you simply target those who live within 1-2 miles of your branch network.

You can also have a message with a laser focus.  Understand your best members: What are their pain points?  Why did they choose you?  Why do they stay with you?  What life stages are they living through? What products are they most likely to have?  How are they most likely to use them?  Once you understand your best members, you'll better understand how to communicate to your most desired prospects: What products they are most likely to need with you.  How they are most likely to use them.  What their key purchase criteria is.

With a little upfront homework and a mirror modeling strategy, you can retain your best members through better understanding, you'll know where they live to find more of them and you'll know how to talk to them.  That is a powerful marketing formula that will make you the "fairest of them all."

Eric Gagliano

Marketing

EPL, Inc.