Featured Client:
Honor Credit Union | $755 million in assets | Berrien Springs, Michigan
Past exams at Honor Credit Union depended upon a single flash drive. Credit union employees would pass the flash drive between departments to upload requested documents to hand examiners when they arrived at the credit union, shuffling the drive back-and-forth as additional files were requested. This year Honor decided to simplify the process.
Led by Frank Witucki, VP of Risk Management, Honor CU updated how they exchanged information with state examiners by leveraging Virtual StrongBox. The credit union provides Virtual StrongBox to members as a digital safe deposit box and decided to leverage its file sharing functionality to securely send and receive files with the examination team.
“We already had a trusted relationship with Virtual StrongBox on the member side so it made sense to use the platform for our exam process,” Witucki said. “Getting started was quick and simple. It took no time at all to organize the folder structure, inform the team about the new process and train them on the platform.”
“The efficiencies presented saved our team valuable time and resources, which granted us more time to focus on our daily duties during the examination process than we have had in years past.” – Amanda Craig, Chief Operation Officer at Honor Credit Union
Honor leveraged Virtual StrongBox’s sharelink feature to email unique links to the examiner. They required each link have a pin code that the examiner needed to access the files. This ensured that only the correct recipient would be able to access the sensitive documents, providing a necessary layer of security. In the past, Honor had to retrieve their flash drive from the examiner each night to ensure confidential member information was not lost.
“We had about 6 or 7 team members using the Virtual StrongBox platform. It didn’t take long explaining how to share files using the secure link… they found the platform easy to use and pretty self-explanatory,” Witucki said. “If examiners need additional documentation, they would email us and the department manager would upload the requested documents right away.”
The ability to organize and share the necessary documents saved Honor’s employees’ valuable time. Collaboration between the CU and examiners was extremely clunky in the past. Anytime additional documents were requested, the flash drive was once again passed between departments and then handed over to the examiners.
“The process was much quicker from the point it was uploaded to the point to review,” Witucki said. “Some of the examiners have remained offsite, which helps save us time because we aren’t running around the building or waiting for a flash drive to be available.”
The convenience Virtual StrongBox brings to the compliance process is two-fold: both the credit union and the examiner benefited.
“The Honor team appreciated the efficiencies Virtual StrongBox brought to the examination process and allowed our remote team members to contribute to examiner requests.” Amanda Craig, Chief Operating Officer of Honor Credit Union said. “The examiners mentioned how nice it was to work remotely for part of the exam using Virtual StrongBox compared to coming onsite for the entire exam.”
The success of their last examination led Honor Credit Union to confirm that they would be using Virtual StrongBox for future exams, leaving the flash drive process in rearview mirror.
“Using Virtual StrongBox for our exam was a success that we couldn’t be more pleased with,” Craig said. “The efficiencies presented saved our team valuable time and resources, which granted us more time to focus on our daily duties during the examination process than we have had in years past.”
SUMMARY
