Last year, PSCU and Co-op Solutions combined and rebranded as Velera. As part of this transformation, Velera seized the opportunity to assess its product journey and modernize its products and solutions to meet the rapidly evolving needs of credit unions and their members. This meant a commitment to developing new solutions and services, while at the same time improving its existing solution portfolio with new features, functionality and enhancements.
One year into the integration, Velera’s Denise Stevens, Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer, and Cody Banks, Senior Vice President for Product Experience and Enablement, reflected on the progress, highlighting goals set and the milestones achieved along the way. They spoke with Brian Riley, Co-Head of Payments at Javelin Strategy & Research about this on a recent PaymentsJournal podcast.
Organizing the Desired Outcomes
One of Velera’s first priorities was to create a strategic focus group made up of a diverse collection of credit union clients. Their role is to help Velera make informed decisions, navigate anticipated changes and make sure the impact on members remains a priority. That could mean anything from adjusting operations—such as staff or members interacting with a different interface—to something as simple as analyzing reports with slightly different data.
Velera then organized the company’s solutions into four categories, each representing outcomes that matter most to credit unions and their members.
The first category focuses on delivering connected experiences, providing members with a seamless and relevant payments experience. These experiences range from users of mobile and online applications adopting features like setting travel notes, buy now, pay later and digital issuance to in-branch interactions. These innovations help create a more connected financial experience.
The second category ensures operational efficiency. Velera developed a suite of tools designed to streamline business processes for members, whether they’re visiting a branch or calling member service. The agent program for contact centers, along with frontline tools, plays a key role in enhancing service and efficiency.
The third area is fraud and protection, ensuring that credit unions stay ahead of fraudsters—not just proactively, but also by swiftly adapting to emerging fraud patterns.
“We take an omnichannel fraud approach where we have a number of products that are designed to move on from simply layering them,” said Banks. “Now we’re moving more into linking these things together, especially to fight first-party fraud.”
The final area is growth, which is especially important as credit unions look to attract younger members while also expanding into business accounts—an often untapped market. There is potential to attract higher-spending accounts, particularly among individuals who are credit union members but conduct their business banking elsewhere, such as at larger banks.
“The whole focus of the asset concentration of credit unions becomes important,” said Riley. “There’s a lot of unknowns ahead within this year. Delinquencies are up, some loan volumes are up and some are under real stress with their net-interest margins. Being able to balance that and keep the business running is really where the credit union industry needs to focus.”
Finding the Key Products
During their product assessment, Velera’s team identified products that clients could immediately take advantage of without necessarily relying on processing. However, they also wanted to ensure a thorough vetting process to confirm the products were market ready. This was especially important given the heightened expectations following the integration.
“We identified nine products, including Zelle and our ATM network,” said Stevens. “They’re already being evaluated by certain credit unions that weren’t taking advantage of these products before. We’re really excited about the nine that have already hit the market, and we’re well-positioned to deliver on our integration plans to upgrade a lot of the existing products.”
Velera has more than 50 agile teams working behind the scenes to manage the development process for the integration. They recently completed the first round of migrations to a new 3D secure platform, consolidating Velera’s clients onto a single platform. These efficiencies led to a 177-basis-point reduction in fraud.
The Challenge of Subscriptions and First-Party Fraud
A new feature now available is Card on File, an enhancement within digital applications that also integrates via API to keep merchants updated whenever a card is stored.
“I personally lost my card a few weeks ago and had to get a replacement,” said Banks. “It took me a few hours to scroll through my bank statement to figure out Netflix, Hulu and everywhere else where my card was on file. We have introduced a new feature that allows members to see and update everything seamlessly and efficiently. It’s a tremendous cardholder efficiency, and it keeps the card top of wallet, which is so important.”
This tool provides credit unions with the ability to track where their members have active subscriptions—an area closely linked to first-party fraud. By offering better visibility into recurring payments, credit unions can proactively identify and mitigate fraudulent activity.
Fraud continues to be a top concern for many, especially as younger demographics—an essential target group for credit unions—express heightened worries about it. In response, credit unions have intensified their efforts to combat fraud, and it’s yielding positive results. Recent findings from Velera show that 77% of credit union members are now at least satisfied with how their financial institutions handle fraud, a notable increase from 63% in 2023.
A Continued Push Forward
With a diverse range of utility-driven features in their product offerings, Velera remains focused on leading with value. The team has kept its eyes on clients’ needs, first and foremost—recognizing that this member-first approach is essential.
“It is a delicate balance to make sure that we’re hitting all the key themes and categories,” said Stevens. “We have a responsibility to deliver a seamless integration and maintain business as usual, along with a commitment to deliver innovation to the industry.”
