By Ray Birch
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—Velera, created through the combination of Co-op Solutions and PSCU, is advancing to a new phase of its evolution—and part of that journey includes a new headquarters location.
Velera plans to move from its St. Petersburg headquarters to downtown Tampa by mid-2026.
Regarding its business focus, the organization has moved from concentrating efforts on uniting two separate cultures to focusing on determining what are the very best and most needed products for its credit unions’ members, explained president and CEO Chuck Fagan.
Chuck Fagan
“What happened over those first nine months of 2024 was really building out the organization from a people and culture standpoint,” Fagan told CUToday.info. “Now we're shifting into combining both organizations’ products and technologies. And we're doing it with credit union input and with input from our experts.”
Fagan stated that Velera is combining the finest aspects of both Co-op and PSCU.
“And as we put them together, the best of the best is coming out,” he said. “In some instances, we've looked at solutions and we didn't like what either company had, so we're starting up new efforts in some areas. Again, we've gotten credit union input as we put this together. So, a lot is happening.”
Available Synergies
Fagan emphasized Velera’s efforts take advantage of the synergies that are available.
“That said, we have established an objective that nowhere do any of those synergies come at the cost of degrading our service or impacting the cardholder or credit union,” he explained.
Fagan acknowledged not every step has been perfect.
“We've made errors and we've learned from them and moved on. So, we feel good about what we've done. We feel good about how we continue to support the industry and the future is very bright,” he said.
Fagan acknowledged the joining of the two companies, at times, has been easier than expected.
“Parts of this have been easier and actually better than expected,” Fagan said. “The industry has been so supportive, wanting to see us succeed.”
However, he conceded it’s never easy to combine two big companies that had different compensation philosophies and different approaches to how they did things.
“Some of that's been more difficult than we thought, but we have been very methodical in how we've gone about it, wanting to hear from the employees and learn what kind of environment, what kind of culture they wanted,” Fagan said. “The board has been just incredibly supportive and incredibly involved, doing whatever they need to do to position us for success.”
“Overall, 80% of this combination has been extremely positive and smooth, and there's a 20% aspect of it where we've been learning and trying to make sure we do it in the right way. I would suspect that will continue,” he said.
Fagan said he told the Velera board it would take two to three years to fully integrate the companies the right way.
“I think that's holding true,” he said.
Nine Key Products
Fagan said Velera has identified nine key products most commonly used by credit unions or credit union members.
“We're really focused on those nine first,” he said. “When you look long term, I think there are a couple key areas: No. 1 is fraud, which is not slowing down at all. In fact, it's accelerating. All of us use our card products more and more each year, and the fraudsters have more opportunity. We're all very comfortable purchasing online, card not present, and that's where the fraudsters want to be. So, a lot of new solutions and technologies are being built, we’re conducting a lot of training, and we’re relying on really skilled people to make sure we protect not only the transaction side but also the cyber side.”
Artificial intelligence, Fagan added, is beginning to make a huge difference in how Velera interacts with the cardholders and members.
“But it's also impacting and improving other areas of our business,” he said. “Again, fraud is an area in which AI is helping Velera deter criminals. But you’ve got to keep in mind the fraudsters are using AI as well. AI is only as good as the data, so, we have a lot of work focused around the data.”
Finally, Fagan pointed to the continuing success of its Lumin Digital arm.
“Lumin Digital has been in market now for over six years. Every time a credit union goes live on Lumin Digital their online user app scores climb from the threes to up around 4.8. Lumin Digital does a phenomenal job of integrating other tools, as well. It’s just been an incredible success story for not only Velera, but also for the industry,” he said.