WASHINGTON–It’s a common refrain among companies that have merged that the merger has made them better.
Jay Mossman knows that, which is why he places great emphasis on pointing out just how Akcelerant has improved since its acquisition by Temenos just over a year ago.
“When software companies buy other software companies they often screw it up,” said Mossman. “We wanted to take the promise of a much larger corporation and really expand on it. One year later I am proud to say it really is better and we are still about supporting the credit union space. There has not been a one dime reduction in investment in R&D. At the end of the day it is an acquisition that really has made it better.”
Mossman said the biggest thing credit union clients of the Malvern, Penn.-based software solutions provider will notice is that there has been “no change.” No change to its emphasis on customer care. No reductions in its product offerings.
“We are also starting to bring some additional services to credit unions,” said Mossman. “A good example is compliance. We have a product solution in the cloud in which questions can be posted by credit unions and a compliance professional or lawyer will respond. We also will continue to do the training. We used to have Akcelerant Talks, now they are Temenos Talks, and we are expanding the topics. I do believe that as vendor to this market we have an obligation to invest in the market, to give back. The Temenos Talks are one way to do that.”
Switzerland-based Temenos is the largest data processor outside the U.S., operating in 124 countries, according to Mossman. In the U.S., Akcelerant has at least one product in 68% of the credit unions of more than $1 billion in assets. It has relationships overall with about 550 credit unions, most of which are larger than $250 million in assets.
Mossman said Akcelerant has been discussing what it can do to provide additional assistance and solutions to smaller credit unions.
Speaking to CUToday.info during CUNA’s GAC, Larry Edgar-Smith, SVP-product evangelism with Akcelerant, said the new parent company has asked only that Akcelerant “accelerate the course.”
As an example, he cited virtual capture as a solution in which it is expanding its focus. But its client CUs want to expand virtual offerings across the spectrum, including collections. “And we are all in,” said Edgar-Smith.
Mossman said that over the next year credit unions will see increased investment and offerings in digital platforms, including a payments hub, a robust core processing engine, a crime analysis solution that taps Temenos’ expertise in this area, and more.
In terms of the feedback he is getting from credit unions, such as during a trade show like GAC, Mossman said “there is a fear of the non-financials going after the member base. It’s not easy with the non-bank banks and the non-credit union credit unions. For many they are saying, ‘I can’t figure out tomorrow, so how can I position myself to change quickly?’ And that’s difficult.”
To assist in preparing for tomorrow, Mossman said Akcelerant will continue to invest in open architecture and in providing more of the backoffice to CUs.
“People ought not to be afraid of the future, they should embrace it,” said Mossman, who founded Akcelerant in 2000. “It’s not about worrying over what might happen, it’s asking ‘what can happen?’ I’m excited. The world is in front of us.”