Central 1 Partners with Backbase to Develop its New Member Platform

AMSTERDAM, February 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

• Central 1 serves a network of over 300 financial institutions, operating across 872 branches and serving more than 3 million members across Canada
• This new platform provides their clients with an improved user experience and greater integration possibilities
• This partnership will see Backbase deliver the new platform at an accelerated rate, saving Central 1 several years of time in development

Central 1 Credit Union (Central 1), the primary digital banking and payments provider for credit unions in Canada, has selected Backbase, the omni-channel digital banking market leader, to revamp its MemberDirect® platform and assist Canadian credit unions in staying at the forefront of innovation by deploying technology at an accelerated rate.

Backbase will play an instrumental role in helping to deliver an improved user experience across digital solutions through constant modernization, all while impacting the highly competitive Canadian market. After a competitive selection process, Central 1's main driver behind selecting Backbase was its expertise in delivering an omni-channel customer experience, as well as the flexibility of the Backbase platform which could integrate into Central 1's existing architecture.

The launch of this collaboration will not only upgrade the user experience for Central 1's clients but will drastically accelerate its roadmap for opening up the platform and giving direct control to clients. The new platform will enable Central 1 to unify its management system on an open, flexible platform that provides greater agility to integrate with existing and future solutions.

Customer user experience being its key focus, Central 1 was keen to provide credit unions with a new modernized platform that will support their digital banking needs, offering more control of their websites and the potential for future integration with other third parties.

Jouk Pleiter, CEO of Backbase said: "Having the opportunity to partner with Central 1 provides a great inroad to the Canadian market. This partnership combines the best of both worlds; a strong operational excellence and local market expertise from Central 1 combined with the leading digital banking technology from Backbase. We are delighted that Central 1 has entrusted the Backbase Platform as the foundation of its new digital member experience and we are looking forward to a rapid roll-out of the platform to all its members."

"Our partnership with Backbase, a global leader in digital omni-channel banking solutions, accelerates Canadian credit unions towards a leadership position in the digital space," said Oscar van der Meer, Chief Technology Officer at Central 1. "Through our cooperative model for economies of scale, we will be able to provide a leading-edge omni-channel solution to credit unions and their partners that ultimately will build a stronger digital banking eco-system for Canadian credit unions."

About Backbase:  

Backbase is a fast growing fintech software provider that empowers financial institutions to accelerate their digital transformation and effectively compete in a digital-first world.

We are the creators of the Backbase Omni-Channel Banking Platform, a state-of-the-art digital banking software solution that unifies data and functionality from traditional core systems and new fintech players into a seamless digital customer experience. We give financials the speed and flexibility to create and manage seamless customer experiences across any device, and deliver measurable business results. We believe that superior digital experiences are essential to stay relevant, and our software enables financials to rapidly grow their digital business.

More than 80 large financials around the world have standardized on the Backbase platform to streamline their digital self-service and online sales operations across all digital touchpoints. Our customer base includes ABN AMRO, Barclays, CheBanca!, Credit Suisse, Fidelity, Hapoalim, HDFC, Hiscox, ING, KeyBank, Legal & General, Al Rajhi Bank, NBAD, OTP, PZU, PostFinance, Societe Generale de Banque au Liban and Westpac.

Industry analysts Gartner, Forrester and Ovum recognize Backbase as an industry leader in terms of omni-channel banking platform capabilities, and award the company high marks for its deep focus on customer experience management and unparalleled speed of implementation. Forrester named us a leader in the Forrester Wave for Omni-Channel Banking and Ovum nominates Backbase as the market leading provider of next-generation digital channel banking platforms.

Backbase was founded in 2003, is privately funded, with headquarters in Amsterdam (HQ Global) and Atlanta (HQ Americas) and regional operations in London, Cardiff, Mumbai and Singapore.

About Central 1 

With offices in Vancouver, Mississauga and Toronto, Central 1 holds on balance sheet approximately $15.7 billion in assets. We provide wholesale financial products, trust services, payment processing solutions and direct banking services to almost 300 credit unions and institutional clients from coast to coast.

In addition, Central 1 is the primary liquidity manager, payments provider and trade association for our 42 member credit unions in B.C. and 70 Ontario member credit unions. Our members represent a consumer-oriented, full-service retail financial system that collectively serves 3.3 million members and holds more than $112 billion in assets. For more information, visit http://www.central1.com.