By Ray Birch
ORLANDO, Fla.— Chuck Fagan opened VeleraLIVE 2026 by making the case that Velera is moving into its next chapter with momentum, not uncertainty, telling credit union leaders the CUSO is financially strong, ahead of schedule on key integration work and investing aggressively in the technology it believes credit unions will need to stay competitive in the years ahead.
With Brian Caldarelli set to succeed him as president and CEO on Oct. 1, Fagan used the opening session less as a farewell than as a confidence-building handoff—pairing an emotional acknowledgment of the transition with a hard-edged update on record revenue, double-digit growth, $2.5 billion in fraud prevented for credit unions and the debut of the new Velera Ecosystem, built around its Stellaris cloud-native stack and Atmos intelligence layer.
Fagan shared some important numbers with the more than 2,000 attendees of the annual conference held this year at the Orlando Marriott World Center—telling credit unions that Velera posted record revenue in fiscal 2025 with double-digit growth from the prior year, grew assets, increased capital spending and, for the first time as a combined company, was able to report true year-over-year “apples to apples” results (see image below).
“That might sound like an accounting note, but it’s not,” Fagan said. “It means Velera has crossed a threshold. We are a more unified organization, one that can look at its own technology with clarity and say we’re growing, we’re healthy and we’re moving in the right direction.”
Fagan also leaned heavily into scale, reminding the audience that Velera now serves more than 4,000 financial institutions and more than 140 million members through the credit unions it supports, making it the third-largest financial services firm in the country by number of credit and debit accounts managed.
Fagan compared where the organization stood when he returned to PSCU as president and CEO in 2015: then, the company processed 2.3 billion transactions annually; now, as Velera, it processes more than 15 billion.
“That growth came from relevance,” he said, as he tied Velera’s trajectory to the broader rise of credit unions from what he described as a niche alternative into a mainstream force serving more than 145 million Americans and holding more than $2.4 trillion in assets.
A Very Important Number
For CU executives, one of the most important numbers Fagan cited may have been in fraud. He said Velera prevented $2.5 billion in fraud from reaching credit unions and their members last fiscal year.
“That’s $2.5 billion that didn’t get absorbed by a financial institution and written off. It stayed where it belonged—in the accounts of your members,” Fagan said. “Fraud is not an abstract risk metric… it’s a violation, it’s fear, it’s time they don’t have to spend on hold trying to get their money back.”
He added that continued improvements in 3D Secure and authorization fraud decisioning also drove measurable results, including one CU stopping a major BIN attack within the first week of deployment, saving more than $110,000.
At the same time, Fagan made clear he was not delivering a victory lap. He repeatedly pointed to the headwinds facing both Velera and the movement—AI, open banking, interchange fights, credit union tax threats, rate-cap proposals, rising tech costs, more sophisticated fraud and a Gen Z member base that “will comparison shop their financial institution the same way they comparison shop a streaming service.”
Still, his central argument was that the cooperative model is more relevant, not less, in that environment.
“No bank, no fintech and no big tech software company wakes up every day accountable to credit unions, but Velera does,” he said. “Our job at Velera is to make sure that model never loses its competitive edge.”
One of the most notable—and emotional—moments in the session, however, came when Fagan addressed the leadership transition, telling attendees his retirement announcement in March was not abrupt but the result of a deliberate, years-long succession process with the board.
“It’s not a decision, not an event, that was made lightly,” he said. “It’s one we made deliberately, thoughtfully and collaboratively.”
Fagan praised Caldarelli—who joined PSCU in 2012 as CFO and now serves as EVP and chief administrative officer—as the executive who has played a critical role in nearly every major initiative, including the complex integration of PSCU and Co-op Solutions.
“He is without question the right person to lead Velera into its next chapter,” Fagan said. “I couldn’t imagine a better leader for Velera’s next chapter than Brian.”
Fagan, again, did not hide the emotion of the moment.
“I’ll be honest, announcing my retirement after spending the better part of my life in this industry was emotional,” he said, briefly choking up. “Apparently still is.”
Seamless Transition
He told the audience the company and the people in it had helped shape not only his career, but “who I am as a person and a leader,” and said he was grateful to remain fully engaged through Sept. 30 so the transition can be “seamless, thoughtful and aligned with the commitment that we’ve always had to you, our partners.”
But if there was one area Fagan clearly wanted attendees to view as proof Velera’s next chapter is already underway, it was the introduction of the new Velera Ecosystem. He described it as one of the most important announcements of this year’s conference and as the company’s innovation engine “for the next decade and beyond.”
The ecosystem combines Stellaris, Velera’s cloud-native technology stack, with Atmos, its intelligence layer, to unify analytics, decisioning, fraud, payments and digital member experiences across the company’s product universe. Fagan stressed this is not just a product launch but the foundation for how Velera intends to help credit unions compete regardless of their current tech stack (see related story).
“They represent our innovation engine for the next decade and beyond,” he said, adding that the platform will let credit unions answer product and strategy questions “no matter where you are or what your tech stack looks like.”
Four Imperatives
Velera, Fagan noted, has distilled its priorities into four strategic imperatives: making service its signature, powering the future with technology, growing and evolving the business, and “moving faster together.”
That last line was especially notable given the company’s branding around “velocity.” Fagan was careful to say velocity is not about rushing.
“Speed is no longer just about technology,” he said. “It’s about decision making, prioritization and execution.”
That message—purpose over haste—also shaped how Fagan talked about AI. He made clear Velera intends to deepen enterprise-wide AI adoption, but he went out of his way to say AI is meant to strengthen, not replace, human judgment. That is a point likely to resonate with CU leaders increasingly being asked to balance efficiency gains with trust, service and regulatory scrutiny. Fagan’s version of the argument was practical: credit unions want the right mix of human expertise and automation, especially in high-impact moments such as fraud disputes and member support. Velera’s role, he said, is to help them get that balance right.
For all the operational and technology detail, Fagan’s closing was personal. Talking about boating and the tide—something he said reflected his love of being on the water with family—he told attendees that the future will favor not the biggest institutions, but the teams that are ready, paying attention and willing to move when conditions demand it.
“The tide doesn’t favor the biggest boat,” he said. “It favors the crew that’s ready.”
Fagan has about six months left, he reminded the audience, to work alongside credit unions and help ensure the transition positions Velera and its partners for continued momentum.
“You’ve helped us build something that doesn’t drift,” he said in closing. “Something that holds its course through any conditions and carries people forward who are counting on us to get them to where they need to go. So, let’s sail.”