HISTORY of the
Cooperative Users of Banking Systems

(Revised June 2007)

In the late 1960’s National Cash Register (NCR) was dominant in the banking hardware industry.  Regional and national user groups were formed and collectively known as the North American NCR Financial Users Group (NANCRFUG). During those early years of NANCRFUG, the four software groups — CLASS, CIF, UFS and Super CIF — which were all written and supported by NCR, had their needs  addressed at the annual user group meeting. The user group was governed by an Executive Committee. 

By the late 1970’s, Advanced Computer Systems (ACS) of Dayton, OH acquired the “Banker” software product and established a marketing relationship with NCR. NCR sold, installed, and supported the “Banker” product. 

In the mid-1980’s the “Banker Committee” was formed at a NANCRFUG meeting. It’s objective was to get educational tracks dedicated to the Banker software products at the annual meeting. This marketing effort paid off large dividends by increasing the level of participation in the national organization.  At the 1987 Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA, over 200 banks were in attendance.  Of those 200 banks, only 13 were “Banker II or Banker E” users.  Six years later at the NANCRFUG Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, MN, over 225 banks attended with almost 200 being “Banker II and Banker E” users.  By 1993 nearly 90 percent of the NANCRFUG membership was using the “Banker II and Banker E” products. The composition of the nine member Executive Committee consisted of seven “Banker” users and 2 others software products.

During the early 1990’s, both the NCR Financial Services division and its Computer Hardware division were going through major changes. Also Advanced Computer Systems (ACS) had taken over 100% ownership of the Banker product and was marketing and selling it on their own. In 1990, NCR introduced the NCR UNIX computer system and the philosophy of open system architecture. With NCR getting out of the software business, other system users of CLASS, CIF, and UFS had to either support their software in-house, find a third party vendor, or convert to another product. As the software developer ACS hired most of the NCR Systems Analysts and support personnel that worked on “Banker” to now develop, sell, install, and support the “Banker II and Banker E” products.  About this same time AT&T acquired NCR.  With that acquisition came the decision from the new owners to reduce the level of support given to user group organizations in the form of company presence and funding at these meetings.

Advanced Computer Systems (ACS), realizing the benefit of participating on a large scale with a national user group, became the primary sponsor of the Annual NANCRFUG Conference. ACS participated in this role from 1991 to 1993, at which time BancTec, Inc., a Dallas-based software developer, acquired Advanced Computer Systems.

In 1993, the NANCRFUG Executive Committee felt a need to change the day-to-day operations of the organization and its conference planning. To that end Association Management, Inc. of Greenville, SC was hired. AMI brought to the organization new approaches and new ideas to planning the annual conferences that put the organization on solid financial ground for the first time in several years.

At the 1994 Annual Conference in Orlando, FL the membership voted a by-law amendment to change the name from NANCRFUG to CUBS, Cooperative Users of BancTec Systems or CUBS, due to the change in focus of the organization from hardware to software.  The membership of CUBS was then opened up to all users of BancTec software groups:  Banker, ACCESS, and PODXpress. The CUBS Executive Committee was re-aligned to have representation from all three software groups with each group forming a sub-committee.  These sub-committees were responsible for planning their respective tracks at the CUBS Annual Conference as well as providing a mechanism of communication between the local users and the software provider.

The subject of product enhancements and releases was an on-going process between the CUBS sub-committees and the software provider. While the CUBS sub-committees’ and Executive Committee’s participation of Banker and ACCESS members flourished, the PODXpress group, not being a core application product, chose not to participate.  The focus of the CUBS Executive Committee during this time was the operation of the national organization as well as the overall planning of the Annual Conference.

In 1998 the Pinnacle Focus Group was formed as a sub-committee of CUBS to work with the BancTec software provider on the development of the new unnamed client/server product. The software product was named and trademarked Core Director in 1999.

A plan was established in 1999 for CUBS members to have their UNIX Operating System software tested for Y2K compliance in a proxy-testing environment.  This project was a huge success, not only from the standpoint of assisting banks with their Y2K effort, but also for the independent organization to show its members the positive effects that can be obtained from a concerted user group effort.

After six years of re-organizations and management turnover, BancTec sold their Community Banking Division to Jack Henry & Associates of Monett, MO, in September 1999.  This new addition to the Jack Henry family became known as Open Systems Group, Inc. (OSG).  The main focus of CUBS did not change — a independent, national organization of “members helping members.”  The common denominator for membership was running core application software.

This acquisition did not affect the purpose of the independent user group. The composition of the Executive Committee did not change; however, the decision was made to merge the ACCESS and Banker sub-committees.  The original CAP Committee, which held its organizational meeting in March 2000 in Dallas, TX, was composed of CUBS representatives. The Executive Committee then began accepting Product Design Requests (PDRs) from  CUBS Regional members, prioritizing them in order of importance and reviewing them with OSG personnel for inclusion in future software releases.

The CUBS by-laws were amended at the 2000 Annual Conference in Reno, NV, adopting the name change voted on at the 1999 Annual Conference in Cleveland, OH.  The acronym CUBS stayed the same, but the name changed to Cooperative Users of Banking Systems.

The educational direction of CUBS has not changed throughout the years. In 2002, the organization changed its focus from an annual conference to more regional Forums consisting of shorter, smaller, more cost-effective and educational sessions that address community banking needs.

In March, 2003, CUBS continued to recognize the need to evolve when the membership revised its by-laws remaining an independent user organization, committed to the needs of its members by offering a variety of benefits and resources. The annual endowment program, the Ronald G. Miller Memorial Scholarship, an interactive website, a quarterly electronic publication, Forum discounts and discounts from Premier Vendors are just a few benefits members receive. Introduced in March 2001, the CUBS Premier Vendor Program discount program is available to all members for third-party ancillary and related products. Recently offered is the Referral Service giving members a networking opportunity when considering a purchase of ancillary software or changing core applications.

As CUBS continues the evolutionary process, membership is expected to expand and grow with greater opportunities originating from all core vendors and Premier Vendors alike that meet the needs and demands of all users. The Core Vendor program, started in 2004 and similar in function to the established and successful Premier Vendor program, along with the Premier Vendor program, CUBS will pave the way for educational programs, diversity, and committee strength that supports the original purpose of an independent organization.

It is the mission statement of “Members Helping Members,” that keeps CUBS focused.  As a independent clearinghouse of information and services, CUBS stands ready, willing, and able to assist its members in any way possible.