PENTICTON, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - June 12, 2015) - Over the weekend of June 5-7, First West Credit Union's Valley First division successfully completed a conversion from Fiserv's Acumen banking system to the Wealthview banking system.
The culmination of this multi-year project leaves Valley First with a banking platform that will enable the introduction of new services immediately post-conversion and well into the future.
"No financial institution looks forward to going through a banking system conversion," says First West's CIO Darrell Jaggers. "They're expensive, incredibly complex and, above all, have huge potential to cause a significant amount of member disruption.
"However, when we learned two years ago that our previous platform was being withdrawn from the market we knew we had no choice. Rather than look at this as a negative, we found the silver lining - we had been gifted a perfect chance to build something exceptional."
Drawing on its commitment to Lean-for-Service and innovation, First West used the conversion to Wealthview as an opportunity to standardize and streamline numerous business processes - all in the name of building an even better employee and member experience.
"In every challenge lies opportunity," says Valley First division president Paulette Rennie. "With our conversion we wanted to make sure we weren't just applying a new system, but we were developing a banking platform we'll be able to use to serve members today, tomorrow and in 10 years from now.
"Immediately post-conversion we were able to offer our members more self-service banking options, such as the ability to transfer between Canadian and US dollar accounts online and the ability to make RRSP and TFSA online, too. We've also positioned ourselves for the rapid rollout of a number of newer services like Interac online payments and an enhanced Deposit Anywhere application."
Rennie cites membership opening as a great example of process improvement. As a result of conversion, employees can now open memberships following a smart workflow and using auto-populating online forms. This allows First West's team of financial experts to spend more time helping its members reach their financial goals.
Jaggers says the successful banking system conversion is also further proof of the strength of the First West model. Team members from the Okanagan Valley, throughout the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island all contributed their expertise during the conversion project.
"It takes a tremendous amount of time, people, knowledge and expertise to pull-off any large technology project," says Jaggers. "Seeing our team members from across B.C. come together in-person and virtually and collaborate so well is truly gratifying. Not only did they switch banking systems, they did it all with minimal member impact. A remarkable job!"
About First West Credit Union
First West Credit Union offers members the financial strength, comprehensive product selection and extended branch network of a large financial institution while maintaining local brand identities and a unique grassroots approach to service. Led by Launi Skinner, First West is British Columbia's third-largest credit union with nearly $10 billion in assets, more than 240,000 members and more than 1,700 employees. It operates 53 branches throughout the province under the Envision Financial, Valley First, Enderby & District Financial and Island Savings brands. Visit firstwestcu.ca for more information on First West Credit Union.
Contact Information:
Communications Manager
First West Credit Union, Valley First Division
250-487-7311