How Coast Capital Savings went through a digital banking transformation

Coast Capital Savings: effective digital transformation in record time

Coast Capital Savings is the largest Canadian federal credit union, and it has big digital ambitions. It manages nearly $27 billion in assets, operates 45 branches, and serves 600 000 members - more than any other credit union in Canada. Founded in 1940, Coast Capital was the first credit union in British Columbia to gain approval to become a federal credit union.

Although Coast Capital’s brick-and-mortar branch infrastructure has always been a core part of its business, they recognized that members sought digital services to allow them to engage with their finances anytime and anywhere. They partnered with ebankIT in 2018 and launched a mission to become a fully digital credit union. 

The solution was delivered in 18 months, with a new banking app released in the summer of 2019. 

Coast Capital’s purpose of “Building Better Futures Together” underscores its commitment to unlocking opportunities to help its members achieve their financial goals. Providing a comprehensive digital banking platform was a key component in fulfilling this purpose. 

Working in close partnership with ebankIT, Coast Capital has achieved its goal of becoming an innovative, competitive digital banking financial institution that supports the changing needs of its members while being well-positioned for future growth and expansion across Canada. 

Award-winning innovation

During the highly acclaimed Finovate Fall event in 2019, ebankIT showcased its cutting-edge banking platform to an esteemed audience of 120 industry experts and 1,500 influential individuals. After an impressive display of 75 live demos from various innovative competitors, ebankIT emerged as the clear winner, receiving two prestigious awards: Best of Show and Best Fintech Partnership for collaborating with Coast Capital Savings.

Surviscor, an expert in evaluating the online and mobile banking landscape, crowned Coast Capital’s mobile banking app as the finest among Canadian credit unions, securing the top spot for mobile banking experiences. Not only did it outshine its competitors in the credit union sector, but it also ranked among the top 5 overall in 2023, surpassing the performance of several major banks.

Coast Capital’s mobile banking app has been recognized as the top-performing credit union experience by Surviscor. This accolade is attributed to the platform’s enhanced security features, personalized functionalities, and the integration of Money Manager, a leading Personal Financial Management tool. Additionally, iSky, another reputable third-party researcher, ranked Coast Capital’s iPhone app as the third best across all credit unions and banks in Canada in 2023.

Overcoming competition and embracing transformation

Before partnering with ebankIT, Coast Capital was planning to expand its market nationally. They wanted to harness best-in-class financial technology to drive rapid, cost-effective penetration of new markets.

Coast Capital required a multi-channel digital banking platform that could support its website as well as online and mobile banking channels. They needed to comply with strict Canadian legislation whilst offering the flexibility to adapt to the demands of a fast-moving market and the changing needs of digital customers. The credit union also faced the challenge of migrating 240 000 members over to the new platform while accounting for the diverse needs of members and their differing abilities to adapt to change.

The decision to partner with ebankIT was made after a comprehensive market evaluation process to find the ideal service provider to help Coast Capital extend its capacity and capabilities to offer leading digital banking solutions that meet changing digital demands.

ebankIT offers members features such as personalization, best-in-class security, modern user experiences, and strong small business capabilities, differentiating Coast Capital in the market and allowing it to leapfrog competitors.

Our partnership with eBankIT has been instrumental in bringing our vision of a cutting-edge digital banking solution to life. Together, we've redefined convenience, security, and accessibility in banking.

- Calvin MacInnis, President & CEO, Coast Capital Savings. 

ebankIT: The path to a successful digitized future

The award-winning ebankIT omnichannel platform now powers Coast Capital’s web and mobile banking channels; each channel is integrated yet independent enough to have its own configuration to achieve greater security and flexibility.

Data can be collected and shared across all channels to drive the development of truly customer-centric products and services. The platform also supports third-party technologies, giving Coast Capital the ability to drive ongoing digital channel innovation.

The ebankIT platform offers a feature-rich, business-focused middleware facilitating seamless integration among Coast Capital’s digital channels, internet banking solution, and mobile banking solution with its core banking system, Temenos Transact, the world’s most popular digital core-banking solution utilized by over 1 000 banks across more than 150 countries.

The ebankIT platform uses the same core connector for both internet and mobile banking, which both operate using the same logic to limit risk and enable faster deployment of new front-end channels.

The ebankIT Platform comes pre-integrated with many core banking systems and can connect to legacy and custom systems. It provides rich business-focused middleware supported by powerful back-office tools. The ebankIT Studio is a full development suite that allows the rapid deployment of high-quality, robust banking solutions.

The ebankIT API Gateway enables banks to leverage external fintech products and services (including PSD2 adoption). 

One of 7 Vendors Worldwide that supports digital banking across all key areas in the bank enterprise...

- Gartner