COCC

When it comes to selecting a new data processing vendor, most credit unions go through a long drawn out process that normally involves considerable due diligence, a lot of investigative work, and sometimes a bit of rancor among the credit union’s staff over who will be the best choice for a core processor. At Brockton, MA-based HarborOne Credit Union, two of these three statements were true: they closely evaluated three different vendors, and they visited their credit union clients for a first hand look at how they used their system. However, when the time came to make a decision, all fourteen committee members were unanimous in their selection of a preferred vendor: COCC.

That decision was made back in the early 1990s and now both HarborOne and COCC have grown dramatically. For example, HarborOne was known as Brockton Credit Union at that time and had under $400M in assets, now they are a $1.2B institution. As for COCC, they have grown from 94 clients to 140 in the past three years alone by building on their success at providing enterprise processing solutions to community financial institutions since 1967. Richard Bastiansen, Senior Vice President of Operations at HarborOne, confirms that “we have both grown together and it has always been a very successful relationship for us.”

HarborOne has been working with COCC for so many years now that they have actually gone through two separate conversions. The first time they converted from their previous processor to COCC in the early 1990s, and the second time in 2003 to COCC’s state-of-the-art open platform called Insight. Bastiansen emphasizes that “the first conversion was excellent and the second conversion also went really well. COCC has some very talented people on their staff and they are very good at conversions.” In addition to core system conversions, COCC has also helped HarborOne flawlessly migrate to other technology platforms, such as driving their ATMs.

Of course as any experienced credit union executive knows, the conversion is only the first step in a long process. The core system provider, especially one that delivers their solution in an outsourced manner like COCC, must deliver on a day to day basis. “COCC has excellent processes in place and we can always depend on their technical support,” says Bastiansen. As a client-owned organization, COCC is by its very nature close to its clients. In all of its client surveys, COCC has received ratings well into the excellent range. Bastiansen adds that “it is good to know that we have over 310 people at COCC’s headquarters backing up my staff here in our IT Department. Outsourcing through COCC has been by far the best choice for us over the in-house processing option.”

Bastiansen and the other senior managers at the credit union also appreciate the ‘give and take’ nature of their long term relationship with COCC. “They are very cooperative and take suggestions well,” says Bastiansen. He notes that the two have introduced each other to numerous third party vendors and work closely in evaluating and implementing various systems such as patch management, fraud prevention, and many more. In fact, COCC prides itself on carefully selecting nationally recognized leaders in financial systems and technologies, and then integrating them into a powerful ensemble. In Bastiansen’s words “COCC is a soup to nuts vendor and we use most of their products to the maximum.”

As the largest state-chartered community credit union in New England and one of the top 100 in the country, HarborOne Credit Union has a tremendous responsibility to their 90,000+ members. The hundreds of employees at the credit union are thankful that they have the extensive resources of COCC to help them deliver excellent service. “With so many regulatory issues, product enhancements and documentation needs, we really rely on COCC to help us with their expertise and support,” says Bastiansen. Also if the credit union should decide to move into the member business arena, they will be able to draw on COCC’s deep background working with savings and commercial financial institutions. “It has been a true strategic partnership over the years and we look forward to working with COCC into the future,” concludes Bastiansen.