Background
Royal Credit Union, established to serve the vibrant communities of Wisconsin and Minnesota, has reached a remarkable milestone of 60 years in operation. Managing assets worth $5 billion, Royal Credit Union is committed to innovation and excellence in financial services. Its diverse membership requires it to have a solid foundation of products and services.
Needing a Change
Prior to partnering with Alacriti, Royal Credit Union relied on a payment solution that had served them well for years but failed to align with their forward-looking strategy. The existing system presented significant limitations, making it difficult for Royal to achieve its future goals. The realization that their old system was akin to “trying to fit a square peg into a round hole” prompted the search for a more adaptable partner.
Why Alacriti?
Royal Credit Union turned to Alacriti for its Orbipay EBPP and Orbipay Payments Hub solutions to connect to the FedNow Service and the RTP network. Three critical factors influenced the decision to partner with Alacriti: a strong sense of partnership, the ability to consolidate numerous payment solutions under one vendor, and the open architecture of Alacriti’s systems. This partnership was forged in mid-2023, and implementations began almost immediately.
“When I think about Alacriti and what sets it apart from its competitors, I really think about the partnership piece. I think every vendor will tell you that they want to be your partner when you’re still in the honeymoon stage. But with Alacriti, there was no change at any point in the process. They simply are who they say they are, and you can count on them trying to help you capture the future. I would recommend Alacriti to any institution that is looking for a one-stop shop for multiple payment channels. I can’t say enough about the spirit of partnership with Alacriti. They’ve been patient with us when we’re undecided, and they use their industry knowledge to help guide our decisions without pushing us into a corner, and they really want to hear our challenges, and they really want to be a part of that solution,” said Brantner.
“I would recommend Alacriti to any institution that is looking for a one-stop shop for multiple payment channels. I can’t say enough about the spirit of partnership with Alacriti. They’ve been patient with us when we’re undecided, and they use their industry knowledge to help guide our decisions without pushing us into a corner, and they really want to hear our challenges, and they really want to be a part of that solution.”
Implementation
The implementation process was notably swift and efficient. Royal Credit Union launched its instant payment project in June 2023 and went live by late August, a timeline that met and exceeded expectations. “We were blown away that not only did they stick to their own timeline and disclosure, but that they offered us the ability to have some flexibility in our needs,” Brantner shared. Although complex, the integration with their core banking system was facilitated by Alacriti’s collaborative approach, involving multiple working sessions that efficiently established the necessary connections
Royal Credit Union decided to follow Alacriti’s recommendation to implement both the RTP network and FedNow at the same time. “The decision to turn on both Fed Now and RTP seemed very easy for us. We just didn’t see any reason why you wouldn’t want to receive both payment rails. If you receive both, then you don’t have to be concerned with which service is going to have the most adoption in the way that your members conduct their business. You’re simply meeting your members where they are. And Alacriti didn’t add any complexity to the product for implementing both, so it was a very simple decision,” Brantner shared.
Results
In the first 30 days of launching instant payments, Royal Credit Union processed over $800,000 in deposits and 2,500 transactions within two weeks. They regularly saw more than 200 transactions daily. By the end of August 2023, these figures had impressively grown to $9.2 million with over 28,000 transactions. The EBPP system, launched at the end of October 2023 to offer a modernized loan payment experience, similarly achieved significant volumes, processing nearly $15.5 million across 20,000 transactions in its first three months.
Royal Credit Union uses Alacriti’s open architecture to work with its risk hub, which is built as a proactive solution. It stops suspect payments while allowing less scrutiny on others.
Benefits
The benefits of Alacriti’s solutions were multifaceted:
- Enhanced Member Experience: Members enjoyed the simplicity and accessibility of the self-service payment portal, instant payment capabilities, and a unified experience across various touchpoints. “No matter how they choose to interact with us, they are getting the same product and the same choices,” said Brantner. Members also benefit from a diversity of payment options.
- Operational Efficiency: The open architecture and integration with core systems streamlined operations, allowing for real-time data processing and reducing the need for manual intervention. Royal Credit Union also benefits from scaling costs.
- Strategic Growth: The flexibility of Alacriti’s platform supported Royal Credit Union’s strategic initiatives, enabling them to launch services that were long on their roadmap but lacked the right technological partnership. For instance, Royal Credit Union utilizes a custom aggregated payments application to streamline team member access to multiple payment systems, enhancing efficiency by centralizing relevant information and control.
- Reporting: “Alacriti has a fairly robust online reporting tool that includes all of their solutions in one location. This allows us to access what we want when we want, and in a way we want,” said Brantner. Brantner’s team is most excited about the level of detail found in the reporting dashboards. Not only is it easy to work with, they’re constantly crunching data to help guide their decisions.
- Easy Implementation:“Support from the Alacriti team during our implementations was great. They had an intricate level of knowledge that we relied on to help implement correctly and make sure that we didn’t miss any steps. Our support during the implementation was everything we needed it to be, and probably more that we didn’t even recognize at the time. But since that time, we haven’t had any major incidents, which speaks to the quality of the solution. So Alacriti’s knowledge of instant payments processes was so helpful and key to the quick implementation,” Brantner shared.
Future Outlook
Royal Credit Union is poised to expand its payment services further. They plan to enhance instant payment capabilities by going live to Send instant payments in 2025 and explore new tools for scaling operations. The partnership with Alacriti remains central to their strategy, providing the technological foundation necessary to meet the evolving needs of their members.
The collaboration between Royal Credit Union and Alacriti exemplifies a strategic partnership driven by innovation and a shared vision for the future. “I am not a hundred percent sure I can pick just one biggest benefit of working with Alacriti. However, our members benefit from the diversity of payment options. The credit union benefits from scaling costs, and my team benefits from an amazing partnership for our solutions and someone who wants to help us meet our future goals from our membership,” said Brantner.
