Freedom saw a 78% increase in Account-to-Account (A2A) transfers with real-time posting to the Symitar core and configurable A2A limits for member segments.
Now, Freedom boasts intuitive and discoverable mobile banking for members, surfacing previously hidden functionality with an API integration to Twilio to send SMS and email notifications to members.
Through implementing native messaging capabilities, Freedom employees can quickly and efficiently respond to member requests.
With its previous digital banking provider, Freedom Credit Union was restricted by limited functionality and bare administrative capabilities. They could no longer effectively support their 70,000+ members. To keep up with a growing member base and ever-evolving needs, Freedom needed a partner who could make mobile-first digital banking a central focus of its strategy.
Narmi’s extensive experience with Symitar Episys core integrations and mobile-first design helped Freedom Credit Union deliver a robust digital banking experience that strengthened both existing and new member relationships.
To ensure a smooth transition to a new digital banking platform, Freedom Credit Union needed a partner with extensive integration experience with Jack Henry’s Symitar Episys core. A best-in-class integration was critical to ensure the best member experience possible while keeping back office processes seamless.
Narmi integrated with the Episys core using Symitar’s latest open API platform, SymXchange, over the legacy platform SymConnect. Leveraging this modern API architecture allowed Freedom Credit Union to account for Symitar downtime and nightly processing, and avoid any member-facing downtime when the core was down.
1. 78% increase in Account-to-Account (A2A) transfers with real-time posting to the Symitar core and configurable A2A limits for member segments.
2. All records written in real-time to SymXchange, allowing an approved applicant to instantly access their account
3. Provided members with a comprehensive view of all their primary and joint accounts, comparable to the "Episys 360 View."
4. Narmi integrated Freedom’s external loan records so members could access their loan information within online and mobile banking.
With Freedom’s previous digital banking provider, features available through the online experience were either hidden or unavailable within mobile banking. Members became increasingly frustrated with this disjointed mobile and online banking experience – frustrations that grew as they found themselves needing more digital-first banking functionality. Unable to keep up with member needs, Freedom risked losing long-term account holders to fierce competition.
Freedom Credit Union needed a digital provider with an open platform that could deliver consistent omnichannel user experiences, and allow them to integrate and build the custom functionality their members expect, both now and in the future.
Freedom Credit Union chose Narmi to deliver a seamless, omnichannel digital banking experience focused on mobile and custom functionality. With Narmi’s deep understanding of user-centric design and extensive experience with iOS and Android app development, Freedom was given the confidence to deliver a digital banking experience rich in functionality with complete feature parity across platforms and devices.
1. Intuitive and discoverable mobile banking for members, surfacing previously hidden functionality
2. Ability to promote new services and security features such as biometrics and two-factor authentication
3. API-powered integration with Twilio to enable Freedom Credit Union to send SMS and email notifications to members
4. With the Narmi Application Framework (NAF), Freedom was able to integrate and deploy new functionality within days allowing members to easily view their loan application status and FICO credit score
Freedom's support center did not have the proper permissions to effectively serve members without continuous involvement from their previous digital provider. This lack of autonomy resulted in an increase in support call volume and higher-than-usual wait times to resolve member requests. Members were growing frustrated having to be put on hold, and support agents on the other end of the line were becoming overburdened with the increasing number of requests.
Through Narmi's intuitive admin platform, Freedom gained the ability to create and manage role-based access – ensuring support center employees had the proper permissions needed to control the digital banking platform, generate reports, and support members autonomously. Along with greater institutional controls, the Narmi admin platform improved Freedom’s ability to quickly serve members with native secure messaging, user emulation, and a 360-degree view of member activity through comprehensive activity logs.
By eliminating reliance on Narmi for these controls, call center volume was significantly reduced, and member questions were resolved entirely digitally in real-time.
1. Implementing native messaging capabilities ensured Freedom employees could quickly and efficiently respond to member requests
2. Improved ability to assign messages to specific departments
3. Real-time emulation implemented to give support employees more transparency into what members see and experience
As member expectations for digital-first solutions started rapidly evolving, Freedom Credit Union realized its existing online account opening experience could not keep up. Their existing account opening process was outdated and cumbersome, resulting in high abandonment rates and struggles to gain new members. Freedom needed a provider that could modernize and streamline its lengthy digital account opening process – all while ensuring the highest level of compliance and risk mitigation.
