DuGood Credit Union and Entrust Reinforce Member Service with Cloud-Based Instant Issuance
Read how DuGood Credit Union strengthened service continuity and operational resilience by migrating to Entrust’s cloud-based Instant Financial Issuance (IFIaaS) platform.
Customer Profile
DuGood Credit Union, based in Beaumont, Texas, serves over 36,000 members across 11 branches in the Gulf Coast region – an area where hurricanes and severe weather are a regular threat. With a mission rooted in community service and financial empowerment, DuGood is committed to delivering uninterrupted access to essential banking services, even in the face of natural disasters.
But as its on-premises infrastructure aged and the risk of outages grew, DuGood faced a critical decision: how to modernize its card issuance system to ensure 24/7 availability, meet internal resiliency mandates, and reduce long-term IT costs.
To meet this challenge, DuGood turned to a trusted partner – Entrust – to migrate its Instant Financial Issuance platform to the cloud and upgrade its branch hardware. The result is a resilient, cloud-based solution that ensures uninterrupted card service for members, rain or shine.
Business Challenge
Operating in a region known for extreme weather, DuGood Credit Union needed more than just a technology upgrade – it needed a resilient infrastructure that could withstand hurricanes and ensure uninterrupted service to its members. With aging hardware, a looming end-of-life timeline, and a strategic mandate for cloud adoption, the organization faced a critical inflection point. The risks of downtime, rising maintenance costs, and a single point of failure made it clear: a transformation was necessary.
Key challenges included:
- Storm-Prone Location: Frequent hurricanes in the Gulf Coast region regularly disrupt power and network services, threatening branch operations and member access.
- Three-Year Resiliency Mandate: Leadership had committed to ensuring all critical servers were either redundant or cloud-hosted.
- Aging Infrastructure: Three on-prem IFI servers – and five additional virtual servers, including the Corelation Keystone core banking system, which manages member accounts and transactions – were approaching end-of-life.
- Single Point of Failure: A failure at the East Texas data center would halt instant issuance across all 11 branches.
- Cost vs. Resiliency: A cost-benefit analysis revealed that cloud migration was more economical than replacing physical servers, while also delivering 24/7 availability.
With these challenges in mind, DuGood sought a solution that would not only meet its resiliency goals but also streamline operations and prepare the organization for future growth.
Solution
To address these challenges, DuGood Credit Union partnered with Entrust to implement a modern, cloud-based issuance solution that would not only meet their resiliency goals but also streamline operations and prepare the organization for future growth. The migration was carefully planned and executed to minimize disruption, leveraging Entrust’s proven methodology and deep expertise in financial issuance.
The solution included:
- Entrust IFIaaS + Sigma DS4 Printers: A modern, scalable issuance platform paired with future-ready hardware.
- Readiness Workbook: Entrust provided a detailed project planning spreadsheet that served as the foundation for tracking tasks, timelines, and dependencies throughout the migration.
- Parallel Build and 45-Minute Cutover: The transition was seamless – branches remained operational, and most staff were unaware the migration had occurred.
- Corelation Keystone Integration: The cloud IFIaaS platform aligned with DuGood’s cloud-hosted core banking system.
With the new system in place, DuGood quickly began to see measurable improvements in uptime, efficiency, and member satisfaction – results that validated the strategic shift to the cloud.
Entrust is probably one of my favorite vendors. Everyone stays on point, and support resolves issues in minutes.
Danielle Prudhomme
Card Services Supervisor, DuGood Credit Union
Results
DuGood Credit Union’s migration to the cloud-based Entrust Instant Financial Issuance as a Service platform delivered immediate and measurable improvements. The organization eliminated a major point of failure, reduced operational risk, and gained the flexibility to scale and innovate. With Entrust’s structured implementation approach, responsive support, and future-ready hardware, DuGood not only met its resiliency goals – it elevated its member experience and positioned itself for long-term success.
Key Performance Indicators
| KPI | Before | After |
| Branch downtime from server outages | Hours after major storms | Zero unplanned downtime in first 60 days |
| Member card availability | Dependent on single data center | 24/7 across branches via cloud |
| Cutover distribution | Full-day maintenance window | 45-minute early-morning swap |
| Server replacement cost | New hardware due in 2 years | Eliminated; shifted to cloud OPEX |
Additional Benefits Include:
- Instant Issuance Expertise: Entrust’s deep experience and integration with their cloud-hosted core banking system ensured a smooth transition
- Proven Playbook: A structured workbook and test scripts minimized risk and kept the project on schedule
- Responsive Support: Issues were resolved quickly, giving staff confidence during and after cutover
- Future-Ready Hardware: Sigma DS4 printers support upcoming contactless and flat-card programs planned for 2025–2026
DuGood’s long-standing relationship with Entrust also played a key role in the project’s success. Familiarity with the platform and support team enabled a faster, more confident transition – eliminating the need to onboard a new vendor or retrain staff. With a resilient, cloud-first infrastructure now in place, DuGood is looking ahead to further innovation and service enhancements.
Now that we’re in the cloud, we don’t worry about outages – and our members don’t have to wait for service.
John Salgado
EVP/CIO, DuGood Credit Union
Looking Ahead
DuGood’s migration to the Entrust IFI Cloud platform demonstrates how credit unions in disaster-prone regions can safeguard member service while optimizing IT spend. With a resilient, scalable infrastructure in place, DuGood is well-positioned to expand its card programs and continue delivering exceptional service—rain or shine.
Related Products & Services
Instant Financial Issuance as a Service
Give your customers fully activated Visa® and MasterCard® credit and debit cards instantly to increase activation rates and reduce costs.
Entrust Sigma DS4
The Sigma DS4 works securely with both on-prem and cloud solutions to instantly issues secure, flat financial cards to banks, credit unions, and retailers.
Corelation Keystone Integration
Corelation is fully integrated with Entrust Instant Financial Issuance software through our on-prem and cloud environments.
Related Resources
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