For Skyward Credit Union, the prospect of having to update all its ATMs for Windows 10 by next year was just too daunting. The transition was the trigger for Skyward’s decision to outsource the management of its ATMs.

The aviation SEG-focused credit union, founded in 1941, has 16,500 members and assets of $298 million.

“It was going to be almost as much to update the ATMs as it would have been to buy new ones,” explained Michael Tucker, IT Manager for Skyward Credit Union. “At that point, we decided to look at third party management and get rid of the headache. We decided to let someone else worry about compliance.”

Skyward’s new partner, Dolphin Debit, replaced all of its older ATMs with new ones. The credit union has 13 ATMs in all, located mostly at the production plants of its SEG company, Textron Aviation, as well as at several local branches.

While the Windows 10 update drove the decision to outsource, Tucker noted that there were other reasons as well.

“Too many resources were tied up maintaining ATMs and we wanted to improve member service,” he said. “We run very lean, and if an ATM goes down, it could be several hours before someone had the chance to look at it.”

Now, when there are minor ATM problems, Dolphin Debit is notifying Skyward about it even before any members have the chance to complain, and technicians are deployed immediately to minimize any downtime.

Skyward evaluated three ATM management companies and determined that Dolphin Debit seemed the most customer-focused. Since the deployment of the new ATM fleet, Skyward hasn’t looked back on their decision.

“For many credit unions, the Windows 10 changeover is a tipping point,” said Gary Walston, co-founder of Dolphin Debit. “The costs involved are so high that they can readily justify getting out of the ATM business themselves and turning over operations to an expert, responsive, and reliable partner.”