Community banks are being crushed under the roadmaps of their core providers
September 24, 2019

Crushed by the Core: Community Banks Need A New Path to Better Customer Experiences

by Dawn Kuczwara in Banking Core Integration , Digital Transformation 0 comments

Recently, the Wall Street Journal wrote a piece on the challenges that community banks face using a core banking technology provider. Frustrated with the speed and service of “the core” – as these providers are known by financial institutions (FIs) – community banks and credit unions, are looking for alternatives that will help them meet the increasing demands for better customer experience, innovative product offerings, and lower costs.

The WSJ article resonated with the Digital Transformation team here at ModusBox. The stories from the banks in the article sounded eerily similar to what we’ve heard from our own FI clients. Integrations with the core are difficult to make, services offered are controlled by the needs of the many, and the costs are high limiting the ability of the FI’s to make business decisions.

But as many FIs will tell you – including those we’ve worked with – most community banks don’t have the expertise in-house to go a different direction. Or they have skilled IT teams, but those teams are burdened with day-to-day tasks and projects that keep the lights on, speaking from a technical perspective. These teams don’t have the time to invent a fire truck, because they are too busy putting out fires with buckets.

We’ve been fortunate to work with great IT teams at banks like Sound Credit Union and Stockman Bank, among others, and help them discover that the core isn’t their only option. 

Stockman Bank found their way out from under “platform creep”.

Sound Credit Union found ways to save millions and increase visibility across the organization.

It’s important for community banks and credit unions understand what they are up against, and more important for them to understand that there’s a solution. In our latest whitepaper, When the Banking Core Falls Short, we lay out the real challenges community banks must overcome and how open banking will help them do that – without being shackled to someone else’s roadmap.

Interested in learning more about how ModusBox can help your financial institution accelerate innovation and find new markets? We’d love to talk to you!


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