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A Vancouver-based credit union is banking on a Microsoft SQL Server-based system to enhance its business operations, as well as its ability to serve customers.

North Shore Credit Union (NSCU) of North Vancouver, BC recently deployed a Temenos T24TM banking system supported by Microsoft SQL Server 2005.

Especially attractive to NSCU are the new system's 24-hour data processing and business continuity features.

NSCU - which manages more than $2 billion in assets and has more than 40,000 members - selected the Temenos Group of Vancouver to deploy the new system.

The credit union's previous core banking product - the VisionWest system from Open Solutions - "tied CRM to a batch update process that was not good for business," noted Fred Cook, chief information officer, NSCU.

He said when employees needed the most recent client information they often had to wait 24 hours for the database to update and provide the CRM system with fresh information. "This is certainly not good when the client is standing in front of you."

When Open Solution informed NSCU that the credit union's banking system was being discontinued, Cook felt in was the perfect time to investigate other alternatives.

He said he was attracted to T24 because of the "breadth of functionality" it offered. "We didn't need to slog through developing services; we could just go right into rapid deployment."

With T24, he said, NSCU workers can now access information from the database almost instantly.

"Integration is solid. The real-time interface enables client-facing employees to get information in less than five minutes," said Cook.

The new system also cuts the need for repeated data entry.

Rather than keying in the same client information every time a new file or account is opened for a customer, employees can now grab the data from the core system and enter it into the CRM system "without opening multiple windows or applications."

Several features of the Microsoft-Temenos system met NSCU's needs.

For instance, T24 comes with a BI suite that "integrates right out of the box," noted Sujan Menezes, industry manager, financial services at Microsoft Canada.