CHINO HILLS, Calif.—Technology consultants Samaha & Associates reported it has signed four deals this summer that will optimize credit union electronic funds transfer (EFT) systems. The agreements include two new credit union clients. This month, the $300 million CPM Federal Credit Union of North Charleston, S.C., and the $232 million Kern Federal Credit Union in Bakersfield, Calif., signed new EFT agreements, with Kern also signing on to evaluate its online banking platforms.
“Our current card processing agreement was coming due, so I reached out to Samaha & Associates to assist us in the RFP process because I knew the quality of their work from my past experiences with them,” Kern FCU CEO Brandon Ivie said in a statement. “We are still early in our project, but I was immediately impressed by their approach to the RFP process during our deep-dive meeting.”
In July, the $461 million SkyOne Federal Credit Union of Hawthorne, Calif., added EFT implementation to its existing Samaha partnership. The $3.3 billion Wright-Patt Credit Union of Beavercreek, Ohio, also an existing Samaha client, signed on for an EFT process review in June.
“Studies have shown that technology greatly influences consumers’ trust and loyalty when it comes to financial services,” said CEO Sabeh Samaha, who founded the technology consultancy firm nearly 20 years ago after working for MasterCard and CO-OP Financial Services. “We remain committed to the success of the credit union movement. Helping credit unions select the best technology solutions for their members at the right price, and ensuring they have a smooth conversion experience, is our way of advocating for credit unions and growing the community’s market share.”
Samaha also said it signed three new clients and added new agreements for two existing credit union clients in April.
Credit unions added to the Samaha roster include the $2.2 billion Langley Federal Credit Union in Newport News, Va., which will work with the tech consultants to evaluate core processing systems; the $253 million AEA Federal Credit Union of Yuma, Ariz., signed on to review core, EFT and online banking systems; and, the $374 million Foothill Federal Credit Union in Arcadia, Calif., will assess EFT.
“I wanted to work with Samaha & Associates for some time,” AEA FCU Executive Vice President Adele Sandberg said. “Their reputation started the interest, feedback from their clients supported ‘the word on the street,’ and working with a team of professionals who have the credit union's best interest top of mind allows us to achieve successes we could not otherwise achieve. We get a lot more accomplished with this partnership.”
Langley FCU Senior Vice President Debra Vollmer said after her credit union made the strategic decision earlier this year to undertake the challenge of a core conversion, the first step was to find the right partner.
“We identified three of the industry leading consulting groups with core conversion expertise and arranged for them to meet with the senior team. After all the presentations were complete, it became very clear that Samaha had the experience and expertise we were looking for and that they were the right choice for Langley,” she said.
Additionally, existing client $1.4 billion Kern Schools Federal Credit Union in Bakersfield, Calif., signed a new agreement to analyze core and online banking systems, while the $208 million Orlando Federal Credit Union in Florida will review its online banking.
Below, Samaha & Associates Managing Director Adam Denbo leads management and staff at AEA FCU.