In 2016/17, five Credit Unions in Co. Meath merged to become Credit Union Plus. The combined entity has more than 48,000 members and €60 million in loans.
Services provided
- Secure, remote access for all call centre staff enabling members to apply for and progress credit union loans outside normal working hours.
- A centralised, secure IT infrastructure on which all five credit unions could depend – 24×7.
- A rigorous security audit and a full suite of managed security solutions including antivirus, USB lock down, encryption and mobile device management.
“With banking undergoing huge changes, remaining compliant with regulations, security and responding to members’ needs are important for us.”
The Challenge
Credit Union Plus wanted to address members’ requirements and enable them to apply for loans at a time that suits them – which is frequently outside normal working hours. A specialised call centre was appointed to respond to telephone enquiries outside office hours.
Credit Union Plus returned to Presidio to deploy the secure, remote online access element needed to give call centre staff access to credit union systems.
Presidio had previously implemented the IT infrastructure after the merger of the 5 credit unions that now form Credit Union Plus and continues to manage the centralised IT.
The Solution
Presidio designed and implemented a highly resilient hybrid cloud infrastructure. The on-premise virtual private cloud is replicated to a secondary data centre in Dublin and incorporates both infrastructure and application fail-over and Disaster Recovery (DR). This infrastructure uses technology from NetApp and Cisco, with DR via VMware and Veeam and Microsoft 365 for email.
The secure, remote access solution gives the call centre team access to credit union systems and member account details. This means that the loan application process can be dealt with at a time that suits the customer – evenings and weekends – and finalised by credit union staff the next working day.
Presidio used Citrix to create a separate remote desktop for call centre staff, Duo Security for Two Factor Authentication (2FA) to verify the user and Netwrix Auditor to keep track of all activities.
The Outcome
Credit Union Plus customers have extended access to the telephone loan application process and Credit Union Plus has had a highly secure network infrastructure, disaster recovery and managed services solution to support its growing business which meet the stringent IT compliance and governance regulations of the central bank.
The complete solution is underpinned by a proactive ITIL based Managed IT Service contract.
“Presidio delivered a great IT infrastructure which now also enables our customers to apply for loans over the phone outside normal working hours.”
The Presidio difference
- A highly resilient hybrid cloud infrastructure was designed and implemented giving employees remote access to Credit Union Plus systems
- Credit Union Plus customers now have an extended access to loan applications, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and business growth