Modernizing the Credit Union Experience
Without Losing Trust
About
Eddie Sorrell
Eddie Sorrell is a seasoned IT executive with over two decades of experience driving digital transformation across the financial services and healthcare industries.
He currently serves as Vice President of Information Technology & Projects at University of Kentucky Federal Credit Union, where he leads strategic technology initiatives like banking system conversions and predictive analytics rollouts. Throughout his career, he's built high-performing support operations at organizations like Cordata Healthcare Innovations and Streamline Health, slashing case backlogs, boosting client satisfaction, and driving millions in revenue growth.
A passionate advocate for cybersecurity and regulatory compliance, he's known for aligning technology strategy with business goals and building teams grounded in collaboration and continuous improvement.
What does it really take to modernize digital banking inside a credit union?
In this episode, host Logan Lyles sits down with Eddie Sorrell (CIO, UK Credit Union), Justin Billig (CEO & Co-Founder, Tensure), and Joe Kerstanoff (Director of Platform Engineering, Tensure) to unpack how UK Credit Union transformed its online account opening experience — cutting abandonment rates from over 40% to under 15%, dropping manual application reviews from 80%+ to under 10%, and turning their digital banking app into their biggest "branch," with members logging in an average of 27+ times a month.
The conversation covers:
- Why digital banking has become the largest "branch" for credit unions — and what that means for member experience
- How removing friction (like driver's license requirements) transformed account opening conversion
- The case for shipping an MVP fast and iterating based on real user feedback
- Why the hardest part of modernization is people and mindset, not technology
- Balancing fraud prevention with a seamless member experience
- Platform engineering principles — treating your internal platform as a product
- Driving member engagement and activation after account opening
- Practical advice for credit union and community bank leaders starting their own modernization journey
- Whether you're a technology leader at a credit union, community bank, or fintech, this episode offers a real-world playbook for modernizing legacy systems without losing the trust that makes community financial institutions special.
Connect with Eddie Sorrell on LinkedIn or learn more at ukcreditunion.org. Connect with Justin Billig and Joe Kerstanoff to learn more about Tensure's platform engineering work with financial institutions. If you found this valuable, subscribe for future episodes.
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