She added that the concept led the credit union to proactively seek new technology to serve its more than 150,000 members and was the main impetus behind the launch of its new mobile application earlier this year.

ORNL FCU, which has 32 branches, began looking at the evolution of its mobile banking app more than two years ago, Brummett explained. The credit union researched where mobile banking was headed and how it related to financial services, and used those results to determine how to engage its membership through mobile banking.

Brummett said ORNL FCU began the process by generating teams to gain feedback from employees and members. Then, the credit union put together a checklist of desired features and their priority levels.

"Our must-have list was very, very important because it wasn't just your basic features on your mobile applications, they were things we wanted to roll out right away, that really guided us through our selection process," she said.

One of the must-haves was integration with its core banking system, and the credit union looked for a vendor that could deliver that capability. It researched more than 20 different mobile platform vendors, pulled in four for demos and ultimately decided on Kony.

The implementation process began in July 2014 and roll-out took place in March 2015. The process included installing the Kony Mobility Platform – an open, standards-based, integrated platform for mobile app development – and the Kony MobileFabric solution, a mobile middleware service that integrates with core banking systems from providers such as Fiserv, Jack Henry, FIS or Finacle.

"It also provides mobile users with single sign-on access across multiple backend systems, a huge convenience for members," Dave Shirk, president, product and marketing for Kony, said.

"A differentiated mobile banking experience is an absolute necessity for banks to stay competitive; however, many mid-sized banks and credit unions struggle to stay ahead and compete with big banks in this new digital era, because they have traditionally lacked the resources or expertise to innovate in the mobile space," Shirk said.

Shirk said Kony helped ORNL FCU develop personalized mobile banking experiences to attract, engage and retain members, targeted campaigns to drive new revenue streams, and advanced security features to ensure data and transactions are safeguarded.

Among ORNL FCU's new mobile features are remote deposit capture and quick balance, which, after an initial setup, allows members to quickly obtain their balances without logging into the app.

ORNL FCU also worked with Kony to integrate personal financial management software within its mobile banking app, which allows members to view, access and manage all their accounts, even those at outside institutions.

Brummett said the credit union also made sure to include expected features, such as mobile bill pay and the ability to make on-demand transfers and view P2P payments. And, ORNL FCU rolled out all of the features simultaneously.

One especially unique Kony-powered mobile feature is a community event app that highlights local, credit union-sponsored events. The credit union unveiled the app when Dogwood Arts, a community partner that promotes the region's arts, culture and natural beauty, held its annual three-day Rhythm N' Blooms music festival in Knoxville, Tenn. in April 2015. The app contains complete event information including schedules and agendas, plus allows users to purchase tickets. Brummett explained the community app is open to members as well as the public and helps familiarize nonmembers with ORNL FCU.

ORNL FCU prepared staff members to answer questions about the app through dedicated training.

"We are getting wonderful feedback on the features we added in the mobile application," Brummett said. "We consider this to be a very successful rollout because of increased enrollment and utilization by our members."

The credit union has also considered Apple versus Android, and said in its market, it has seen twice as many Android app downloads as Apple downloads.

"Our members not only want banking at their fingertips, they want better service – service they are not getting from the big banks," Brummett said. "With Kony's flexible mobile platform that lets us customize, we are able to provide members with value through convenience, experience and technology."

Brummett suggested the app has given ORNL FCU a competitive advantage.

"We believe that with the new mobile application, through this partnership, we have delivered to our members what they have been asking for," she said. "It's really about empowering members to handle their financial services up to the point they want to handle it by themselves. There is certainly the ability to access us for more complex transactions. This puts the power in the members' hands in a very convenient and member-friendly way."

The credit union is also planning some 2016 enhancements.

"Card management is huge new feature for us," Brummett said, explaining that it allows members to manage their debit and credit cards via the mobile app in the event it is lost or stolen. The credit union also plans to unveil an enhanced alert mode that is available to more members.

"What we found is that Kony had very few limitations related to connecting to our vendor partners, which allowed us to utilize the same partners and deliver the experience we were accustomed to and our members were accustomed to," Brummett said.

Kony recently unveiled its new Kony Mobile Retail Banking Quick Start, a managed services solution that enables credit unions and midsized banks to implement a new, fully functional, personalized mobile app within 100 days.