Openness a Key Factor in Ascend Federal Credit Union's Decision for Symitar

Platform connectivity and nimbleness combine to provide credit unions the tools they need to give members the experience they want

News provided by

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.

Jun 20, 2019, 08:00 ET

MONETT, Mo., June 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.^® (NASDAQ: JKHY) is a leading provider of technology solutions and payment processing services primarily for the financial services industry. Its Symitar^® division today announced that Ascend Federal Credit Union will convert to the Episys^® platform to create a stronger member experience and have greater flexibility to drive innovation through the core.

The $2.5 billion-asset Ascend sought out a core partner that would support its goal to provide members the same type of service and convenience they know from online retail providers. This meant having a tremendous depth of functionality within the proprietary system itself as well as integrating seamlessly with third parties, and the credit union cites Symitar as having both.

Matt Jernigan, executive vice president of Tennessee-based Ascend, said, "We want to empower our members to engage and transact with us in a variety of ways that align with their expectations for what banking can be. Symitar not only understands what this means to our organization, but truly enables this type of delivery. Episys is the perfect balance of a platform that enables a great employee user experience while also connecting easily into the channels that members interact with directly, including online banking, payments and our ITM environment."

Ascend will run Episys in the Jack Henry cloud environment, relying on Symitar to deliver its core in a safe and secure way while still benefitting from the same configurability and flexibility all Episys credit unions enjoy. The credit union currently operates its core system in-house and looks forward to the system uptime and added security afforded by the hosted model.

Mark Blazek, senior vice president and chief information officer at Ascend, said, "Our members are not concerned with the root causes of downtime; however, they are keenly aware of the fact that they cannot access their accounts or conduct financial transactions. This situation disrupts the positive reputation that Ascend has developed with its members. Symitar has demonstrated the capabilities to support our availability requirements and boasts a sophisticated continuity and disaster recovery infrastructure that will help ensure Ascend's reputation remains strong."

Ted Bilke, vice president of Jack Henry & Associates and president of Symitar, commented, "We want our credit unions to understand that our partnership is deeper than technology. When we can work alongside them to understand their goals to be better – to be more – for their members, that's when really special things happen. We're excited to welcome credit unions like Ascend to the Episys community, helping us push the platform's potential and innovate for the modern member."

About Symitar
Symitar, a division of Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.^®, is the leading provider of integrated computer systems for credit unions of all sizes. Symitar has been selected as the primary technology partner by more than 800 credit unions, serving as a single source for integrated, enterprise-wide automation and as a single point of contact and support. Additional information is available at www.symitar.com.

About Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.
Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.^® (NASDAQ: JKHY) is a leading provider of technology solutions and payment processing services primarily for the financial services industry. The S&P 500 company's solutions serve more than 9,000 customers nationwide and are marketed and supported through three primary brands. Jack Henry Banking^® supports banks ranging from community banks to multi-billion-dollar institutions with information processing solutions. Symitar^® is a leading provider of information processing solutions for credit unions of all sizes. ProfitStars^® provides highly specialized products and services that enable financial institutions of every asset size and charter, and diverse corporate entities to mitigate and control risks, optimize revenue and growth opportunities, and contain costs. Additional information is available at www.jackhenry.com.

Statements made in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking information. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking information. Specifically, there are a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by any forward-looking information. Additional information on these and other factors, which could affect the Company's financial results, are included in its Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings on Form 10-K, and potential investors should review these statements. Finally, there may be other factors not mentioned above or included in the Company's SEC filings that may cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking information.

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SOURCE Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.