Ask employees at any financial institution to pick two words to describe a typical core system conversion, and "major headache" is likely the nicest description you’ll hear. Ask that question at $1 billion South Carolina Federal Credit Union, North Charleston, South Carolina, and prepare to hand over a quarter. The "C word" was retired from acceptable office language in the aftermath of a stressful 1996 conversion project, and just uttering it within that credit union’s halls will earn you a 25-cent fine.

Why such visceral reactions? Because converting the entire body of financial data an institution holds from one software system to another is fraught with potential pitfalls. If intricate dependencies aren’t properly mapped, firing up the new system can trigger serious errors that lead to jammed phone lines, online balance outages, brutally long lines at branch offices, and stressed out members and employees.

South Carolina FCU is converting again in 2005 and this time, its leaders expect the process to be much smoother. The 136,000 members who together hold $1 billion in assets with the credit union—not to mention the 363 employees who work in its 16 branches—will have the organization’s culture of quality to thank for the smooth transition.

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