Thanks for the Oct. 15 article, "Firms Circle Credit Unions in Growing Core Space." I agree that among our peer credit unions, core conversion is the main item on the business plan. SAFE Credit Union will begin our search process this year and convert during the two-year period following our vendor selection. We have been on the same core for more than 35 years.

The SUMMIT data processing system has grown with SAFE from about $80 million in assets to over $2 billion in assets. I agree with you that all of the core vendors want to be our core vendor. It is a big ticket item! And, that is an interesting story by itself. But there is far more significance to a core conversion.

In 1977, when we converted to SUMMIT (ATA was the name at that time), SAFE wanted a computer system that allowed it to compete with other financial institutions. Our main competitive advantage was price, followed by workplace convenience (direct deposit being the main advantage).The business has changed since then.