ICUL Service Corporation, a subsidiary of the Illinois Credit Union League and one of the nation’s leading credit union service organizations, announces its recent partnership with Tennessee-based CU Mobile Apps, a rapidly-growing provider of progressive mobile banking solutions.
The agreement was recently finalized and made public by George W. Fiegle, Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer of ICUL Service Corp, which serves nearly 3,000 of the nation’s 7,000 credit unions, in coordination with 42 state leagues and CUNA Strategic Solutions. The decision to partner with CU Mobile Apps is expected to materially support and enhance the mission of ICUL Service Corporation, which is to help credit unions compete, says Fiegle. “We do so by providing them with tools in the form of products and solutions that enable them to compete for their members’ business and enrich their financial lives."
"Including mobile apps capabilities in that tool chest of offerings will not only provide greater flexibility and convenience to our client credit unions, but will also help them expand their appeal to a younger market segment that has traditionally been less accessible to our industry,” added Fiegle.
Increasingly tech savvy consumers expect to control shopping, entertainment, and banking functions from their iPhones and other mobile devices; consequently, mobile apps are being downloaded by the billions: to date, users have downloaded 8.8 billion apps from the Android App store, more than 25 billion apps from the Apple Apps store, and according to technology research expert Gartner, Inc., by 2014 annual downloads of mobile applications from app stores will surpass 70 billion.
In response, ICUL Service Corp began searching several years ago for a mobile solution to meet the needs of credit unions, said Fiegle. “We were not willing to deliver something that was less than an ideal fit for our credit unions, so we’re delighted that we found CU Mobile Apps! Their product is very reasonably priced, the links are already in place, it’s highly customizable, implementation is quick—and they have an excellent understanding of the industry’s needs. “
Another aspect of the partnership that appealed to us is the potential for building mobile applications into our existing products, especially our reloadable prepaid debit product, where we are already the industry leader,” Fiegle pointed out.
Since their introduction in 2005, ICUL Service Corp’s hugely popular prepaid debit card products have been embraced by more than 2,000 of their credit union customers within the 42 state leagues they recognize as partners. “Our society is thriving on mobility,” agrees Rick Hargis, owner-partner of Member Service Solutions (MSS), a provider of insurance and financial solutions for credit unions and financial institutions, who offers the CU Mobile Apps product.
“We were honored to be chosen as an ICUL Service Corp partner. As mobile technology continues to evolve, we look forward to a long-term partnership with them for many years to come.”
In recent months, the groundbreaking financial app for smartphone users has been making waves, fuelling growth, and garnering increased member satisfaction and profits for a growing number of credit union subscribers to the service, reports MSS partner Tom Gray, a trainer, consultant, and creator of tailored profitability solutions for client companies nationwide. “Due to the widespread popularity of smartphones—which are normally regarded as essential to their owners and always carried on their person or within easy reach—an efficient and versatile mobile app allows credit unions to reach their members virtually 24 hours a day with messages they won’t miss,” Gray points out.
What gives the CU Mobile Apps product its unique edge in the exploding app market, however, says Hargis, is a combination of advantages: “It’s fast, flexible, multi-talented, affordable, user-friendly—and it lives up to its promises.”
The product’s unique “App Engine” platform works with both iPhones and Android devices, including iPod Touch and iPad, as well as Android Mobile, Android Tablet, and Kindle Fire devices. Its future-forward design allows it to seamlessly accept and integrate newer technologies as they become available, without costly, inconvenient restructuring/redesign delays—and without additional subscription charges. “Tom and I are very excited about our partnership with ICUL Service Corp,” added Hargis.
“We look forward to developing the significant potential of our mobile apps product’s capabilities to provide outstanding service to the credit unions in their state partner leagues.”
Established in 1967 as a business subsidiary of the Illinois Credit Union League, ICUL Service Corp has been supplying a lengthy list of products and services to credit unions, including credit cards, ATM and debit card services introduced in 1985, and their prepaid, reloadable debit card, which entered the market in 2005. “We are delighted that working with the CU Mobile Apps organization, we will be able to deliver an affordable, thorough, well-developed product that’s easily customizable and quickly implemented for credit unions. It’s a perfect fit for us in delivering customer service to credit unions,” concluded Fiegle.
More information on ICUL Service Corporation is available at www.iculsc.com ; to learn more about CU Mobile Apps, visit www.cumobileapps.com or call (800) 537-9035, extension 105.