Dominion Credit Union selects Symitar's Episys

According to Kris Morelli, vice president of Information Technology for Dominion Credit Union, "We had been with our current core provider for more than 20 years. Since we were facing a hardware upgrade, we made the decision to compare the costs of converting to a new core system versus replacing our hardware platform. Early in the review process, we identified a significant number of products and services that would benefit our credit union and our 22,000 members. As our evaluation continued, we also identified the fundamental differences that separate Symitar from the other vendors and Episys from the other core systems we considered. Symitar has a strong business model and cash position, a knowledgeable staff that truly cares about client care, and the proven ability to deliver great service and quality products and ongoing releases. Symitar also has a successful track record converting credit unions off of our long-time core. Episys offers many advanced features that we had hoped for and provides some innovative functionality we are excited to deploy. Another Symitar advantage is that all of our other vendors already have strong relationships with the company or have been waiting for the opportunity to work with Symitar. We also determined the capital costs of the conversion are very reasonable and the recurring costs will be less than staying with our current core system. We submitted our Symitar decision to our board and it was quickly approved. Even with a great conversion team and process, a conversion is a monumental project so we were careful to select a long-term partner and system."

Dominion Credit Union engaged a respected industry consultant to manage its technology evaluation. The fundamental requirements for a new core and vendor were determined and used to make an initial round of vendor eliminations. The final list of vendors responded to comprehensive RFPs followed by detailed product demonstrations and visits with peer credit unions using the respective core systems. Credit union representatives also attended the vendors' client conferences.

According to Ted Bilke, president of Symitar, "One of our fundamental goals is to serve every credit union that makes a Symitar decision as a long-term technology and business partner by providing high quality solutions and service levels that exceed their expectations. We are excited about the opportunity to support Dominion Credit Union's near- and long-term needs with a flexible, feature-rich core system, fully integrated complementary solutions, and open connectivity to the third-party solutions this credit union elects to implement. We are confident an Episys-based technology platform will help this credit union support its evolving business strategy and respond to new growth opportunities and industry trends, dynamic member and market demands, and specific operational issues."