Scient Federal Credit Union’s CEO Chris Maynard Reflects on Longstanding, Successful Partnership with Samaha & Associates
September 6, 2023
Reflecting on a successful and rewarding partnership with Samaha & Associates, Scient Federal Credit Union’s President and CEO Chris Maynard recently shared his thoughts on the relationship that first flourished in 2015. The Groton, Conn.-based Credit Union proudly serves more than 20,000 members at three branch locations.
“Scient FCU first partnered with Samaha & Associates back in January 2015 leading us to complete a successful merger into our Credit Union. Samaha & Associates advocated and seamlessly negotiated on behalf of Scient with a major processor. Years later, when Scient was ready to fully convert to a new processor, we contacted Samaha again. This engagement began in late 2021 and continued for 18 months until we went live.
I compare the Samaha consultant’s role to that of a sports agent. Negotiations can be tricky, and I felt that if Scient were negotiating directly with our core provider, having those difficult discussions throughout the process, it would be detrimental to our long-term core processor relationship. When the Samaha team sat at the negotiation table, they were acting as our unbiased advocates. Leveraging their broad and comprehensive knowledge of the system conversion process, they were both objective and vested in a positive outcome. This negotiation prowess and diplomatic finesse made the Samaha team indispensable in securing our vendor contracts.
Samaha negotiated pricing, served as our project manager, escalated issues appropriately, and held third-party vendors accountable for meeting critical deliverables and timelines. Samaha regularly met with the Credit Union’s core conversion team to thoroughly understand our concerns, goals, and negotiated firmly on pricing and credits for Scient.
Samaha & Associates always had the best interests of Scient in mind and are responsive and professional. Samaha maintained and updated our project plan diligently and communicated transparently and effectively. Samaha’s vast knowledge of the CU industry, third-party vendors, and system integrations was an important factor in our successful conversion.
It’s without reservation that I would recommend Samaha & Associates for your next conversion project.”
— CHRIS MAYNARD, PRESIDENT/CEO, SCIENT FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
Samaha & Associates is a nationally recognized consulting group that works collaboratively with financial institutions to assist in the improvement of business processes by optimizing efficiency and increasing revenue opportunities. Specializing in vendor contract negotiations, core system conversions, and mergers, Samaha & Associates expertly executes each respective project by exceeding client expectations. For more information visit ssamaha.com.
