Consumer Account Opening for Existing Credit Union Members

Credit unions (CUs) have a unique ownership structure where their members are part owners of the CU. Each member gets a unique ID to track their membership. Some CUs call this a “member ID” or “membership ID,” while others assign “account numbers.” At banks, since there is no membership structure, users are identified based on their Social Security Number, date of birth, and unique core user ID. Additionally, CUs have share accounts, while banks have checking and savings accounts. CUs normally give a member a primary share account and additional shares can be opened as sub-shares of the primary share.

Note: The Consumer Account Opening experience for existing credit union members has specific core-related nuances. Please reach out to your Narmi Relationship Manager to ensure this is set up correctly against your institution’s core integration. Currently, Consumer Account Opening is available from a web browser, not our mobile app. Additionally, on Symitar cores, individual users who only existed on the core as joints, beneficiaries, or any other non-primary role are treated as new users instead of existing members.

Membership Models

CUs have four different membership models for the existing member flow in Consumer Account Opening:

1. Use Existing Member ID – Always associate a new share with an existing primary member ID/account number. If your institution uses account numbers, this will associate the new share with the primary account number but with an additional account number suffix.
2. Create New Member ID (Default) – Always create a new member ID/account number (this is the default if no option is set). If your institution uses account numbers, this will associate the new share with a net new account number.
3. User Associate – Allow the applicant to choose which one of their existing member ID/account numbers they would like to associate with the new share. A list of existing member ID/account numbers will display in the flow.
4. User Associate or New – Allow the applicant to choose whether they want to associate the new share with an existing member ID/account number or whether they want to create a new member ID/account number. A list of existing member ID/account numbers will display in the flow.

You can configure these membership models via the Admin Platform, under Configurations > Institution settings > Existing Core User Application Handling. Select Edit and enter one of the relevant options above in all caps with underscores as spaces. For example, to enable the "User Associate or New" configuration, enter USER_ASSOCIATE_OR_NEW. The default is CREATE_NEW_MEMBER_ID. 

Depending on your configuration, you will see how this affects the following flow in step 6.

In addition to the four options above, your institution must configure two additional flags that dictate the joint ownership structure for CUs. These are configured by Narmi and require a restart of your Production environment. Please contact your Narmi Relationship Manager to configure joints appropriately for your institution. The flags are:

• METADATA_NO_JOINT_ACCOUNTS_JUST_SHARE_NAME_RECORDS – This adds joint applicants at the share level. When set to false, joint applicants are set at the membership level; when set to true, joint applicants are set at the share level. The default is false.
• METADATA_JOINT_ACCOUNTS_EXPLICIT_SHARE_RECORDS – This adds joint applicants to only the new shares from the application. If set to false, joint applicants are added at the share level to all existing shares and new shares. If set to true, joint applicants are added at the share level to only new shares. The default is false.

Existing CU Member Flow

To open a consumer account as an existing credit union member from a web browser:

1. Welcome

Applicants start at your financial institution's welcome page. This URL is typically https://open.yourinstitutionname.com. To find your institution's account opening URL, from the Admin Platform, go to Configurations > Institution settings > Account Opening > New Account Opening URL.

The opening page asks whether the user has opened an account with your institution before. Select Yes, I’m a current or former member to continue through the existing user flow. If the answer is No, I’m a new customer, they are taken to the new user flow. If the answer is I started an application but didn’t finish it, they are taken to the continuing application flow.

2. Find Your Account 

Existing users enter the following information (all fields are required):

• First name
• Last name
• Email
• SSN/ITIN
• Date of birth
• Account number (only for Symitar cores)

Select Next.

At this point, we make a call to your institution’s core to determine if a user with the entered information exists. We currently only allow one applicant per email address. If an applicant is found, they proceed to step 3.

If no applicant is found from the information entered, we direct them to the new user flow.

If the applicant enters a correct date of birth and Social Security Number, but the email they entered does not match the core, we send a notification to the email address they entered. The notification asks the applicant to check the email associated with the institution for a link to continue the application. The default notification text can be customized in the Admin Platform under Configurations > Institution settings > DAO Existing User Email Mismatch Email Template.

