Vantage West Credit Union needed a more efficient way to manage vendor contracts. The $2.7 billion asset credit union in Tucson provides financial services for 175,000 members in Arizona. Like most financial institutions, Vantage West relies on vendors for an array of member services like loan origination platforms, remote delivery channels, and cash delivery, as well as back-office support.

Acknowledging the challenge of keeping tabs on current vendors and vetting new ones, Vantage West Vice President of Finance Jon Bruflat says, “We really needed a central place to keep them all and for everyone to have access and the ability to manage their own contracts.” Quantivate Vendor Management Software provided the answer.

The credit union’s IT department selected the software, and the enterprise risk management team oversaw the platform results for nearly a decade. the finance team took ownership of the platform in 2022, adding custom configuration and implementing a redesigned process to fit a newly adopted vendor management policy.

“We needed to solidify consistency in our controls,” Bruflat says. “We had decentralized the vendor ownership in Quantivate. Vendors would apply pressure to get a new contract executed in the next 30 days for a discount. Well, no one wants to lose a discount, right? But without the immediate transparency to see where vendors were in the onboarding process, it created the potential for rushed work for several parties. Our new policy is centered on collaboration. We now take an all-hands-on approach.”

Quantivate’s easy-to-use, cost-effective solutions beat out competitors, allowing Vantage West to track vendor information and documents through a centralized database. The software provides risk scoring and reporting tools for auditing purposes and executive decision-making. Quantivate’s third-party partnerships guarantee that Vendor Management’s tools comply with requirements set by federal regulators.

“We stayed with Quantivate for a number of reasons,” Bruflat says. “First, it’s easy to use. The platform covers what we need in a simple and cost-effective way, and the due diligence services are easy to scale. Quantivate Support is highly responsive. When we have an issue, we get an email from a real person, and they follow through. That personal touch is really nice. The team is open to making changes, the platform has continually evolved, and the product team is committed to improvement.”

Vantage West required an efficient approach for vetting vendors through proper channels and tracking existing contracts by implementing Quantivate Vendor Management Software and vendor due diligence services. The credit union gained visibility over vendor relationships, saved time, and increased the efficiency of its third-party management and due diligence processes. Click here to read the full case study.

Jon Bruflat is the vice president of finance for Vantage West Credit Union, leading the credit union’s procurement efforts and partnering with IT to bring new technologies to the institution. Jon is an actively licensed CPA, CRMA, PMP, and CSM with an MBA from the University of Arizona.