Our Assignments
The consultants at D & D Consulting and Management Services have developed and delivered a wide variety of strategic and operational programs for credit unions, credit union Centrals, provincial and national task forces, and financial service suppliers. Our goal has been to help the financial industry optimize performance and respond to time-sensitive challenges through the introduction of new technology, conversion to new systems, and delivery of quality assurance and due diligence programs.
We have managed the development and implementation of the following:
Switching
- EMV (Europay-MasterCard-Visa) enabling of the switching technology environment (including chip card issuance, ATM deployment and network connectivity) for 334 credit unions using 42 separate banking
- a new Interac node servicing credit unions in the Maritimes, Ontario, Saskatchewan and BC
- new switching technology in approximately 60 credit unions located throughout British Columbia and Ontario
- new HTML-based ATM functionality with remote software distribution and the deployment of pilot ATMs
- conversion of credit unions from a legacy switching platform
- the RFP for a national switching contract
Banking
- conversion of seven credit unions to a new browser-based banking system solution
- planning a credit union conversion strategy, including delivery of a charter and project schedule
- proof of concept implementation for the National Connectivity Project, the first multi-organizational account aggregation service within the credit union system
Payments
- migration of cheque clearing data centre operations to an external supplier
- an electronic bill payment distribution and settlement system servicing approximately 100 Ontario credit unions
- a strategy for image processing technology, including cheque processing
- the RFP for cheque clearing outsourcing services
Case Studies
- GE Money Canada – 2007
- Laurentian Bank of Canada (LBC) – 2005
- Citizens Bank (Providence, Rhode Island) – 2004
- CGI – 1996-2006
Credit Union Central of Canada – 2008
D & D Role: strategic planning and program management for EMV chip implementation
D & D Consulting and Management Services co-ordinated the chip migration program for 334 credit unions using 42 separate banking systems. Specific elements of the program were chip card issuance, ATM deployment and network connectivity (Interac, Visa/PLUS, and MasterCard/CIRRUS). We conducted research and focused our efforts on standardizing and simplifying the project in order to meet ambitious timelines. D & D was involved at both the strategic and operational level in this project, ultimately coordinating the migration of the 300-plus credit unions to the new system.
Conexus Credit Union – 2008
D & D Role: development of business case for selecting a new banking systems supplier and project management of the conversion process
Conexus is the largest credit union in Saskatchewan and the sixth largest credit union in Canada. Conexus demonstrated its commitment to strategic allocation of resources when it involved D & D Consulting and Management Services at the start of its banking system conversion program. We were initially contracted to assist in developing a business case for selecting a new banking systems supplier. We filled a governance and consulting role, working with the team from all areas of the organization to review potential system suppliers and bring a recommendation to the executive team and board of directors. D & D is particularly proud of the project team’s synergy and the transparency of the process. Because many of the team members were unfamiliar with the RFP/RFI process, we dedicated time to orienting and in-servicing the group. We feel the project benefited from our impartial, third-party status and business planning experience.
Servus Credit Union – 2009
D & D Role: management of a streamlining and card migration project
D & D Consulting and Management Services helped Servus, Alberta’s largest and Canada’s third largest credit union, in its efforts to streamline its switching environment and roll out chip cards to its membership. Our role as project management consultants required us to bring creativity to finding solutions for challenges, in particular the ambitious timeline and complexity of the project.
GE Money Canada – 2007
D & D Role: business process modeling and operational support
GE Money Canada began business as a de novo trust company in 2007, launching a limited product offering primarily in the area of home equity lines of credit. D & D Consulting and Management Services helped GE Money provide the necessary operational support for its new Canadian products and services, specifically in the creation of new back office processes and procedures for debit cards, cheque clearing and automated debit/credit transaction processing (AFT). We took a phased approach to avoid delays due to dependencies on other activities. First, we researched regulatory and procedural requirements to create a procedural shell that was not dependent on business decisions or banking system specifics. Next, we used our extensive knowledge of the financial services industry and our end-to-end expertise in payments processing to develop airtight operating procedures. We assisted GE Money Canada with its decision-making by providing expertise on the positive and negative impacts of particular business decisions and documented the outcome of all business decisions within the procedural shell.
Laurentian Bank of Canada (LBC) – 2005
D & D Role: project manager of transition from in-house ABM platform to outsourced service
Laurentian Bank of Canada undertook a large scale, complex ABM project requiring the transition from an in-house ABM platform to an outsourced ABM transaction processing service. As part of this more than $3 million project, D & D Consulting and Management Services managed the development and delivery of many new functions, including a platform based on new Interac and Visa compliance and security regulations. We directed multifunctional teams, including senior executives, developers, business analysts, production support, users, and suppliers. We also managed the certification and implementation of new ABM models and oversaw the development and implementation of HTML ABM screens. We worked within a tight timeframe with domino effect consequences if deadlines weren’t met.
Citizens Bank (Providence, Rhode Island) – 2004
D & D Role: project manager and communication expert for mainframe upgrade
This major mainframe system upgrade was defined as “the single biggest technology event in the history of Citizens Bank” and was recognized as critical to its continued success as one of the top ten banks in the United States. D & D Consulting and Management Services had complex management responsibilities on this project, including managing the overall project schedule, timelines, deadlines and milestones. The project team was immense and diverse. It included hundreds of people from various affected areas: the Fidelity technical upgrade team; the Citizens Bank application owners and stakeholders; the project resource people (developers, business analysts, test managers, and production support); and the technical and business arms of Citizens Bank delivery applications (branch automation, call centre, Internet banking, and voice response). We communicated and collaborated with them all. The stakes in this project were high; it was the cornerstone on which the bank was building its future and would have a direct impact on all projects that would follow. Because of the organizational skills of D & D consultants and our ability to work effectively and efficiently with others, excellent results were delivered on time.
CGI – 1996-2006
D & D Role: project management of conversions and data centre moves
Over a 10-year period, D & D Consulting and Management Services worked with CGI to fill a variety of project management roles. We were involved with banking system conversions and switching conversions from the supplier side, managing cross-functional teams, allocating scarce resources, and meeting seemingly impossible deadlines. We also managed technical projects, moving switching environments from Vancouver to a Mississauga data centre and the service bureau banking system from Mississauga to a data centre in Halifax. Our work involved coordinating with data centre personnel, business analysts, and project managers from across the country. We were responsible for rebuilding automation, report delivery and telecommunications connectivity. It was during these projects that D & D consultants earned a reputation for being action-oriented, results-focused, accountable, and not afraid to address sensitive issues.