NEW YORK, June 27, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- CashEdge, Inc. (www.cashedge.com), the leading provider of online financial applications, together with Los Angeles Firemen's Credit Union (www.lafirecu.org ), a credit union serving firefighters and their families in the state of California, have unveiled OpenNow(tm) and FundNow(tm) to the credit union's membership. The industry's first end-to-end, single-session, online account opening and funding solution, OpenNow/FundNow enables prospective credit union members to securely open and fund a new account in real-time through the credit union's website.
OpenNow is an online account enrollment, authorization and validation product. FundNow provides a risk-managed service for funding new accounts online. Together, the solutions increase new account completion rates by reducing the time and complexity of the new account opening and funding process. Prospective members can apply for, be approved for and fund a new account in one single session through an automated authentication and verification process.
Approximately 95 percent of new online account applicants drop out between enrollment and funding. By offering a single-session solution, CashEdge enables financial institutions to increase dramatically account completion rates among this valuable member-base. Online members are particularly attractive because they are less costly to acquire and more profitable, maintaining higher account balances, utilizing more services and exhibiting higher overall account activity.
"We are pleased by the successful launch of our OpenNow and FundNow solutions with Los Angeles Firemen's Credit Union. We were originally selected to provide our Inter-Institution Transfer solution to the credit union in 2004. The expansion of our relationship underscores the value of our technology and their satisfaction with our service," said Sanjeev Dheer, Chief Executive Officer of CashEdge. "As Los Angeles Firemen's Credit Union continues to expand, these solutions will enable them to fully leverage their online channel to sign-on and better serve new members across the state of California without incurring the cost of branch expansions."
"We are very excited about the utility of CashEdge's technology. We've already witnessed an influx of new member accounts completed online and haven't begun to promote the new service," explained George Kings, Vice President of Information Services. "Member relationships are the foundation of our credit union's success. By offering this service we are able to provide a far superior enrollment process, while also leveraging the technology to implement cross-selling campaigns targeting the new members. Our next step will be to use data captured by OpenNow/FundNow to generate automatic replies to newly approved members about their pre-approval for select loan products and discounted rates," Kings added.
OpenNow and FundNow are available for both banks and credit unions as stand-alone solutions or as part of CashEdge's comprehensive Bank Suite and Credit Union Suite.
About CashEdge
CashEdge(r) provides innovative, online financial applications for banks, credit unions and wealth management firms. CashEdge's solutions include end-to-end online account opening and funding, funds transfer and data consolidation. These proven solutions are flexible, scalable and supported by extensive risk management capabilities. With CashEdge, financial institutions are able to create compelling online offerings that attract customers, generate revenues and reduce costs.
CashEdge serves over 200 financial institutions in North America, including such leading institutions as Bank of America, Citibank, Harrisdirect, Royal Bank of Canada and The Vanguard Group. CashEdge has offices in New York and Silicon Valley. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.cashedge.com.
About Los Angeles Firemen's Credit Union
Since 1935, Los Angeles Firemen's Credit Union has provided a secure financial environment for the brave men and women of California's fire departments. As one of the largest credit unions exclusively serving the financial needs of firefighters and their families, LAFCU has a proud tradition of providing exceptional service and a wide array of financial products and services.
We treat each member with respect, providing service satisfaction with every encounter. We give our best in financial value and committed service. The kitchen table is the center of the firefighter community. Each day, we work to earn an honored seat there, as their most trusted financial services provider.
Today, Los Angeles Firemen's Credit Union has over $690 million in assets and serves more than 21,000 members. To learn more about LAFCU, visit www.lafirecu.org or call (800) 231-1626.