Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for credit unions.
A checklist built from how credit unions work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Member records
- Share and savings balances
- Loan applications and committee decisions
- Employer and standing deductions
- Arrears and member follow-up
- Member notices and meetings
- Board and regulator reports
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For tellers and member service staff
- For loan officers
- For credit committee members
- For the treasurer and board
- For collections volunteers
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Members by common bond group and employer
- Loan book by product, with arrears ageing
- Guarantor exposure by person
- Credit committee decisions with conditions set
- Employer deduction files matched and left over
- Share and savings balances by account type
- Dividend and interest postings for the year
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- SMS
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- Employer deduction files
- Bank statement import
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Does it hold shares and savings as well as loans?
- Can it show how much a guarantor has pledged?
- How does it record a committee decision?
- Can it split an employer’s deduction file?
- Can volunteers use it without accounting knowledge?
- Will it follow the rules for credit unions in our country?
- Can our existing member list and balances be moved?
- Who owns the member records?
- Is a price listed for a small credit union?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Member records live in several files
- Committee decisions are hard to trace
- Employer deductions arrive in bulk
- Late payments are chased unevenly
- Volunteers leave and take knowledge with them
Prefer to talk it through? See the credit unions page.