PSCU Financial Services Provides Disaster Recovery for Schools Federal Credit Union

Call center services fill void for employees and members in absence of core provider

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Aug. 31, 2009 – PSCU Financial Services’ Contact Center professionals recently supplied Los Angeles-based Schools Federal Credit Union ($127 million in assets) with 24/7 call center services during complications with its core system. 
Schools Federal Credit Union, which serves more than 22,000 members, relied on PSCU Financial Services’ Contact Center following a phone line down from the host. Without access to its account database or Internet, the credit union needed an alternative to serve a growing line of customers - employees of the Los Angeles Unified School District - eager to cash their checks on payday. Within 10 minutes, Contact Center representatives were in touch with the credit union, ready to verify account information and enable access to funds and transactions for all members.

“The phone line went down on a Friday, a payday, creating a potentially troublesome situation for our members who were likely to move thousands of dollars among their accounts, “ said Barbara Abraham, operations manager at Schools Federal Credit Union. “Although we could not directly access member information at our physical branches, PSCU Financial Services’ use of the shared branching network ensured connectivity and avoided a service interruption. I have always felt that call center services would be a capable and complete backup in case of emergency, and their response demonstrates a commitment to providing superior member service.”

As the phone line underwent repair, PSCU Financial Services representatives stood in for the branch teams and conducted deposits and withdrawals seamlessly for five hours. The call center also worked with credit union representatives to maintain a transaction log, which would simplify account balancing and reporting once the primary server restored.

“It is hard to foresee when a crisis will disrupt regular credit union workflow, but there is no need to reinvent the wheel in adverse scenarios to ensure effective and continuous service,” said Peter Schmitt, executive director of PSCU Financial Services. “PSCU Financial Services maintains a staff trained to work with credit unions to develop instant solutions for any situation. Schools Federal Credit Union shares our commitment to providing total member care, and we successfully fulfilled our promise by enabling uninterrupted transaction processing in their time of need.”

About Schools Federal Credit Union

Founded in 1939, Schools FCU serves more than 30,000 employees of the Los Angeles Unified School District and other education-related groups. The credit union provides eBanking, account opening and management and loan processing services. Schools FCU prides itself on providing personalized service unrivaled by banks, and believes in building relationships with individuals to better understand financial needs. For more information, please visit www.schoolsfcu.org.
           

About PSCU Financial Services

Based in St. Petersburg, Florida, PSCU Financial Services is the nation’s largest credit union service organization (CUSO), and serves more than 1,300 financial institutions nationwide. As a non-profit cooperative, the company is owned by more than 600 member credit unions representing over 13 million accounts and 880,000 online bill payment subscribers. Its Contact Centers handle more than 16 million inquiries a year.

PSCU Financial Services offers 24/7 member support through four Contact Centers: its Eastern operations center in St. Petersburg, Fla.; a Western operations center based in Phoenix; and two call centers in Detroit. These Contact Centers perform member servicing and new member acquisition, cross-selling and automated lending solutions as well as support for debit/credit/prepaid cardholders and online bill payment subscribers.

Established in 1977, the company provides a broad array of cost-effective, high quality financial services that include credit, debit, ATM, prepaid, bill payment, home banking and contact center solutions. PSCU Financial Services uniquely offers its members a full range of processing options, any combination from full service to in-house pass through processing for credit, debit and ATM transactions. As a leader in the credit union movement, the company offers gateway access to national and regional networks. It also provides full function ATM terminal driving services. For more information, visit PSCU Financial Services on the Web at http://www.pscufs.com.

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