3. Verification Code

If the applicant is found, we verify identity by sending a verification code to the email address from that core that is associated with the applicant. This is pulled using the Social Security Number and date of birth entered. The code expires after 10 minutes.
Enter the code and select Next.

4. Joint Account

Once verified, the next page asks if the applicant wants to open a joint account.
Note: There are several considerations your institution will need to make when supporting joint accounts within the existing credit union member flow. Please contact your Narmi Relationship Manager to configure joint accounts appropriately for your institution.

5. Your Info

Upon selecting Yes or No to a joint account, a form appears with the existing user’s information pre-populated from the core. For security purposes, this excludes date of birth and SSN.

If the applicant is opening a joint account, fields are provided for co-applicant information, which are the same fields required for the primary applicant. Applicants cannot use the same email address for both primary and joint applicants.

Note: If an applicant changes any of the pre-populated information, the changes they make will not be written to the core, except for the residential and/or mailing address—if set up to do so. If your institution has Institution settings > DAO Will Update Existing User Address set to True, then the residential and/or mailing address will be written to the core when changed by the applicant.

Scroll down for a list of descriptions for the fields on this page.

The following fields are available on the Your info page:

• First name
• Last name
• Social Security Number/ITIN
• Date of birth (for information on minors, go to Minor Applicants.)
• Occupation – Your institution can turn this field on or off in the Admin Platform under Configurations > Institution settings > Ask additional fields > Consumer Account Opening tab > Occupation. Once turned on, it is required for customers. Note: We write occupation to the core for IBS, Silverlake, SymXchange, and the ESB, but we do not write occupation to core for DNA.
• Email address – The email address cannot be changed once verified.
• Phone number
• Certification checkbox – Select the box to certify citizenship and taxpayer identification. Please reach out to your Narmi Relationship Manager for questions on this checkbox.
• Residential address
• Mailing address – Your institution can opt to have the mailing address separate from the residential address for primary and joint applicants. This is configurable by your institution in Configurations > Institution settings > Has Mailing Address. This adds a Mailing address is the same as your residential address box to this page, which is selected by default if added. Clearing the box opens a form to enter a different mailing address. Note: Different mailing and residential addresses are only supported on the following cores: Symitar, IBS, DNA, Corelation, Silverlake, and Enterprise Service Bus (ESB). 
  If you would like to allow applicants to use P.O. boxes for mailing addresses, you can enable this in Configurations > Institution settings > Edit Allow P.O. boxes as mailing addresses for Digital Account Opening (DAO). Note: Support for P.O. boxes differs depending on your core and the way it is configured. Please contact your Narmi Implementation Manager for more information.
• Joint address is the same – Your institution can opt to display an Addresses are the same for both applicants box, which is not selected by default if added. When selected, this hides the residential and/or mailing address fields for the joint applicant. You can enable this in Configurations > Institution settings > Joint addresses are the same checkbox.
  
  
• CAPTCHA (optional) – Your institution can opt to include a CAPTCHA box for human verification at the bottom of the page. You can turn this box on or off in the Admin Platform under Configurations > Institution Settings > Ask Additional Fields > Consumer Account Opening tab > CAPTCHA. Note: If this is your first time using this setting, please contact your Narmi Relationship Manager to ensure your institution is properly set up for CAPTCHA. Once set up, you can toggle this option or off as needed.
  
  Select Next.

6. Membership

The next step depends on your existing member configuration mentioned at the beginning of this article:

• If your configuration option is Use Existing Member ID or Create New Member ID, applicants are taken directly to step 7 in this article, where they choose accounts. With these two options, there are no changes to the flow—all logic changes occur on the back end and are reflected on the core when the accounts are opened.
• If your configuration option is User Associate, applicants must choose a member ID from a list of their existing member IDs.
  
• If your configuration option is User Associate or New, applicants can choose to use an existing member ID or create a new one.

After making selections, choose Next.

