What's the Dilly-o with workflow & case management: a buyer's guide for credit unions

The Dilly-o

We'd start with the work that has a legal clock on it, such as member disputes and ACH return requests, and automate that first. Pick a tool that already connects to your core, keeps a full audit trail and lets you take your data with you when you leave. Leave the broad, every-department rollout for later, once one process runs clean and you can show the board the results.

How we'd size up a vendor

1. Deadline tracking - does the tool start a clock for each case and warn your staff before a regulatory deadline passes? Ask the vendor to show you a dispute case with its business-day timers running, live on screen.
2. Core fit - does the tool read from and write to your core without staff retyping data? Ask the vendor for credit union references on your core, and call them.
3. Audit trail - can you show an examiner who touched each case, what they did and when? Ask the vendor to export one case's full history while you watch.
4. Exit rights - if you leave, do you get your case history and workflow designs back in a usable format? We'd get this in writing before you sign, while you still have leverage.

What changed this year

Nacha set June 19, 2026 as the Phase 2 date for its fraud monitoring rule [3].² That date fell on a federal holiday, so the practical start was Monday, June 22, 2026 [2].³ Since April 1, 2025, a receiving institution must also answer an originating bank's R06 return request within ten banking days [8].⁴ Nacha's rules leave the choice of methods and technology to you [6].⁵ We'd use a workflow tool to route, track and document these reviews so none of them miss a date.

Will it work with your systems?

We've confirmed that Alogent, Blend, DigiFi, Glide, Narmi and Newgen Software appear in the Jack Henry Fintech Integration Network as listed for Symitar credit unions.^C For Corelation Keystone, Alogent is a Preferred Partner and Narmi is KeyBridge Certified.^C Ask your core and digital banking providers what workflow features you already pay for, and which vendors they have connected for credit unions your size.

What other credit unions did

We'd ask each vendor for two credit union references running the same process you plan to automate. Call them yourself and ask how long go-live took and what broke in the first 90 days.

What your examiner will ask

If you provisionally credit the member's account within 10 business days, you may take up to 45 days [45].⁶ Once you finish an investigation, you have three business days to report the results [44].⁷ If you find no error, or a different error, you owe a written explanation within three business days of concluding the investigation [46].⁸ A CFPB consent order says that in many cases TD Bank failed to investigate disputes and report back to the credit reporting agencies within 30 days [132].⁹ Have the contract, your due diligence file and a sample case audit trail ready to show.

What it costs

None of our sources publishes pricing for these tools, so ask for a written quote and a three-year total cost. One industry comparison puts core integration for AI tools at 4 to 8 weeks [108].¹⁰ In your contract, look for service levels, penalties for poor performance, ownership of records and who pays for audits [113].¹¹ Common gaps include missing termination provisions, weak data access rights and unclear audit terms [120].¹²

Food for thought

Before you buy, we'd ask the vendor to show how its audit trail names the person who owned each case the agent touched.