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Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union Reaches New Heights Using the UltraData® System





“ Denali,” an Athabascan Indian word meaning“The High One,” was the original name for Mount McKinley, the tallest peak in North America. But, to more than 47,000 members, “ Denali” means Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union (FCU), a 10-branch, Anchorage-based financial institution that’s achieving new levels of service and efficiency through integration.



Denali Alaskan FCU is a long-time Harland Financial Solutions customer, using the UltraData® System since 1986. This institution is also heavy into technology, with hundreds of different products from a variety of third-party vendors. The goal? Making all this valuable technology talk to each other. The solution? Harland Financial Solutions’ Transaction-Exchange solution, part of the overall suite of open strategy solutions offered via the UltraData System. Transaction-Exchange is a server-based solution that processes both financial and data transactions just as if the transaction was performed using the UltraData System’s front end application. This is the most effective way to ensure data accuracy. “We had handled some integration with Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), but these are expensive,” said John Layton, VP of Central Operations for Denali Alaskan FCU. “Prior to Transaction-Exchange, our third-party providers couldn’t connect directly to the UltraData System core database. We could pull information into the system, but it really didn’t write back.”



Denali Alaskan’s first use of Transaction-Exchange involved integrating its signature-based VISA Check Card through MagTek®. “In the past, each time we would custom PIN our VISA Cards, the number had to be manually keyed into the system,” Layton said. “Now, after the card is custom pinned, this information travels directly to our UltraData System and the card becomes active on the ATM platform - saving a tremendous amount of time and manual effort.”



Both John Layton and Matt Wellman, Senior Network Administrator for Denali Alaskan FCU, were impressed with the ease of installing Transaction-Exchange. “All we had to do internally was configure the hardware,” Wellman said. “Transaction-Exchange was up and running in a couple of hours, and the developers handled the rest.”



“The developers had access through a webinar online, creating a demilitarized zone of sorts,” interjected Layton. “Our security was maintained, and we didn’t spend IT overhead on making things work. Matt didn’t have to get here at 4:00 a.m.”



One-Stop-Shopping and One-to-One Marketing

Check card integration is only the beginning of the opportunities Layton sees with Transaction-Exchange. In the future, Denali Alaskan also plans to transition to instant issue VISA Check Cards.



“When a new member joins, we want to be able to immediately hand them a VISA Card, walk them to the ATM, and show them how it works,” said Layton. “We also want to get to a point where a member can walk into our branch, swipe their card and instantly get into the service queue. When the member reaches the teller, their information is on the screen waiting.



“The credit union will also use Transaction-Exchange integration to enable online loan applications and real-time approvals using Teres Solutions TMSAIL® Software, as well as targeted one-to-one marketing. “Obviously, integration gives us a full view of our members, but we can also use our integrated system to market to non-members who use our ATMs using this vehicle to establish the initial rapport,” said Layton. “Let’s say a potential member uses the ATM five or six times a month. The seventh time, we deliver a message that tells him that he spent $14 in ATM fees, informs him that Denali Alaskan members can use the ATM for free, then asks if he’s interested in joining the credit union. If he does, the data is cast back to our outbound call center which builds the relationship from there. “This integration also will create a one-stop-shop over numerous lines of business.



“We own an insurance company and a mortgage origination agency that we plan to integrate into the UltraData core system as part of our future strategy,” said Layton. “A member could come into a branch to do business and request an insurance quote. Instead of sending that member to a different location, we would send the information from the branch to the insurance agency and get a real-time quote, and dote same with the mortgage business.



The information could flow the opposite way as well, enabling the insurance customer at the agency to become a member at the credit union without leaving his or her agent’s office. We are then able to give our member a true one-stop-shopping experience, without additional manual work for our staff. “In the short-term, Denali Alaskan FCU will capitalize on its check card/UltraData System integration by rolling out three different VISA Check Cards at different rates and rewards possibilities - a program that’s currently in the “tweaking” stage - but the long-term opportunities abound. “ Alaska has some of the highest ATM use and point-of-sale transactions and is in the top tier of home banking,” said Layton. “Integrating our systems enables us to offer our members the products and services they want, the way they want, and make our internal operation more efficient in the process.” Now, that’s the height of member service you’d expect from a credit union named Denali Alaskan FCU.