Page 8 - MCUL: Contact Magazine - Q4 2019

COLLABORATION AND RECOVERY PLANS:

HOW ONE CREDIT UNION TOOK ANOTHER IN

By Shawn Glinis

On a Saturday in mid-July, a fi re sparked on the third fl oor business impact levels, and determine critical sys-
of the United Auto Workers international headquarters in tems and necessary resources through ongoing risk
Detroit. Fabian Ellis, CEO of International UAW Federal assessment activities.
Credit Union, which is located in the same building, got a
call from one of his staff members while away in Mexico. The disaster recovery plan should include the following
information and procedures, at minimum:
“Things like this always happen when you’re out of town,”
said Ellis. • Roles and responsibilities
• Record preservation methods
His fi rst instinct was to call his longtime friend and peer, • Alternate storage and processing
Deirdre Taylor, CEO of Tandem Federal Credit Union in site provisions
Warren, whom he has known for more than 15 years.
• Alternate telecommunications
service provisions
Ellis asked Taylor if Tandem FCU, which is located 9 miles
from International UAW, could temporarily host his credit • Communication methods for
union so it could continue to operate in the near future. employees and members
After a quick meeting with Tandem’s board of directors, • Notifi cation of regulators
Taylor got the green light to take in International UAW.
To support the plan, management should train employ-
She was startled by the board’s lack of hesitation, which ees on their roles and responsibilities in the disaster
she called uncommon. More often, regarding the ques- recovery plan, and test contingency and disaster recov-
tions she brings to it, she expects a certain amount of ery assumptions annually. The testing results should
deliberation and questions of its own to come up. But be documented and reported to credit union offi cials.
this time, it was a no-brainer for the board. Additionally, each credit union’s disaster recovery and
contingency plans should be coordinated with its risk
Following the board’s go-ahead, Taylor called the credit assessment and incident response plan and meet the
unions’ shared processor to fi gure out the proper logistics. approval of its board.
International UAW FCU was up and running at Tandem
FCU within the week. In a broader sense of Tandem taking in International UAW,
it is indicative of something bigger about credit unions.
One of her takeaways through this process was getting Taylor said that “credit unions usually pull together,
to take advantage of her company’s disaster plan. “We whether it’s sharing processes or this kind of situation.”
practice having a disaster plan, but you never think you’re
going to have to use it. That’s why we need to have it Ellis agrees. “You wouldn’t necessarily see this in another
in place.” industry or that a bank would be ready to open their
doors to another competitor. There’s a collaborative
Credit unions are encouraged to create disaster recov- effort between credit unions — even though we each
ery plans to prepare for catastrophic acts. To do so, have our own agendas, we have a solidarity with other
each should evaluate potential threats, establish credit unions.” ■

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