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How Purdue Federal Credit Union Built the Foundation That Made AI Possible 

"One of the things that stood out during our Banking Advisor implementation was how seamless the process was. Coastal guided us through testing, deployment and adoption in a way that gave our team confidence from day one. The platform delivered exactly what we expected, and the rollout was one of the smoothest technology projects I've been involved with.

While we're still in the early stages of leveraging all the capabilities Banking Advisor can offer, it's clear we're building toward something much bigger. Seeing demonstrations of Analyst Digital Partner and the broader nCino AI roadmap reinforced that we're laying the foundation for tools that have the potential to transform how lending teams work. Coastal has been a valuable partner in helping us prepare for that future."

— Amber Johnson, Assistant Credit Manager, Purdue Federal Credit Union

Challenge

Purdue Federal Credit Union had already made the technology investments. nCino was live. Agentforce Financial Services (Financial Services Cloud) was running. The ambition was there. The challenge wasn't starting. It was scaling without the seams showing.

As PFCU's lending volume grew, gaps between platforms began to compound. The tools were right; the architecture wasn't. Challenges included:

  • Redundant Data Entry: Disconnected systems required staff to re-enter information across lending activities, adding unnecessary steps to every transaction.
  • Manual Document Preparation: Creation of numerous forms required staff to manually enter duplicate information for various letters and internal forms.
  • Invisible Pipeline Status: Leadership had no reliable way to monitor deal progress or intervene when loans stalled.
  • Underutilized Platform Depth: Risk rating, regulatory reporting, rate modifications, and relationship credit actions were in place, but not optimized.
  • AI Readiness: nCino's Banking Advisor was emerging as a real opportunity, and PFCU had needed a structured plan to pursue it.

What PFCU needed wasn't a new platform. It was a partner willing to fully optimize the one they already had.

 

Solution

Coastal partnered with PFCU through a Waves Advisory engagement — a rolling 12-month framework that sequenced every improvement against a specific business priority.

  • Structured Advisory Program: Every technical change is tied to a defined business outcome, giving leadership confidence that platform updates reflect member priorities — not IT preferences.
  • Automated Document Generation: Workflows now handle document creation and approval routing without manual handoffs, making origination faster and more consistent.
  • Simplified Approval Logic: Streamlined approval paths cut the delays that built up at handoff points, shortening the route from application to close.
  • Comprehensive Workstream Optimization: Across multiple completed workstreams — including risk rating, regulatory reporting, rates and pricing, exposure management, forms manager, pipeline reporting, and workflow management — Coastal aligned nCino to how PFCU actually operates.
  • Early AI Implementation: Coastal led discovery, build, deployment and operations testing of nCino's Banking Advisor utilizing various Agents and Tools. Purdue’s nCino Project team received deployment approval from their AI governing committee and began testing in May 2026.
  • Modernized Automation Framework: Legacy automations were converted to current frameworks and interface updates improved day-to-day usability across the lending workflow.

The combined effect moved PFCU from a capable but static system to one built for continuous improvement — and ready for AI when the moment arrived,

Clouds & Products

  • Financial Services Cloud
  • nCino Banking Advisor

Results

PFCU now runs a lending operation that performs as a coordinated system — and leads most peers on AI adoption.

  • Early AI Adoption: PFCU is among the first credit unions in its peer group to operationalize AI-assisted lending, with Banking Advisor live in production while competitors are still evaluating.
  • Accelerated Loan Lifecycle: Automated workflows and tightened approval routing reduced the time and manual effort required to move members from application to close.
  • Reduced Origination Risk: Automated document generation and structured approval paths cut manual file handling, lowering the chance of error reaching underwriting or compliance review.
  • Improved Regulatory Confidence: Unified data flows improved reporting accuracy and reduced the compliance burden specific to HMDA and Appraisal Notices on staff during exam preparation.
  • Recovered Staff Capacity: With data entry automated, underwriters and relationship managers spend more time on credit quality and member engagement.
  • Scalable Technical Foundation: A resolved data architecture, modernized automations, and a live AI layer give PFCU the ability to expand into new products without rebuilding from scratch.

The institutions adopting AI quickly aren't the ones that planned for it from day one. They're the ones that spent the years before building a clean, governed platform. That preparation is what makes AI actually work.