Reaping the Rewards: 4 Big Benefits Clients Enjoy at IBT Apps

Every core vendor will feature a laundry list of benefits on their website or brochure. They’ll save you money. You’ll beat the competition. But, are there any benefits that particularly stand out?

What’s their client involvement look like?
How do they protect your bank during unexpected times?
Are they enhancing their products with you in mind?

With banking technology rapidly changing, you’ll need to work with a core partner and not just another core vendor. A core partner won’t just give you peace of mind that you’re in good hands; they’ll go in detail and show you how they put your business first. Moreover, they’ll provide you with top notch benefits you may not be able to get elsewhere.

4 Big Benefits Clients Enjoy at IBT Apps

1. Your voice matters in our client-led software enhancements process.

We know software enhancements make our products and services better for our clients. That’s why we strive for continuous improvement, but we can’t do it alone. Who better to give us feedback and lead the enhancements process than the people already using our suite of solutions, our very own clients.

As a client, you’re invited to participate in the Client Advisory Board (C.A.B.), where your voice guides how, and what software enhancements we should develop and implement next. This not only demonstrates how we actively put our clients first, but it also enables us to continue offering valuable products and services that community bankers need. Plus! Any software products developed as a result of C.A.B. are offered back to our clients free of charge, a true benefit without having to pay for it.

How it works:

Your bank requests software enhancements each quarter, which is sent to the Client Advisory Board for review, in part to make sure a solution is not already in place.
A final list is sent out to each bank to vote on electronically.
(Every bank gets the same number of votes regardless of their size.)
The winning votes are then executed by the development team and delivered to the client base. (We dedicate 500+ hours to these software enhancements.)

In 2020, IBT Apps developed nearly 100 software enhancements!

2. You’re always protected with a system that remains compliant.

There are a multitude of best practices, rules, and regulations that community bankers need to know to keep their bank operations and technology compliant. The technology piece can be extra challenging for bankers, especially if they’re not knowledgeable in certain areas. Knowing what needs to be done to stay compliant can save you from regulation issues that could put your bank at serious risk.

Keeping your bank technology in compliance can be managed proactively. IBT Apps leverages a framework built with a variety of tools and resources to ensure all of our banking applications are developed to meet the banking and financial services industry compliance standards.

We deliver a real-time, dynamic code review process during developments to make sure any vulnerabilities in software code are minimized with multi-factor authentication for your customers and encrypted communication.
A complete OFAC system is in place to support all core accounts, which includes nightly scrubs of the customer base, SAR assist, an automated CTR process, and periodic loan and deposit statements that meet Reg Z and DD requirements.
Our partners are carefully vetted through a vendor management program to ensure data security and integrity is maintained.
As part of IBT Apps effort to simplify the IT audit burden placed on community banks, IBT Apps provides a continuous audit program. This program includes oversight provided by FDIC, FRB, OCC, and NCUA under the FFIEC guidelines. Independent third-party audits are also part of this program which include SOC, GLBA, and third-party audits to ensure compliance.
We believe we have one of the best business continuity plans on the market. We’ve actually lived through a disaster and succeeded. As part of our Business Continuity Plan, we securely encrypt and backup your data to ensure that if an unfortunate event was to occur, your bank and your customers wouldn’t experience disruptions.

3. Our products are always evolving, so you stay current with ever-changing technology.

We realize that community bankers like you are faced with a significant challenge in the industry. You want to grow your business and continue to be competitive in the marketplace, but perhaps you’re unable to do so with your current core system. Legacy core systems are typically off-the-shelf solutions that assume all community banks operate the same way and have the same goals. They may sound great at first, but as needs change and industry innovations progress, it’s clear they aren’t able to keep up with the pace of the demand and start showing their limitations and vulnerabilities later in the engagement.

You shouldn’t have to feel trapped by your core vendor. At IBT Apps, we have set out to provide the technology support you need to succeed in the best and the worst of times. We have unified our products and data into a single solution using a cloud-based, open API application. This progressive design allows us to deliver on our vision of adapting to the ever-changing advancements in technology, so you constantly benefit from a current and compliant system. Moreover, our design has enabled us to immediately react to situations like the COVID-19 pandemic, so our clients can rest at ease, knowing they can continue offering the products and services that deliver an optimal customer experience.

4. You have access to trusted third-party product partners without the hefty integration costs.

Many legacy providers overpromise and underdeliver when it comes to third-party product integrations. It's fairly common to hear that a core provider has an open API and can integrate easily with many third-party vendors. However, when the bank receives the addendum for the integration, they realize that it's more complicated and more expensive than the bank expected. And, even worse, once the integration is completed, oftentimes there is lack of support or training for using the product.

At IBT Apps, we recognize that third-party integrations are necessary to expand a bank's product suite, especially in a time where technology is moving at a rapid pace and customer demand for innovative products continues to grow. Not only is our technology easily interoperable with third-party solutions, but we also perform an extensive vetting process to ensure our vendors share our same passion for serving banks. Our vendors are considered "partners" who offer competitive solutions at an affordable cost and provide exceptional support even after the integration is completed. Moreover, we work together to deliver an integration on time and as expected, so that your bank has a final product that your staff and customers can use and enjoy for the long-term.