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In late April, a mid-sized credit union serving counties in the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area launched a new digital banking platform. Within three weeks, the credit union's desktop platform and mobile app saw an impressive adoption rate of more than 50% by retail members and business banking members.
UNCLE Credit Union, headquartered in Livermore, Calif. ($599.6 million in assets, nearly 30,000 members), has witnessed some remarkable numbers after it switched to Alkami Technology, Inc.'s digital banking platform. The digital banking partnership with the Plano, Texas-based Alkami, has provided a new, fast, secure and extensive banking system for UNCLE members.
"Our priority was to provide an innovative solution that would make it simple and convenient for members to take care of everyday banking needs, but would also give them a powerful tool for better management of their overall financial lives and well-being," Dean Lam, vice president of UNCLE's digital banking division, said.
Of note, UNCLE's digital banking division was created just last year.
Alkami's unified interface allows members to synchronize all of UNCLE's banking abilities across desktop and mobile devices.
"Along with an intuitive interface, the new platform offers members important insight into their complete financial health, and helps them to improve decision-making and planning for a brighter outlook," Lam said.
According to a statement from UNCLE's chief technology officer, James Fisher, the credit union doesn't appear to be done investing in new technical abilities.
"An ongoing investment in advanced technologies is imperative for any financial cooperative in the current economic climate, and it has been an integral part of both our growth strategy, and our focus on outstanding service."
Fisher continued, "With the upgrade, we are providing a state-of-the-art digital banking platform that is not only efficient and easy for our members to use, but can seamlessly integrate third-party applications to support the new products and services our members want. Moreover, its highly scalable architecture will allow for improved efficiencies as our user base and membership continue to grow."
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
