Top board portal case studies for credit unions: 3 customer stories about Aprio

Aprio board portal software is the number one choice among North America’s credit unions. Every year, we invite more credit unions to our community. While our easy-to-use technology is a big part of our successful relationship with credit unions, credit union loyalty is also earned by our standout service and good governance for all commitment. 

Our credit union partners also tell us they chose Aprio because of our community-focused values, including our investment with CUES – North America’s largest credit union organization; our specialized understanding of the needs of credit union boards when helping with board portal setup; and the fact that we haven’t let the convenience of automation supersede the value of helping our users personally with 24/7 support by phone and email. 

Check out these three case studies to find out exactly why credit unions choose Aprio, and how our board portal software serves as a vital governance tool for them.  

Case study: Meridian Credit Union 

When Meridian, the largest credit union in Ontario, first chose Aprio nine years ago, they had goals of leaving behind their inefficient paper process, saving on postage costs, and ensuring their data was secure. But a lot can change in nine years, and as the credit union’s needs evolved, they decided it was time to reassess their board portal solution. 

Meridian now includes two subsidiaries, each of which have their own board. Board reporting requirements were growing as locating information was becoming increasingly challenging. PDF meeting documents were sometimes 500 pages long, making it difficult to search the entire document when questions came up. Different committee members had different privileges when it came to accessing information and administrators were having trouble making sure that the correct people had proper access. Meridian had outgrown their initial Aprio configuration.   

“We were very prepared to make a change in our board portal if the value was there – but it turned out that Aprio continues to be the best fit for our needs,” commented Kate MacLeod, Governance Specialist at Meridian. “All we needed was an evolution in how we were using it.”

Read more to find out how Meridian examined a variety of board portal software solutions, but ultimately chose Aprio for the second time. 

Case study: Point West Credit Union 

Founded in 1932, Point West Credit Union clawed its way back from closure during the recession and now has more than $100M in assets under management. The credit union based in Portland, Oregon, has earned a reputation for being innovative, in part because of their willingness to use technology to help them tackle challenges and move their business forward. One of those challenges was how to better engage with their board of directors. 

When Amy Nelson, Point West’s president and CEO, first saw a demo of Aprio, she could easily imagine her board members using it. Visually, the ease of use of the software stood out.

“The design and functionality were logical. Actions made sense — like if you need a board member to sign minutes — there’s a pen icon right there to do that,” Amy Nelson said. “We could envision board members logging in from desktop or mobile devices and wasting no time pinching and resizing screens.” 

Read more to find out why else Point West settled on Aprio and all about the win they celebrated after eight months of using the board portal. 

Case study: Your Neighbourhood Credit Union (YNCU) 

John Haines, the board chair at Your Neighbourhood Credit Union in Ontario, admits that at first he was skeptical about board portal software. When YNCU merged with another credit union that used Aprio, he saw it as an unnecessary cost.

The organization built an internal system to share board material, but security was a big red flag. Data wasn’t encrypted and was circulated in an unsafe manner. The risk of a data breach was high. The board knew they were at risk. “It was a huge reputational risk,” said John Haines. “If people find out that your information is being shared around, that’s significant.”

Read more to find out what changed John Haines’ mind about Aprio and how the board software became one of the YNCU board’s high-performance assets. 

Aprio’s board portal software has benefitted many credit unions over years. Learn more about what credit unions should look for in their board portal software and why credit unions choose Aprio.