With Narmi’s digital account opening platform, Freedom applicants could now be decisioned, fully-funded, and booked to the Episys core in 2 minutes and 13 seconds. By identifying the friction points that led to abandonment, Narmi was able to optimize each step of the account opening process to maximize conversion rates.
1. Enabled customizable account selection – presenting new members with recommended products, the ability to customize their own product selection, and the ability to open multiple accounts at once.
2. Added the ability for new Freedom CU members to initially fund with a debit/credit card or transfer from an external bank account, resulting in 100% account funding for new accounts
3. Helped Freedom successfully transition to a non-document based verification process
To grow and maintain its member base, Freedom — like most financial institutions — had limited options. It could have spent large amounts of money on social, print, web, and physical advertising, but was not confident this would result in a high return on investment. Freedom needed a digital banking provider that could help drive organic growth with a cost-effective member acquisition strategy.
By understanding existing members are the most effective advocates and trusted channels for acquiring new ones, Narmi partnered with Freedom to launch sophisticated and fully automated refer-a-member functionality which took less than three minutes from member-to-member. Leveraging both Narmi’s digital banking and digital account opening platforms, Freedom was able to use referral marketing to drive organic member growth, all included within the platform.
1. A combination of member segmentation and real-time posting to Symitar Episys enabled Freedom to offer immediate availability of funds to less risky members.
2. Added the ability to manage and adjust RDC deposit limits by member segments.
3. With configurable Account-to-Account (A2A) transfer limits for member segments, Freedom saw a 78% increase in A2A transfers.
GAFCU wanted to offer CDs in the CAO platform but didn’t want to have to manually send CD receipts every time an account was opened. This labor-intensive method inhibited staff from capitalizing on a channel crucial for deposit growth. Narmi's platform customizations provided a solution: automated delivery of personalized CD receipts to each account holder via email.
Asset Size: $300M
Location: Paramus, NJ
Products: Consumer Digital Banking, Digital Account Opening
GAFCU encountered difficulties promoting additional product offerings, particularly with their CD accounts. They came to Narmi for a solution that could help them effectively cross-sell their CD products.
Narmi's platform customization streamlines operations for GAFCU’s staff, and will enable GAFCU to significantly reduce manual efforts spent on tracking and sending CD receipts.
Grasshopper’s support team historically used Zendesk to manage their client support operations. However, ensuring client conversations on the Narmi support portal remained consistent with the conversations on Zendesk took valuable time away from their support team. Using Narmi’s platform customizations, Narmi built a full integration between Zendesk and the Narmi support portal, saving Grasshopper’s support team over 30 hours each week on manual tasks.
Asset Size: $820MM
Location: New York, NY
Products: Business Digital Banking
Grasshopper recognized the need to optimize their workflow by automating the connection between Zendesk and the Narmi messaging platform. This desire stemmed from a commitment to enhance operational efficiency and streamline processes.
Through this integration, Grasshopper can take full advantage of their existing tech stack. Reclaiming the 30 hours it took to copy messages from Zendesk to the Narmi platform allows Grasshopper’s support team to redirect their focus towards high-impact initiatives and delivering exceptional client experiences.
UFCU’s team was experiencing a high volume of applications that needed to be manually flagged, and they wanted to incorporate a tool into their risk management stack that could help relieve that burden. In partnership with Narmi, UFCU adopted NeuroID to automatically flag and decision for risky applications and send staff notifications when there are incidences of fraudulent activity. Now, UFCU’s staff can sit back and relax knowing that NeuroID is automatically decisioning on those risky applications, even when there’s a fraud attack.
“There were 33 applications that were declined outright on Sunday when otherwise it would have gone to Review or Accepted. This addresses Synthetic fraud which is difficult to track.”
- Russell Shugart
Asset Size: $4.5B
Location: Austin, TX
Products: Consumer Account Opening
UFCU was experiencing fraudulent applications moving to “review” or “approved” status. These applications required constant manual review, causing their staff to be bogged down and overwhelmed when there was a fraud attack.
With NeuroID catching risky applications and automatically decisioning them, UFCU’s staff saves hours every week. In the short time since implementation, Russell calculated that NeuroID saves more than 40 hours a month in manual review time and helps UFCU avoid charge-offs averaging $400 per fraudulent account. With Narmi’s close integration with NeuroID, UFCU can more reliably trust application decisions, giving them a safety net when experiencing intense fraud attacks.
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