Kony Opens Digital Platform to Level the Playing Field for Credit Unions

In June, the Austin, Texas-based Kony officially launched its Kony DBX, which includes pre-built native and web apps along with a digital banking platform to help credit unions cost-effectively accelerate digital strategies.

“Kony DBX provides a suite of solutions designed to help credit unions compete and level the big-bank playing field when it comes to digital banking solutions,” Jeffery Kendall, SVP of Global Banking & Financial Solutions for Kony, said. The company’s portfolio of more than 125 features and functionalities covers retail banking, onboarding, consumer lending, business banking, CSR tools and banking engagement. “We provide best-in-class, out-of-the-box applications to customers with the flexibility and control of their own roadmap of features.”

Kendall explained these off-the-shelf apps accelerate speed to market and time to value for a credit union at a much lower total cost compared to building apps from scratch. “The platform and apps give credit unions the flexibility to extend, enhance and integrate in ways that drive differentiated experiences for credit union members.”

The Kony DBX platform serves as a digital docking station, and integrates with other providers for solutions such as bill payment, identity management, know your customer systems and fraud prevention tools.

Kendall said, “Kony works closely with our customers to understand their specific digital goals and objectives. We create a comprehensive plan and suite of services to bring world class design resources and development teams to work with the credit union to launch and maintain their app.”

Dawn Brummett, SVP/COO at the $2.08 billion, Oakridge, Tenn.-based ORNL Federal Credit Union, said the credit union’s relationship with Kony is significant. “ORNL FCU is the first credit union that launched Kony’s digital banking platform [in 2015] after ORNL conducted a research study in 2013 and learned that its members wanted more from their digital banking.”

Brummett emphasized this decision was about investing in strategic digital transformation with profound ramifications on member satisfaction, channel efficiency and internal business processes. “We needed a partner who was relevant in the industry, agile and future-minded.”

ORNL President/CEO Colin Anderson said, “Kony was the only digital banking partner that met all of ORNL FCU’s criteria. Our members not only want banking at their fingertips but better service – service they are not getting from the big banks.”

Since the original implementation date, ORNL’s digital banking adoption has tripled. Transactions within the application continue to grow and the adoption of services is also increasing monthly.

In November, ORNL will launch Kony’s DBX. ORNL expects the new platform, which features an updated user interface design, to help deliver a consistent mobile and online banking experience to members. It will also position the credit union for the launch of a new member onboarding and lending platform in 2019.

Brummett maintained digital banking is not a one-time implementation from a strategic focus. “It can’t be implemented and forgotten. The industry is moving too rapidly, and technology and security is advancing far too fast to leave digital in idle mode.”

According to Brummett, Kony DBX’s integration capability is a key competency Kony brought to its mobile relationship with ORNL. “They are able to integrate and communicate with various third parties to support a comprehensive mobile experience.”

Kony allows ORNL to bring in data from Symitar’s Episys (core platform), iPay (bill payment), Payzur (person-to-person payments); PSCU (credit, debit and ATM processing); Alogent (mobile deposit capture), MeridianLink (online loan applications), CO-OP Financial Services (shared ATM network) and Trust Data (account alerts).

According to Brummett, the Kony platform also brings improved member service, a reduction in call center calls and branch traffic, improved efficiency, the ability to customize quickly, increased speed to market for digital enhancements, the ability for members to move seamlessly and access the same functions and features across channels, and the ability to proactively provide members with key account data such as quick balance and payroll posting alerts.

The overall efficiency ratio improved so much that ORNL provided a special $3 million member dividend in October 2018. “This is the first special dividend for ORNL FCU members since 2005,” Brummett noted.

She added, “We continue to view Kony as a key strategic partner for digital insights and development.” Brummett said this includes an online personal financial management tool, which the credit union has already implemented. “We compare our roadmap to Kony’s and make appropriate plans and allocations to ensure we are delivering ongoing enhancement in DBX in alignment with member needs and our strategic focus.”

John Janclaes, president/CEO for the $1.69 billion, Burbank, Calif.-based Partners Federal Credit Union, said his organization began its partnership with Kony as its mobile banking provider in 2015. “We conducted an exhaustive search for a digital banking partner to work with us on our aggressive goals for replacing our four-year-old, inflexible and unresponsive mobile app. Kony really stood out as a company that would help us differentiate.”

The Partners CEO noted Kony offered a portfolio of customizable, omnichannel digital applications. “This allowed us to integrate these apps into our existing platforms, and drive our internal goals and member preferences for digital banking success at our own pace and when we wanted to execute.” He added the flexibility of Kony DBX allowed Partners to directly integrate to out-of-the-box offerings such as its core platform (Symitar) and remote deposit provider (Alogent). In addition, the flexible APIs provided made it relatively easy to tie Kony DBX into other systems.

“The business value we have derived from integrating the Kony platform into our service is apparent everywhere, such as increased adoption rates,” Janclaes said. He also noted efficiency and member satisfaction climbed, and the credit union measured an abandonment rate reduction from 20% to 3%.

Other hard-to-measure benefits Partners observed include improved speed to market, scalability and decreased foot traffic/congestion at branches. “Since launching Kony, we have continued to see strong growth in new digital users. This year alone, we have averaged 718 new digital banking users each month and have seen new users grow 20% year-over-year. Likewise, we’ve also seen strong growth in mobile transaction volume, growing 26% year-over-year,” Janclaes said.

In addition, when Partners looked at core transactions like deposits and payments, it saw strong evidence of the mobile channel’s potential for growth. “Currently, 56.4% of all check deposits at the credit union are done via our mobile banking application and 92% of all payments are done through our digital channels,” Janclaes pointed out.

Partners plans to take full advantage of every innovative feature Kony introduces for the banking industry. The out-of-the-box features align with the requests they receive from members, who Janclaes said are about 10 years younger than the average national credit union member age. In particular, the credit union is considering features such as e-statements, real-time P2P payments, enhanced access to check images, cardless ATMs and digital issuance of debit cards upon account opening.

Some of Kony’s other credit union customers include TDECU ($3.2 billion, Lake Jackson, Texas), PSECU ($5.3 billion, Harrisburg, Penn.), DATCU ($994 million, Corinth, Texas), Charlotte (N.C.) Metro Credit Union ($508 million), Logix Federal Credit Union ($5.8 billion, Burbank, Calif.) and Orange County’s Credit Union ($1.62 billion, Santa Ana, Calif.).

Kony DBX received acceptance from Symitar, a Jack Henry company, for its Vendor Integration Program; and as a Gold Partner by the National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations. The Kony platform has been integrated with dozens of other core processing systems including FIS IBS, Fiserv DNA, Fiserv Premier, Fiserv Signature and Keystone Corelation, Kendall noted. DBX can be hosted on premise in a customer data center or deployed in Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure Cloud. In October, Kony acquired Pivotus, the innovation subsidiary of the Portland, Ore.-based Umpqua Bank.