7. Account Selection

On the Choose your accounts page, applicants select which of your financial institution’s product offerings they would like to open, such as Checking, Savings, or Certificates of Deposit.
To customize the product offerings at your financial institution, including restrictions on the number of products that can be opened, required products, recommended products, and hidden products, please contact support@narmi.com. For information on providing your applicants with an Account Opening URL that opens to specific products pre-populated on the application, go to Product-specific Links.
Applicants select the accounts to open. Selected accounts show at the bottom under Your selection.
Note: Applicants can only open one checking account per application, but can select other product types and open them at the same time.
Select Next.

8. Account Activity

If configured by your institution, the next page contains a custom list of customer due diligence questions for the applicant to answer. These questions give you the ability to capture an applicant’s intended usage of their accounts and help you build a risk profile for the account/applicant. For example, “Do you intend to write checks from this account?”
You can configure these questions (which can be yes/no, freeform, or dropdown) in the Admin Platform under Configurations > Institution settings > Customer Due Diligence Consumer Questions. The questions and the applicant’s responses are displayed in the application view and Application Record/Membership Card of the Admin Platform, and the "account_activity_answers" column of the Consumer Account Applications report. Answers to freeform questions are limited to 95 characters.
Select Next.

9. Funding

Next, the applicant chooses a funding method—either an external bank account or a debit/credit card. To enable/disable ACH or card funding, please contact your Narmi Relationship Manager.

In the "Choose a funding method" section:

• To fund with a bank account by logging in, select Log in with your bank and follow the prompts to enter your banking credentials.
• To fund with a bank account by manually entering account information, select Manually link a bank account. Enter the routing and account numbers, and select the account type.
• To fund with a card, select Use a credit/debit card and enter the card information.

The selected account information appears onscreen with an option to edit the account details.

Next, below the funding method, enter the amount of funding for each new account. Amounts must be entered in $0.25 increments. Your institution can customize minimum balances and maximum funding limits by product. Please contact support@narmi.com for assistance with setting the minimum balances and funding limits. For information on funding limits, go to Funding Limits.

Below the funding amount, enter the referral code, if applicable. Go to Refer A Friend for more details on referral codes.

Select Next.

10. Preferences

On the Preferences page, applicants can opt to receive a debit card at the mailing address associated with the account by turning on the Debit card toggle. The debit card option is available for checking or savings accounts if set up by your institution in Product List Manager. If the applicant selects checking and savings accounts that both offer debit cards and requests a debit card, only one card is sent for both accounts. For joint applications, if the applicant requests a debit card, the card is automatically sent to both applicants (this cannot be changed). Your institution can make the debit card required for checking accounts by updating the "Do you want to require a debit card?" setting in Product List Manager in the Admin Platform. If required, users will not be able to turn off the debit card toggle on the Preferences page.
Also on the Preferences page, applicants can opt in to Courtesy Pay, if your institution provides this service. The preferences step is optional for your institution. Reach out to your Narmi Implementation Manager to turn these preferences on/off.
Select Next.

11. Disclosures

The Review disclosures page can vary by financial institution. You can set up specific disclosures by product, which are shown depending on which products the applicant has selected. This is customizable in the Admin Platform under Configurations > Institution settings > Disclosures. This setting supports Markdown. Go to Markdown Guide for assistance with basic syntax.
Check the boxes to accept the disclosures and select Next.

12. Review

The final step is a review of the completed application before submitting it. Select Edit to update any information or select Submit application to complete.

If the application is successful, a summary shows the opened accounts and initial funding. A confirmation email is sent to the email address associated with the account. Your institution can customize these emails from our Admin Platform under Configurations > Institution settings > Application Approved Template. Note: There are separate templates for business and consumer applicants.
If your institution uses Narmi for Online Banking, users can select Login to online banking to view their account(s).

If additional documents are required, instead of the approval page, the applicant is prompted to upload images of their Driver's License or Passport. This flow occurs only for institutions integrated with Vouched. Go to Application View - Header Details for more information about the Docs Requested flow.