HOUSTON, November 28, 2017 – Harris County Federal Credit Union had been outsourcing management of its ATMs for several years, but has now turned those ATMs over to Dolphin Debit in a move that has yielded improved service for the credit union.
The credit union, frustrated with the lackluster service that its previous management provider offered, turned to Dolphin Debit, the full-service ATM management company, earlier this year. Dolphin Debit has been handling Harris County FCU’s ATMs since May, when it brought in 17 new ATMs to replace the credit union’s existing fleet.
Harris County Federal Credit Union is a 66-year-old institution with 17,700 members and $158 million in assets. Its core membership is the county employees of Harris County, but it also serves certain under-served areas in Houston.
The credit union has a single downtown branch, located near a concentration of county buildings, but has 17 walkup ATMs arrayed around the Houston area, in locations that are convenient for members as well as for non-members who may need cash to conduct county business.
Vicki Squires, President of Harris County FCU, explained that the credit union just wasn’t happy with the level of service it had been receiving from its former ATM company, and moved to Dolphin Debit on the recommendation of several other local credit unions.
“We were having a lot of service issues, and we were looking for a less costly option,” Squires said. “With Dolphin Debit, we are saving money, and they have been refreshingly easy to work with.”
We were having to pay way too much attention to our ATMs previously,” she added. “Now things take care of themselves, which is what we wanted.”
Some county buildings will be closed for long periods as a result of Hurricane Harvey damage in August, Squires said, but she noted that Dolphin Debit worked diligently to get the Harris County FCU ATMs out of those buildings so they can be redeployed in the short-term.
“Third-party ATM management has a lot of advantages for credit unions such as Harris County FCU,” said Gary Walston, co-founder of Dolphin Debit. “But as they found out, quality customer service is essential. It can make all the difference in whether a credit union really gets the most out of its decision to outsource.”