Ground Floor, 1919 Malvern Road,
Malvern East,
VIC 3145 Australia.
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In 2023, G&C Mutual Bank and Unity Bank agreed to a ‘merger of equals’, which would create a combined entity with assets of $4billion, 27 branches and over 250 employees. The "merger of equals" will enable the bank to offer its members new and enhanced products and services, reflecting the evolving financial environment.
For G&C Mutual Bank, mergers and name changes are nothing new. Established in 1959 as the Public Works Department Staff Cooperative, the bank has undergone 18 mergers and five name changes.
Both banks are committed to ensuring a seamless experience for their members, with minimal disruption during the transition. Central to this promise is the retention of all staff, ensuring that members continue interacting with familiar faces. While face-to-face service remains a priority, upgrading backend systems to support the requirements of a larger bank became essential.
The merged entity will operate on G&C Mutual Bank's systems. To facilitate this merger, G&C Mutual Bank needed to upgrade its core banking infrastructure to integrate Unity Bank's systems. This was achieved with an upgrade of the G&C Mutual Bank system to Ultracs 5.1.
Akhilesh Mehta, G&C Mutual Bank's COO, oversees IT and digital projects, ensuring that the bank's digital capabilities remain fit for purpose in a rapidly changing financial landscape. Akhilesh’s role in the merger was to develop an IT integration strategy. Key to a successful integration was ensuring G&C Mutual Bank’s systems were robust enough to support the migration of Unity Bank’s data.
In 2019, G&C Mutual Bank upgraded from Ultracs 4.3 to Ultracs 5.0, significantly reducing tech debt and enhancing its digital banking experience. However, the planned upgrade to Ultracs 5.1 was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"G&C Mutual Bank had always intended to upgrade to Ultracs 5.1, but with COVID hitting and the recent upgrade to Ultracs 5.0, other projects took priority," said Akhilesh.
As the upgrade resurfaced on G&C Mutual Bank's post-pandemic agenda, the merger made it a necessity.
"Among a variety of enhancements in Ultracs 5.1, a key security upgrade was that Ultracs 5.1 is PCI compliant. The Ultracs 5.0 version lacked the card encryption needed for current PCI compliance. The merger accorded the perfect opportunity to upgrade to 5.1 while improving the security posture of the merged entity," Akhilesh explained.
With the merger date approaching, G&C Mutual Bank set out to upgrade its systems to meet the needs of a larger bank.
Ultradata, G&C Mutual Bank’s technology partner for 20+ years, provided the core and digital banking solutions. When the merger was announced, Akhilesh engaged Ultradata to guide them through a complex and time-sensitive implementation.
The initial discussions brought together teams from Ultradata, G&C Mutual Bank, and Unity Bank to establish project goals and timelines more so given the imminent merger.
Since Unity Bank had already upgraded to Ultracs 5.1, the solution was straightforward. Ultracs 5.1 would align G&C Mutual Bank with Unity Bank, simplifying the merger by placing both banks on the same codebase, file structure, and infrastructure.
As G&C Mutual Bank was already operating on Ultracs 5.0, which included Transaction Processing and Loan Origination, there were no critical enhancements needed aside from achieving PCI compliance.
However, Ultracs 5.1 introduced new functionalities that improved the bank's operational efficiency, including:
G&C Mutual Bank also bundled the Ultracs 5.1 upgrade with:
The upgrade to Ultracs 5.1 has significantly enhanced G&C Mutual Bank's operational efficiency. As the merger date looms, Ultracs 5.1 provides a robust platform for successfully integrating Unity Bank's systems into G&C Mutual Bank’s operations.
The Ultradata team has played a crucial role in the successful implementation. We worked closely with G&C Mutual Bank’s Project Team to ensure a smooth software transition, with their expertise proving invaluable to the bank’s IT and Digital Project teams.
"We all know that Ultradata has several key personnel with exceptional abilities to assess and resolve issues promptly.
We were all working towards a tight deadline. Ultradata recognised the risks and allocated some amazing resources to assist with G&C Mutual Bank’s program of work, helping complete the upgrade on time and with minimal disruption."
As the merger date approaches, G&C Mutual Bank can be confident that its IT infrastructure is well-prepared to support an expanded member base.