Important information about BCU's new digital platform
After a busy period of planning, designing, developing and testing we are delighted to announce that we're now in the final stages of preparing to launch our new website and member portal - and we can't wait to show it to you. Our target is to launch this Thursday, 5th November.
Our new digital platform will help us improve the ways we can provide services to our members and to support our plans for growth. To facilitate this change our website will be offline on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday. If you currently use the web portal be aware that it will be unavailable from Tuesday afternoon until Thursday morning. Please do check our further information on key dates below.
Preparing for the launch - key dates
This is a big change for Bristol Credit Union and our members and we know that there is going to be a period of adjustment over the next few weeks before things smooth out. We will be giving our members as much notice and support as we can, and of course we will do everything we can to minimise disruption to our services as we prepare to switch.
Tuesday 3rd November: 2 days before the launch
- Transfer requests will need to be received by 2pm.
- Online membership and first time loan applications will be unavailable from 1pm.
- Access to current member area will be unavailable from 1pm.
- Phonelines will close at 4pm to support switch over.
Wednesday 4th November: Day before launch
- Email and telephone only service - web portal will be unavailable today. NB please do use email where possible.
- All daily banking and payments will still be processed as normal.
Thursday 5th November & ongoing Launch Day
- New website live.
- New members will be able to apply for savings and loans products using the new application process.
- Existing members will still be able to access the old member area and view their accounts from 7pm. Transfer and withdrawal requests can still be made, as well as applications for loans and other products.
- Access to the new portal will be rolled out in stages, once the new website goes live to ensure the process is as smooth as possible.
- Existing members will be sent an activation email inviting them to start using the new member portal and to set up their account.
Risks
As with any big change, and especially IT related changes, there are risks that things might not work out as we have planned in how the roll out proceeds. This could mean that we are busier than normal on our 'phone lines and with emails, and please do bear with the team while they get used to the new tools that they'll have to help you with your finances. You might find that loan applications take a little longer than normal for a few days too.
We have planned and prepared as much as we can, but if we find that we are not progressing as we need with our work to be ready for 5th then we might still postpone our launch. We're not expecting to have to at this point of course.
We're not a big team, so it is all hands to the pumps in preparing for this change and we will be doing everything we can to minimise disruption. We hope you will be as excited as we are about these changes, and if you have any questions about the new platform, please let us know.
