Credit Unions Take Core Conversions Virtual Amid COVID-19 Disruptions

A few short months ago, credit unions with a core conversion on the horizon were faced with a choice: Either reschedule their conversion for late summer, when the threat posed by COVID-19 would ostensibly be mitigated enough for employees and vendors to collaborate more effectively onsite, or attempt to keep the project and its many moving parts going with the help of remote communications tools.

It was a question with no obvious answer. A core conversion – the process by which credit unions update their core systems used to process the transactions involved in day-to-day activities such as ATM withdrawals and online and mobile banking – involves a great deal of planning, and credit unions that opted to proceed with their conversions had to balance those demands against the logistical business hurdles posed by COVID-19.

With pandemic shutdowns still in place throughout many parts of the United States, core conversion projects will likely continue to grapple with significant changes – if not to the work itself, than to the way that work is performed. As conference calls and video chats become the new glue holding credit union and vendor relationships together, empty branch lobbies may grant credit union employees additional time to train on new core systems, even if they have to do it in front of a web camera.

Juggling Core and Corona

In the case of Linn-Co Federal Credit Union (Lebanon, Ore., $129.5 million in assets), the pandemic struck approximately halfway through its ongoing core conversion project with software and technology solutions provider Symitar.

“It was a hectic time. We were trying to make plans for the offices and employees and working on getting our remote workers set up, in addition to the overwhelming tasks of a core conversion,” Karen Vorderstrasse, the credit union’s chief information officer, said.

Linn-Co’s official conversion weekend is still on course for the end of May, but not all credit unions are willing to push full-steam ahead through COVID-19. According to Philip McArdle, director of project management at technology vendor Corelation, a client that was originally scheduled to convert in April requested an additional 30 days to focus on the needs of its staff. Another credit union set to make changes with two core systems in May elected to postpone the start date until late summer in the hopes that team members would be able to work together face-to-face on the conversion site.

“This adjustment to the calendar for two of the 49 conversion projects in flight had no negative impact on other clients in the conversion queue. All other conversions remain on schedule,” McArdle said.

Still, the COVID-related workflow disruptions faced by credit unions have been rippling out to vendors and CUSOs such as Member Driven Technologies (MDT), which is handling Linn-Co’s conversion project. Dan Schneider, vice president of project management and implementations at MDT, indicated that the availability of credit union resources and staff has been a concern, with frequent check-ins emerging as a crucial element of core conversions that are still in progress. Linn-Co’s mock conversion weekend, for example, featured at least an entire day’s worth of meetings held over the phone.

“Ongoing communication is key; we have frequent, regularly scheduled touchpoints to identify any staffing concerns and employ any contingencies necessary to support our clients and keep these projects on track,” Schneider said.

Remote Living

Of course, maintaining that schedule requires credit unions, CUSOs and vendors to navigate key project milestones at the appropriate social distance. But taking workflows remote does not appear to be giving organizations trouble.

Corelation, for example, instituted a mandatory work-from-home policy in mid-March shortly after travel restrictions went into effect. Employees are continuing to use video conferencing technology to walk clients through discovery, mapping, staff training, mock conversions and other conversion project milestones remotely.

“Our goal has been to provide the same level of support as if we were onsite with our clients,” McArdle said.

MDT has also been able to execute conversion-related tasks such as database verification and user acceptance training via online conferencing tools using the same documentation and procedures leveraged under normal circumstances. However, other elements of the conversion process may have been harder to adapt to a remote video conference setting.

Linn-Co, for example, typically relies on an in-person forum when training branch employees on how to engage with members with the new core systems coming into play. “Social distancing has been a challenge in the branches. In-house training was where we really felt the impact,” Vorderstrasse said.

Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, the credit union had established a dedicated training room for employees that is now sitting empty. Fortunately, branch managers had completed their own instruction before social distancing began and have been able to assist other branch employees as they complete their training remotely – possibly under less of a time crunch than they might have faced otherwise.

“Having the lobbies closed during this time has given the employees that are working in the branch more time with the new system than they might’ve had if we were open for regular business,” Vorderstrasse said.

Meanwhile, Corelation is attempting to compensate for the lack of face-to-face time by building more interactive elements – such as pop quizzes – into their video training sessions, which are also being recorded in the event that employees need a refresh somewhere down the line. But since social distancing and other COVID-19 restrictions seem unlikely to become a thing of the past any time soon, vendors and CUSOs may have to continue implementing ways to provide credit unions with ongoing support during their transition.

“We are scheduling working sessions if our clients need additional training for their staff in cases where backup is needed, and since travel days were eliminated we are extending our schedules to provide more time for support,” McArdle said.