Union Bank Debuts Digital-First Core Banking System

Need to Know

• Union Bank and FIS announced a partnership expansion in which FIS’s modern banking platform will be used to digitize Union Bank’s core banking experience and platform. 
• The new core banking system will roll out over the next two years and provide Union with a range of advanced client-focused capabilities including intuitive user experience and digital and mobile banking tools.
• In 2017, Union Bank rolled out PurePoint, a hybrid-digital FIS powered bank that offered an online savings account and select paperless branches.
• PurePoint acted as a testing ground for Union, a way to try out a new core banking system before rolling it out company-wide. PurePoint will transition to a digital-only brand as the new core system rolls out. 

Analysis

Over the next two years, Union Bank and FIS plan to co-develop and co-engineer an entirely new core banking system. 

Overhauling the core systems of Union Bank, which currently has assets of $134.7 billion, is a massive undertaking, filled with challenges and risks but the bank is confident the FIS will power them through their next iteration of digital offerings.

In 2017 Union Bank launched PurePoint Financial, a FIS-powered hybrid bank that focused on online savings accounts and featured a few paperless branches. PurePoint served as a low-risk testing ground for the bank, allowing Union to test out offerings and gain insight on which digital services its customers wanted before rolling out an organization-wide overhaul. Flash forward a few years, and the intel gained from PurePoint is helping shape the new platform. 

“Expanding on our success working with FIS on our PurePoint Financial digital bank, we are advancing our digital-first deposit platform across Union Bank,” said Steve Cummings, president and CEO of MUFG Union Bank in a release. “We are confident that this new platform will help us deliver an exceptional client experience and enhance our competitiveness while continuing our heritage as one of the most trusted financial groups.” 

The new cloud-native platform will feature open, component-based architecture enabling the bank to easily integrate third-party solutions and quickly add innovation to their offering. The client-centric design will leverage the power of AI to help the bank better understand the specific needs of its clients. The platform will also support a full range of retail and commercial deposit products from basic checking and savings accounts to the most complex financial products. 

Most notably it will be designed to seamlessly integrate with other FIS solutions creating a greater network allowing for the ability to provide new account onboarding, payment processing, card management, fraud and risk management, and global regulatory compliance. FIS is an international provider of banking software, working with some of the largest financial institutions in the world.

“The new FIS Modern Banking Platform will help Union Bank meet the expectations of digitally savvy clients who expect their banking experience to be as easy and convenient as shopping online,” said Gary Norcross, FIS chairman, president and CEO.