A Shared Branching Solution for First West Credit Union

One strategic decision for First West Credit Union executives is to implement a Shared Branching service so that a member of one subsidiary can acquire banking services in a branch of a different subsidiary. First West owns two distinct subsidiaries – Envision Financial and Valley First. Each runs different banking systems. The integration of these systems is a business challenge. Our research evaluates four business solutions using existing tools and frameworks, such as gap analysis and cost/benefit analysis, reflecting the business priorities. In the short term, we recommend implementing the service provided by CUETS Financial, a service partner of the Canadian credit union system, to address the intermediate need. For a longer term, we believe First West should explore a potential solution from Central 1, a service provider for Canadian credit unions, or the option of developing an interface in-house due to the functionality and scalability advantages. We do not recommend banking conversion because it is cost prohibitive, unless First West decides to pursue a different long-term strategic goal.