EAST LANSING, Mich.–While credit unions have navigated into business banking to varying degrees, few have gone as far as Michigan State University FCU, which has done much more than upgrade its technology or roll out a new app–it created an entirely new digital-first credit union just for business banking for customers (now members) of two banks it acquired.
Pillur is MSUFCU’s business brand with its own identity, its own member experience, and its own product suite the credit union said is tailored specifically to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses.
Across both bank conversions, there were more than 1,100 SMB members, 4,452 accounts, $64 million in deposits, and $172 million in loans that moved onto Pillur with what MSUFCU said was “minimal disruption.”
The existing MSUFCU membership experienced no degradation in their own service throughout the process, the credit union
Accordinhg to MSUFCU, Pillur would not have been feasible on a legacy core system, which are built for stability and uniformity, not for launching parallel institutions or serving segmented populations with radically different product needs. Instead, Pillur is running on the composable, API-first architecture of the Nymbus Banking Platform.
Independent Member Experiences
MSUFCU told the CU Daily Pillur operates on a Nymbus core platform running alongside MSUFCU’s existing infrastructure, which allows the credit union to maintain independent member experiences, product configurations, and brand identities.
“Real-time data access flows are enabled, third-party fintech integrations are activated as needed, and new services can be deployed without touching the established MSUFCU platform,” the credit union said, adding the “model represents a fundamentally different way of thinking about core modernization. Rather than simply adding new technology features on top of legacy infrastructure, it creates a more flexible path forward. That distinction is especially important in business banking, where too many institutions are still trying to compete with products and features bolted onto cores originally designed for retail consumers. It is also not a rip-and-replace project. It is not a years-long migration that paralyzes an institution during execution. It is an additive approach that allows credit unions to grow in new directions without dismantling what already works.”
Below, MSUFCU’s Nicole Dilts, SVP-commercial solutions with MSUFCU, provides additional information on the Pillur brand and offerings.
The CU Daily: While the technology is critical to the back office, how did MSUFCU create a bond with these new members in its member-facing digital offerings?
Dilts: Pillur was built with modern digital channels and tailored business products including checking, treasury management, invoicing capabilities, and merchant services — designed specifically for SMB members rather than adapted from a consumer platform. Pillur members have access to both MSUFCU and Pillur’s extensive branch network, meaning the digital experience is backed by in-person access when members need it.
The member experience becomes a true end-to-end experience across all channels, not just digital, with real-time data continuity.
The CU Daily: What does it really mean to “reimagine” what people need?
Dilts: For Pillur, reimagination means recognizing that SMB members have fundamentally different needs than consumer membership, and rather than absorbing them into the existing platform, MSUFCU deliberately segmented them onto a purpose-built institution. In practical terms, that meant providing business-specific products — checking, treasury management, invoicing, merchant services, cash management, and advanced analytics for real-time financial oversight — that a retail-oriented platform wouldn’t have delivered well.
This was a strategic segmentation of the customer base that unlocked immense potential for targeted service delivery, brand differentiation, and long-term scalability.
The CU Daily: Are there any other components to the program that are unusual?
Dilts: Critical to that growth strategy was Nymbus Levels, a loyalty and rewards framework built for community banks and credit unions that lets them compete with national institutions’ programs without the cost, complexity, or lengthy implementation timelines — which is also a concrete example of how smaller CUs can access enterprise-grade capabilities through the right partner.
