Recently, David Wexler, CEO of ModusBox, interviewed Martin Walker, VP Digital Experience & Innovation of Sound Credit Union, for a behind-the-scenes experience of Sound CU’s digital transformation. The interview was part of Ongoing Operation’s webinar series titled Keeping Up With FinTech. In this webinar, David and Martin share the cultural, operational, and technical challenges overcome along the way, the best practices employed, and how the initiative has empowered the credit union’s ability to partner with new FinTechs quickly!
Some of the questions we asked Martin during the conversation:
- What was the main reason for connecting to the banking core using an API-led integration layer?
- How did vendor lock-in and cost factor in your decision to digitally transform?
- What was the process for budgeting and approving a project like this?
- What were some of the organizational challenges or obstacles that you faced?
- What are the best practices or things that you have learned along the way and would pass along to companies considering an API-led integration architecture?
- How did implementing APIs and using API management tools change the culture at Sound CU?
- What strategic outcomes do you expect to realize by implementing the API methodology and tools?
Key (paraphrased) quotes from Martin’s answers:
“The organization is starting to see the impact. We recently completed two new integrations. On one, we saw about 75% time & work savings, and on the other, it was closer to 90%!”
“With those wins, the business is excited about the API-led methodology and has started asking vendors if their solutions have APIs. If the answer is ‘no,’ it’s a deal-breaker.”
“We are moving at a pace now, where we are waiting for the business to catch up.”
“To date, we’ve mitigated over a million dollars in costs!”
Catch the whole conversation
We are grateful for the time that Martin set aside to share his insights. You can view the recorded webinar in its entirety by visiting Ongoing Operations or read the extended recap on their blog.
If you would like to learn more about how we help financial institutions unlock access to banking core data and accelerate innovation, start a conversation with our team today.
