Bank First: The foundation for a future focused digital strategy

Ultradata and Bank First have collaborated closely to rollout a very large and complex core banking system upgrade, setting the foundation for Bank First to progress their future focused digital banking strategy.

The Bank First ‘Ultracs 5.1’ upgrade, from ‘Ultracs 5.0’, represents the first step in a contract extension plan that will see Bank First leverage the latest digital tools in the Ultracs Ecosystem to accelerate the digitisation of their bank.

In November 2021, Ultradata and Bank First began negotiations and discussions with the purpose of extending their existing contract. In June 2022, Bank First decided to renew their contract with Ultradata, keen to embrace the latest Ultradata digital banking developments, with upgrade project work commencing shortly after to meet the tight project milestones with enough time to navigate complex system requirements.

Another important deciding factor for Bank First for the upgrade were the benefits of the Ultracs Ecosystem library of solutions that are completely integrated in the core banking system and deliver seamless processing experiences.

Ultradata successfully rolled out the Ultracs upgrade on the 22nd of January, 2023 to give Bank First a platform for future preparedness, and the ability to scale up.

Bank First’s digital platform future prepared

Bank First is rolling out an extensive program of work to continue improving customer banking experiences, deepening customer relationships and becoming more agile for future growth and sustainability.

In this program of work, Bank First is focusing heavily on digital banking experiences to offer more customer convenience and ease of use.
The Ultracs 5.1 upgrade was the critical first step in rolling out this digital strategy, with Ultracs 5.1 being a pre-requisite for any future developments in the Ultracs Ecosystem including new features and the latest releases for;

• Ultracs App 2;
• My Viewpoint 3 online banking; and
• Ultracs Connector

With these latest digital banking releases, Bank First will be able to offer more intuitive customer experiences, such as digital customer onboarding within App 2, and customised banking experiences including loan application modification within the workflow with the latest release of Ultracs Connector.

Buckets of Ultracs 5.1 benefits

The Ultracs 5.1 core banking system is more than just a core banking platform for digital banking, it is a platform that offers ‘knock on’ benefits, some of which are compliance driven, and some in Bank First’s case, are critical to implement ‘best practices’ in areas of risk, customer attrition and onboarding to grow the customer base;

• Stronger cybersecurity with new in-built features such as card encryption.
• A more intuitive operator user experience and increased automation for business cost efficiency.
• More centrally available information from the one screen. Ultracs 5.1 provides an entire profile view of the customer, and makes it easier for operators to find the information they need quickly and easily, thus offering a customised service to their customers.

We aren’t just a supplier, we are a partner

Ultradata has performed many Ultracs 5.1 upgrades before, but a core banking system upgrade is always undoubtedly a major undertaking.
The Bank First upgrade was particularly large and complex due to Bank First customer numbers in excess of 107,000 (February 2023), and further layer of complexity of modifications containing customised controls for what operators and customers can see or do was in play.

The whole team at Ultradata was keen to assist Bank First and meet the unique needs and requirements, as Ultradata has always viewed itself as a partner to our clients, not just simply a supplier.

To commence the project, Ultradata and Bank First assessed the impact the modifications could have on the upgrade, and both teams worked extremely closely to discuss and audit which modifications were required, and then test that these modifications were working correctly as they migrated from Ultracs 5 to Ultracs 5.1.

In addition, the strict requirements of the Bank First Governance team had to be met to get this project over the line, and a very thorough and rigorous testing regime needed to be passed at various stages and gated phases of the project plan. This resulted in many teams involved at Bank First and each had their own requirements to meet.

With so much involved, Ultradata understood what was required to get through each phased gateway, and brought in virtual specialist teams across the business to assure that the right amount of visibility was accessible to address any challenges.

Ultradata and Bank First conducted regular weekly meetings to keep the project flowing on time, and to identify, escalate and resolve priority issues in a timely manner. Towards the end of the project, these meetings escalated to thrice weekly to ensure that the final set date for going live was met.

Everyone was absolutely committed to helping Bank First achieve this significant milestone in their digital transformation.

The Bank First project governance team signed off on the project with teams commencing the upgrade on the 21st of January at 10PM. The Ultracs 5.1 upgrade instillation was successfully completed the very next morning, with Bank First achieving its first objective in conducting a seamless core banking system upgrade with minimal impact on operators and customers.

What's next?

Bank First is now focused on progressing the next steps of their digital strategy including an upgrade to the latest releases of Ultracs App 2 and Ultracs Connector, and upgrading from My Viewpoint Next Generation to My Viewpoint 3, so that their customers can enjoy new and improved digital banking experiences. 

The Bank First upgrade is a wonderful example of what strong collaboration can achieve. All teams involved from both organisations pulled together at every touch point of the project process. 

Thank you Bank First for trusting us in this incredible transformation project.