Case Studies

Arizona Financial Credit Union cuts exception resolution time by 80% with ACES Quality Management

COMPANY

Founded in 1936, Arizona Financial Credit Union is a locally-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative that provides consumer and small business banking services to more than 175,000 members across Arizona. With over $3.6 billion in assets, the credit union serves communities throughout the state by offering a full suite of financial products and services.

For more information, visit: www.arizonafinancial.org

CHALLENGE

"As part of its ongoing commitment to excellence, we sought to modernize and formalize our quality assurance processes," said Patrick Smith, senior director of operations administration at Arizona Financial Credit Union.


Prior to adopting ACES, Arizona Financial Credit Union relied heavily on manual spreadsheet-based processes to manage quality control.

This approach limited visibility, slowed audit throughput, and lacked scalability.

The team needed:

  • Automation to streamline day-to-day QA
  • Robust reporting capabilities to drive business decisions
  • A platform that could support daily Quality Control System (QCS) operations—an uncommon but critical practice for the organization

SOLUTION

After evaluating multiple platforms, Arizona Financial selected ACES Quality Management & Control® Software for its user-friendly design, automation capabilities, and alignment with the institution's QA needs.

“ACES stood out because we do day to day Quality Control System (QCS) operations and we needed a robust platform that could support that. We knew ACES could support us better than anybody else,” said Patrick Smith, Senior Director of Operations Administration at Arizona Financial Credit Union.

Key features of ACES that stood out:

  • Support for day-to-day QCS workflows, which few platforms offered
  • Seamless implementation experience guided by a dedicated technical administrator
  • Flexible reporting tools to convert raw data into actionable insights for frontline and executive teams

ACES enabled the quality assurance team to:

  • Manage monthly audits across consumer, commercial, and residential lending
  • Complete 3,000 audits per month with greater accuracy and efficiency
  • Capture and route data to the appropriate audit types automatically

RESULTS

Since implementing ACES, Arizona Financial Credit Union has achieved significant efficiency gains, improved compliance oversight and a more collaborative approach to QC.

Key benefits include:

  • Operational Improvements
  • 66% increase in audit throughput
  • Audit turnaround time reduced from 3 days to 1
  • Exception resolution time shortened from 5 days to 1 one which is 80% faster


Business Impact:

Early impact: Benefits were visible within the first week of implementation.

“Implementation was fantastic. Super smooth," adds Patrick. “The ACES team is incredibly responsive and supportive—faster than we are sometimes!”

Enhanced reporting capabilities to support strategic decision-making.

“Reporting is my favorite feature—turning data into meaningful charts and insights.”

Accelerated issue identification and resolution for loan manufacturing errors Reinforced accountability for loan quality across all departments.

"We do 3000 audits a month, so being able to manage the process within ACES and making sure things are resolved timely has been huge for us

ACES has empowered Arizona Financial Credit Union to automate QA, elevate operational performance, and enhance member service through better data and faster insights. For institutions seeking a powerful, flexible, and supportive QA platform, ACES stands out as the clear choice.

"If you want to automate your QA platform and make meaningful business decisions, ACES is where you need to be," said Patrick.

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