Ask the Tough Questions

Given your core solution’s importance, gather your team and ask the following 10 questions to determine if your bank is positioned for success and high performance in the future.

1. Does our bank have current and fair market pricing for the services we receive?

2. When was the last time we actually shopped around and evaluated other core solutions?

3. Have we negotiated deconversion fees or are we at the mercy of the provider to determine the cost of getting our own data back to execute a conversion to another provider?

4. On average, it takes one year to perform proper due diligence to evaluate a core provider and one year for conversion planning, so we need to start the process two years in advance of our contract renewal or expiration, hence…when does our contract renew or expire?

5. Is our core solution on the chopping block, meaning will it be sunset/retired soon and we'll be forced to migrate to another solution offered by the same provider?

6. Are any of the new core solutions we hear about at conferences and read about in trade publications ready for prime time, and can one of these solutions fully replace our current legacy core?

7. Do we have the digital services to compete with fintechs and neobanks, as well as our traditional competition?

8. With digital wallets growing in popularity and use, does our debit card processor have us positioned to offer these services and increase our non-interest income?

9. From a vendor management standpoint, is our core provider financially stable and secure?

10. Are we even on the best solution our core provider offers, or are we using an older solution that they are not keeping updated?