Ground Floor, 1919 Malvern Road,
Malvern East,
VIC 3145 Australia.
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Orange Credit Union has been going from strength to strength since its humble beginnings in 1964 when it launched with just 19 members in Orange, NSW. It now has more than 12,500 members and $287m in assets that it caters to.
Ultradata and Orange Credit Union have kicked off the collaboration to deliver a new way of banking for Orange Credit Union members with the launch of their new beautiful website built on the Ultracs CMS 4 platform launched in February 2024.
This initiative represents the first step in the Orange Credit Union's digital transformation strategy. It sets the scene for the organisation's rollout of the latest digital technology investments to improve member banking experiences.
We spoke to the Orange Credit Union and Ultradata project teams involved in the Ultracs CMS 4 launch to further uncover and understand the underlying strategies and how the various team members and other components worked harmoniously in the first investment execution in the digital transformation roadmap.
Here's what we asked and found!
Three underlying objectives drove the project;
Yes, Orange Credit Union is changing the landscape in its ability to deliver new digital banking products to its members and leverage the Ultracs CMS 4 ability to drive tailored and niche marketing campaigns. The platform is pivotal to retaining existing members by satisfying their user experience and attracting potential new members by remaining appealing and competitive.
By providing these initial digital tools, members can bank as they prefer. Whether browsing the website from the comfort of their lounge, completing their digital banking via the mobile app, or popping into the branch for staff-assisted transactions and lending appointments, Orange Credit Union now offers what its members demand.
Orange Credit Union knows that digital banking solutions should deliver excellent user experiences, reflect information dexterously, and lead the field in financial technology functions. As such, Orange Credit Union continues to take a proactive interest in all these areas and is in the process of delivering on this understanding.
The public website launch was the first digital banking product rolled out in the strategy and has enabled Orange Credit Union to deploy many new technologies to meet the emerging consumer demands of today.
Simultaneously with this launch, Orange Credit Union rolled out the second major step in its digital transformation strategy: the release of its new banking app, built on Ultracs App 2—an upgrade from Ultracs App 1.
The third step for Orange Credit Union will be the launch of their upgraded Internet banking site built on the My Viewpoint 3 platform. This will complete the move and see all three digital channels—the public website, the mobile banking app, and the Internet banking site—offering first-rate digital technologies, working in sync, and promoting the brand with consistent positioning.
After these initial financial technology investment integrations, Orange Credit Union will move to the final step in its digital transformation strategy to lead the market with the latest digital banking features: digital cards and digital member onboarding within Ultracs App 2.
By keeping the member experience front of mind, the Orange Credit Union and Ultradata project teams were able to integrate the new features and functionality of Ultracs CMS 4 with the comfort and familiarity of the preceding website, allowing existing users to embrace the change and enjoy the new experience.
Ultradata and Orange Credit Union met in October 2023 to devise a plan for the website upgrade, with work commencing in November the following month.
The public website and Ultracs App 2 were hosted on the Ultracs CMS 4, so the Ultracs App 2 project ran simultaneously. It commenced earlier in August 2023 to sync with all the critical transitioning stages of the website upgrade.
The Ultracs CMS 4 is the host operating platform for Ultracs App 2 and enables operators to deploy marketing and communication executions.
Ultradata was across the Orange Credit Union deadline to transition off the end-of-life upgrade from Byond to Ultracs CSM 4 and facilitated and coordinated timely touch-ins before forging to the next step in their delivery.
Combined specialised expertise from Orange Credit Union and Ultradata teams promoted a proactive approach to keep projects moving through user acceptance testing and gaining third-party vendor input in time.
Clear and two-way communication was vital for the respective project's success. Rather than setting specific checkpoints and meetings, calls, and emails, meetings were set on an 'as required' basis, allowing items to be completed more effectively and efficiently.
Ultracs App 2 consists of two parts – the banking functions and the marketing communication functions.
The Ultracs App 2 banking functions depend on the Ultracs Core Banking system and its integration with the Ultracs CMS 4 software, which operates the delivery of marketing campaigns and communications within the app.
Ultracs CMS 4 includes neat features such as the Ultracs App 2 welcome screens with inbuilt advertising templates. When new members download the app, they are presented with Orange Credit Union's targeted marketing campaigns and messages, so members are always up-to-date with the most recent and relevant information based on their profile and preferences.
Licensed optional modules included in the Ultradata Ultracs App 2 software package;
These software solutions are key features that Orange Credit Union members are seeking.
The next phase of Orange Credit Union’s running Ultracs App 2 journey will be rolling out added modules in the form of Digital Cards, Card Security Controls, Card Transaction Push Notifications, “How I Spend” categorisation, Member Onboarding and Account Opening. This new functionality will not only keep up with consumer demands but keep them a step ahead of competitors and lead the market with functionality that not all credit unions are yet to offer.
While there was no brand refresh, the Ultradata Digital Design team was proactive. It worked closely with the Orange Credit Union marketing team to apply the brand correctly and strategically position it as desired.
Working closely with the Marketing and Product Manager at Orange Credit Union and taking learnings from past projects, the Ultradata team was able to benchmark and set high standards in the brand application and the various brand touch points. Orange Credit Union well-received suggestions made to improve accessibility. As a result of the continuous improvement mindset by both the client and supplier, the brand reaps the benefit of a superior, highly engaging, and easy-to-use website design.
The Ultracs CMS 4 installation is managed by the Ultracs Cloud team, which uses Microsoft Azure to install the platform on the dedicated client environment.
This prepares the Ultracs CMS 4 platform for handover to the Digital Services team to integrate the client site maps website database, media, codebase, and the Ultracs Ecosystem products.
The Cloud team was critical to the projects' success and enabled the Ultracs App 2 function, integration, and operating capacity. From here, the Ultracs App 2 can go further in the development phases. On the other hand, the website could only be launched if the installation was complete—and with the Ultradata Cloud team, this was possible.