Seamless Openings, Exceptional Experiences

Serving 100,000+ customers nationwide, OneUnited is an award-winning CDFI committed to closing the wealth gap through financial literacy and accessible banking.

192-225%

Digital Deposit Growth

50-60%

Lower Implementation Cost

50%

quicker time to go live

100+

prebuilt connectors

57.85% reduction in application time

212% YoY increase in funnel conversion

25% faster completion rate for new business account opening applications

Intro

A trusted credit union evolving how relationships begin in a digital-first world

Overview

Headquartered in Pennsylvania, Citadel Credit Union is a long-standing, not-for-profit, member-owned financial institution built on personal relationships and community connection.

Historically, many member relationships began in branches or through the call center. But as engagement shifted decisively toward digital channels, Citadel needed to modernize how relationships begin — without sacrificing the trust and consistency that define its brand.

The Opportunity

By 2018, Citadel recognized its existing digital account opening experience was no longer aligned with member expectations or growth ambitions.

Application times were lengthy, completion rates remained low, and incremental enhancements failed to deliver meaningful improvement. At the same time:

Members expected fast, intuitive, mobile-first experiences
Internal teams needed more efficient workflows
Strategic growth required avoiding another siloed technology stack

Citadel’s leadership saw the need not simply for new technology, but for a rethinking of account opening as an end-to-end experience capable of evolving over time.

Key Benefits at a Glance

Omni-channel by Design:

One platform across digital, branch, and call center for seamless onboarding

Fast, Cost-Efficient Deployment:

Go live in weeks at up to 60% lower implementation cost than legacy vendors

Modern UX that Converts:

Mobile-first design reduces abandonment and drives higher completion rates

Proven ROI:

192%-225% digital deposit growth and 75% faster branch account openings

The Solution

Citadel selected Candescent as its digital account opening partner, focusing first on consumer digital onboarding.

The July 2020 launch, during a period of rapidly accelerating digital adoption, demonstrated immediate value. From the outset, Citadel approached the initiative as a long-term transformation rather than a one-time implementation and has since expanded.

This collaborative partnership has allowed for faster execution, shared prioritization, and ongoing innovation.

The Impact

The initial launch delivered measurable improvements quickly, confirming that reducing friction at the front door directly supports stronger intent and follow-through from prospective members.

The Solution

Apple Bank partnered with Candescent to implement a next-generation account opening platform designed with extensibility, automation and fraud prevention at its core.

Customize digital banking experiences with hundreds of integrated features.

Scale operations seamlessly as customer demand grows.

Improve customer experience and drive higher conversion rates.

Integrate third-party fintech solutions quickly and effectively.

The Impact

Scalability for expansion

which required automation of operational tasks including application analysis, document archiving and automation of data to monitoring systems.

Extensible integrations

with 110+ APIs, enabling configurability, compliance and business process improvement, doubling throughput without increasing resources.

Built-in fraud detection

Ready to see what’s possible with Candescent?

Join the growing list of credit unions transforming digital banking with Candescent. Faster launches, happier members, stronger ROI – without the friction.