Trellance Creates CUSO Powerhouse

The Tampa, Fla.-based analytics and consulting organization Trellance demonstrated its mission to provide new resources, expertise and execution capabilities to credit unions with its acquisition of the Plymouth, Minn.-based data consulting company OnApproach in February.

The business move transformed a powerful couple of CUSOs into a new, laser-focused credit union analytics provider.

“We continue to recognize the importance of data analytics in providing insights to drive results today and into the future. With this acquisition, Trellance in conjunction with OnApproach will allow credit unions to use real-time data to increase efficiencies, manage risks and enrich relationships with their members,” Trellance President/CEO Tom Davis said.

A board of directors and leadership team, headed by Davis, also includes OnApproach CEO Paul Ablack, who remained on board to direct the product development of M360 Enterprise, an analytic data-model solution that allows credit unions to integrate all data into a single source, for the combined companies.

The merger, according to Ablack, propelled analytics adoption for the credit union industry, which must always compete with larger financial institutions to remain current with the latest trends and technologies. Ablack said in a statement, “By combining forces with another reputable CUSO, we are proud to continue empowering credit unions with the tools and data required to properly serve members and grow their businesses.”

What is the significance of the acquisition of OnApproach in terms of data analytics? “There is no doubt that data analytics is driving the future of financial services, and we want to add value to our offerings by arming credit unions with the right solutions to compete effectively,” Davis held.

The Trellance president/CEO explained OnApproach’s analytics aligned well with its existing services and vision to equip credit unions with the intelligence, insight and foresight needed to drive member experience, member growth and operational efficiencies. “The M360 platform brings the technology and scalability to large and small credit unions, while Trellance brings the resources and reach to help credit unions use the technology to harness the true power of business intelligence.”

There’s no doubt the role of data analytics is growing and developing at credit unions. “We have seen some credit union pioneers using data analytics to create targeted loyalty programs, identify most valuable members, optimize branch analytics and run credit line increase programs. That is just the tip of the iceberg,” Davis noted.

Davis also explained credit unions will begin to combine member data with external data for predictive analytics. Additionally, current expected credit loss requirements is driving some credit unions to start collecting data now to meet future financial reporting requirements. “Credit unions will be using data analytics to stem member attrition and offer ‘next best product’ recommendations to their members,” he said.

The incorporation of the M360 Enterprise to help credit union clients is a fundamental emphasis of the new enterprise. “Now that Trellance and OnApproach have joined forces, we can help credit unions make better, data-rich decisions by combining our resources and distribution with the technology of OnApproach’s M360 platform,” Davis said, adding the companies recognize credit unions need to implement business intelligence. “We could not provide that as fast separately as we can now, together – faster than any other CUSO in the market today.”

The M360 Enterprise’s design allows it to integrate all credit union data from various sources regardless of the system they use. This gives them full access to their data as well as a collaborative environment to share reports and applications, benchmark pool data and more, Davis noted. “We also recognize that credit unions are not homogenous – how they approach data analytics varies − and we have different delivery models to meet these divergent needs.”

Trellance also expected some credit unions would have their own data scientists or data analysts, and may just want a self-service model to access their reports and dashboards directly within the platform.

Other credit unions may want to work in partnership with experienced professionals who can handle the heavy lifting on their behalf. For this group, Trellance offers a managed services model. “And there’s an option in the middle, for credit unions that may want to develop and own the reporting and targeting of their auto loan portfolio, but want to outsource another area of their business – for example, the management of their card portfolio,” Davis said.

Trellance has come a long way in a short time. In December 2017, the Tampa-based CUSO CSCU took the wraps off its new business, Trellance, to focus on offering innovative ideas, programs and services to help credit unions grow and compete.

Shortly after the Trellance announcement, the payments processor CSCU became divested, forming two separate businesses. CSCU’s Optimize card growth solution and thought leadership initiative, The Payments Review, moved under the Trellance umbrella.

CSCU introduced the Optimize portfolio of solutions in 2016 to address the needs of credit unions facing the fast-paced, dynamic payments industry. Under the Trellance brand, the company continued to offer programmatic and customized marketing campaigns to help credit unions engage members, which were managed entirely by Trellance from development to implementation on behalf of the participating credit union.

Trellance’s creation aimed to provide solutions to members faced with the challenge of accessing quality talent and expertise to implement new strategies. “The name Trellance is inspired by the interlocking strength and support of a garden trellis, representing the structure and solutions we provide to help credit unions thrive,” Davis said at the time.

In October 2018, Trellance announced the acquisition of IronSafe, a Naperville, Ill.-based software company. IronSafe offered an analytics solution that can extract data from any card processor’s report structures (such as banking core system and card processor reports) into database structures for download to CSV, analytical viewing, key performance dashboards, fraud analysis or to populate data warehouse schemes. Some of its functionalities were already in use by over 2,300 credit unions. Trellance will benefit from the expertise of the IronSafe staff and powerful dashboards helping credit unions integrate data from different sources.

Services provided by Trellance include the following:

• Card payments consulting services to help credit unions discover an insight-driven path to growth through analysis, benchmarking and best practices.
• Card portfolio growth solutions, which are implementation-ready to help credit unions maximize their credit card portfolios.
• Credit line increase programs, which aim to increase the credit lines of eligible members to not only give them more purchasing power but improve their card utilization ratios; this can help increase their credit scores.
• A dedicated consultant program, which provides an unbiased advocate working closely to become a part of organizations to identify opportunities and offer strategies driving the growth of payments portfolios.
• IronSafe, which extracts and transforms any report file type from any source system into usable database structures, automatically allowing users to quickly analyze and visualize their report data.
• Operational consulting, which provides credit unions with the insight and tactics needed to further strengthen their stance in the market by ensuring payment cards operate efficiently.
• The Payments Academy, which offers comprehensive training on the latest in payments and tactics to grow credit union debit and credit portfolios. Trellance offers courses for credit union professionals on a variety of relevant payments topics, led by experienced industry leaders.
• Vendor evaluation services, which are offered because while core, digital and payments processing vendor partnerships are vitally important to credit union success and the satisfaction of members, they are complex to manage.