When I began this journey almost 3 months ago, it really was hard to imagine that there was such a thing as bank in a box. Without any back office infrastructure you could start a credit union, it just did not make sense. If you can do this why isn’t there a series of financially savvy entrepreneurs starting their own community-oriented Credit Unions as viable alternatives to the banks? A nationwide connected series of Credit Unions would increase employment and also responsible lending as, unlike big banks, you would actually know both your members and the people you were lending their money too.
Bank in a box was kind of like big foot – everyone had heard about it but no one had seen it. Then, back in January, I met Jim and Geoff and they explained that unlike the big banks, credit unions shared their technology, and that over 100 of them had banded together to build cost effective infrastructure for their brethren. CU Answers, one of these organizations came into being – owned by their Credit Unions. This is not to say they are not a business, only that they are willing to work with you in ways that non credit union companies are not.
So today I learn that CU Answers is for real. I spent the whole day kicking the proverbial tires, and meeting with their senior staff. Bottom line, the services do exist and work. In one shot we can process all transactions, provide bi-lingual customer service, file regulatory filings, automate all account opening and loan forms and support my atm card holders. The CEO even tells me he can support scanning checks and will help with getting our budgeting tool integrated by the time we open. My contribution is to ask Rob, the DIY mortgage guy, to try get a module incorporated that will give people an idea of their likelihood of getting a mortgage before they have to pay their application fee.
Bank in a box, a key step to making this real for us and others to come….