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Informational Contact:
Brandi Stankovic, senior partner of Mitchell, Stankovic and Associates
Phone: 855-362-2002
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.mitchellstankovic.com
Press Release
April 23, 2015
For immediate release
Charlie Fulks Leaving CUProdigy After 24 Years, CEO Search Underway
LAYTON, Utah – After 24 successful years at the helm, Charlie Fulks will be stepping down as
president and CEO of CUProdigy (www.cuprodigy.com) later this year.
Fulks, who founded what then was known as Credit Union Data Processing, Inc., in May 1991,
will remain with the company through September as it transitions to a new leader. Las Vegasbased credit union consultancy Mitchell, Stankovic & Associates is conducting the search for
CUProdigy’s next CEO.
CUProdigy currently serves 15 credit unions, representing $1.85 billion in total assets and
203,000 credit union members.
According to Fulks, two-and-a-half decades later it was time for a change – for both him and the
company.
“I do not have anything lined up, but I felt it was time to move on and find something else,” he
said. “It is a leap of faith for me. I feel the company needs fresh leadership to take it to the next
level. It is a good move for the company. The company has changed over the past 24 years, and I
feel a fresh outlook will be beneficial to CUProdigy’s continued success.”
Robert Taylor, chairman of the board for CUProdigy and president and CEO of Idaho State
University Credit Union, Pocatello, Idaho, thanked Fulks for his years of service.
“Charlie Fulks has been dedicated to CUProdigy and the credit unions it serves for nearly twoand-a-half decades,” said Taylor. “I speak for every member of the board of directors in offering
our gratitude for his leadership, vision and energy. He has put CUProdigy on a great path, and I
am certain he will be a tremendous success at whatever he does next.”
A Career Of Helping Credit Unions Succeed
Fulks graduated Brigham Young University with a BA in economics in 1985. His first job was as
vice president and controller at Bonneville First Credit Union in 1986.
“I asked myself, ‘What do I do with an econ degree?’ Fulks recalled. “I did not know a lot about
credit unions other than having been a credit union member once upon a time.”
Because computer programming had long been a hobby of his, when an opening came up at a
company known as Information Now, Fulks jumped at the chance. There, he worked on software
that supported the company’s 33 credit union clients.
A year and a half later, Information Now went bankrupt. A users group of the company’s
software turned into what became known as Credit Union Data Processing. Said Fulks, “Having
worked in a credit union, I realized if the users group could form and own the company, it could
be in a better position than me trying to form a company. We knew a CUSO would be a strong
business model. It was more difficult to form a CUSO back then compared to now. We had to
explain the power of owning the company ourselves.”
Building From The Ground Up
The early years of Credit Union Data Processing were “very interesting,” Fulks recalled. At first
it was just him working from home, until eventually he hired a second person. As the company
continued to grow, he and the management team decided to take a long vision as to what the
company wanted to do.
“The idea was to educate credit unions on using the software,” he said. “When the bank that
owned the software out of the bankruptcy refused to sell, we wrote our own software.” In 1996,
it had the first version of its own software that it could sell. The company converted all of its
credit unions to the new version. “We did a good job of serving credit unions. We saved them a
lot of money,” Fulks said.
The one problem: CU Data Processing still was using character-based software. In 2007, Fulks
said it was clear it no longer could sell a character-based system; it needed to be graphics-based.
He said that was the “biggest turning point” for the company. “We asked our owners what they
wanted us to be. They invested in writing a new software package from the ground up.”
That software became known as CUProdigy, and in 2014 the company rebranded as CUProdigy.
“We feel it is the best software out there in the industry,” said Fulks. “It is the best because it was
written from the ground up, rather than fixing old software. We had no restrictions. It took a lot
of time, but once the base was in place we were able to build on it and become a true open
system.”
Fulks said CUProdigy software is written in Java, but it also uses Google Web Toolkit and other
elements that are not often found in the credit union industry. “It works, it is fast, it has lots of
abilities. It is very responsive and easy to use. We have an interface engine that allows our
software to interface with debit and credit card systems, mobile banking, even online loan
origination systems – all the third parties credit unions need to be able to talk to.”
Fulks said his proudest career achievement is pulling credit unions together over the years and
getting them to work on a collaborative level to create a very robust system. “It enables them to
do their job and be stronger together. There are a lot of technology companies that do patches,
but we created a core system.”
Next for Fulks will be spending time with family. “I have a special needs son, a daughter getting
married this year and a couple of grandchildren,” he said.
About CUProdigy:
CUProdigy is a credit union core software CUSO, formed in 1991. The group’s eponymous core
software product, CUProdigy, is made up of the very latest in browser‐based technology. With
its modern architecture and full feature list, CUProdigy is changing the way credit unions operate
while redefining the core software industry. For more information, please visit:
www.cuprodigy.com