Brian Arcand
Title: Senior Information Officer, Sharon Credit Union
Age: 34
Experience: 14 years
Brian Arcand never thought he’d wind up in the financial industry. He attended a vocational high school to learn carpentry and cabinetry, and he worked for his uncle as an electrical apprentice for a few years afterward. He decided to enroll at the New England Institute of Technology when he became a father, and it was there that he decided to pursue his passion for computers. Shortly thereafter, he wound up at Sharon Credit Union, and while he was initially a little hesitant to enter the banking world, he also had a feeling it’d be just the place to hone his technical expertise.
Q: What would you count among your biggest accomplishments in your early years at the credit union?
A: One of the biggest things I’m proud of was the introduction of our website in 1999. The Internet was still not really there. I established an Internet connection in the credit union, and we started our first email client. Another big experience was going through the whole Y2K thing, which was obviously a non-event, but being a young guy and new to the industry, it was very nerve-wracking for me, so it was a good challenge.
Q: How did you prepare for that?
A: We did a lot of software upgrades to our existing structure, and I worked a lot with our core processing system in making sure that system was going to be ready for the date roll. That was one of the big things … I worked with other credit unions through the Y2K process, and it was interesting.
Q: How have you incorporated member feedback into your own work at the credit union?
A: I’d have to say e-notices. We always offered e-statements, and some of our members started asking, could I get my mortgage notice electronically? My collections letters? My NSF notices? But at the time, we couldn’t do it. Then last year, we implemented e-notices, so members can opt in to e-notices and receive their mortgage bill electronically.
Mobile banking was a big one. We also did QuickBooks integration, so QuickBooks could integrate with our home banking solution. Enhancing our bill pay package was another.
We just redeveloped our website, too. That was mostly driven by marketing, but we’ve received some good feedback on our new website.
Q: What’s on your agenda for the New Year?
A: There are a couple of things that I want to say, but they aren’t definite.
We’re investigating the use of interactive video teller machines, the ability to Skype through an ATM. We might not be implementing it, but we’re looking at it. It maintains that personal touch that a CU has, the face to face member experience.
The other thing we’re committed to offer is this new feature with Popmoney that’s called “Request Money.” That gives consumers the ability to reach out and request money, if they have a charity or a soccer team or something like that, they can request money for fundraising. It’s a cool feature; it should be well received and we’re excited to offer it.
Another huge thing, which was member requested: right now, you can scan checks though your phone. People want to do it on their tablets, too, so we’re expanding that capability. That should be coming in the spring, or maybe even late winter.
We’re also looking to offer small business payments, the ability to do ACH and wire money through invoicing and paying their bills and paying their employees through payroll services.
With these features come a lot of security concerns. That’s where our due diligence comes in. We do a good job of crossing our t’s and dotting our i’s, so we’re going to perform enhanced risk analysis before we implement these solutions.
Top Five Favorite Technology Companies:
- Dell
- Microsoft
- VMWare
- Amazon
