GAC 2026: Core Conversations with Fiserv, Jack Henry and Pediment

By John San Filippo

In early March, Finopotamus was onsite for the America’s Credit Unions Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) in Washington. We conducted over a dozen interviews, including the following three conversations with these providers of core data processing systems.

Modernizing the Core

The GAC provided a timely stage for discussing the technology that’s driving the credit union movement forward. As institutions navigate an era of rapid digital transformation, the role of the core processor continues to evolve from a back-office utility to a strategic engine for growth. Finopotamus spent time with Fiserv, Jack Henry, and the newcomer Pediment—to explore how they are reimagining the core for a new generation of members.

While their technological approaches vary, one common theme emerged: The era of the “big bang” core conversion may be coming to an end. In its place is a more nuanced strategy of platform-based evolution, sidecar cores, and unified ledgers.

Fiserv: A Strategy of Stability and Shared Components

Milwaukee, Wis.-based Fiserv occupies a unique position in the market, managing a massive portfolio that includes 16 different core systems across banks and credit unions. Vanessa Stock, vice president of product management and strategy, emphasized that the company’s current roadmap is defined by choice rather than coercion. She explained that under recent leadership, the company has solidified a strategy that prioritizes supporting clients exactly where they are. “We will continue to support all of our credit unions where they are, and there will be no forced migrations,” Stock emphasized.

Vanessa Stock

To manage such a diverse ecosystem efficiently, Fiserv utilizes its Enterprise Services Framework (ESF), which allows the company to develop shared components that can be deployed across multiple cores. Stock highlighted a recent shift in IRS form submission requirements as a prime example of this “build once, deploy many” philosophy. She noted that instead of rewriting code for every individual system, the company developed a single solution. “Instead of building that 16 times in each individual core, we were building it one time and integrating it to the cores,” she remarked.

For institutions looking to innovate without a total system replacement, Stock pointed to the potential of “sidecar” strategies using Finxact, the company’s headless core platform, which it acquired in 2022. While Finxact is primarily a platform for digital-first banks, it allows credit unions to launch specific products—like commercial lending or a niche digital brand—on a modern stack that integrates back to their primary core. Stock suggested that this flexibility is key to maintaining a competitive edge. “It just provides a lot more comfort and safety for a lot of our credit unions,” she said.

Stock also offered a candid assessment of the challenges facing smaller, rural institutions. While technology is often called the “great equalizer,” she argued that the fate of these credit unions often rests on human capital. She observed that recruiting talent to non-metro areas is a significant hurdle for many. “If I had any advice for the smaller credit unions, especially in rural areas, it was to put the time investment into their succession plan for someone that was local and have them grow up into the CEO role,” Stock explained.

Jack Henry: Strengthening the Infrastructure “Below the Waterline”

Monett, Mo.-based Jack Henry is currently executing a multi-year modernization strategy that focuses on building a high-performance platform that sits above its traditional transaction engines like SilverLake and Symitar. Shanon McLachlan, COO, described this work as an essential strengthening of the institution’s foundation. He noted that much of the company’s recent focus has been on invisible but critical improvements. “A lot of what we have been doing was building stuff below the waterline,” McLachlan said.

Shanon McLachlan

This foundational work is already bearing fruit in the form of rapid feature deployments. McLachlan discussed the success of products like Tap2Local and Rapid Transfer, the latter allows members to move funds from outside accounts into their credit union in real time. He also shared that the company has been able to implement these solutions in “waves,” sometimes upgrading 100 institutions essentially overnight. “The team has worked really hard to figure out how to efficiently and effectively do that,” McLachlan noted.

One of the most forward-looking aspects of the Jack Henry platform is its readiness for digital assets and stablecoins. McLachlan pointed out a fundamental limitation in legacy core design: Most systems were only built to track balances to two decimal places. In contrast, the Jack Henry platform was designed with nine decimal positions out of the box. This allows the system to natively support stablecoins like USD Coin (USDC). McLachlan compared this level of preparation to being ready for a major industry shift well in advance. “It automatically allowed us to extend into the stablecoin space for our customers,” he stated.

As Jack Henry prepares for its 50th anniversary, McLachlan stressed that technology must follow strategy, especially when engaging Gen Z members who expect a 24/7 self-service experience. He argued that credit unions must decide what kind of business they want to be before they start spending money on new tools. When Finopotamus asked for his primary message to the industry, McLachlan focused on the big picture. “I think it is to look at your holistic strategy, look at who you are trying to serve that to, and make your technology selections there,” he asserted.

Pediment: The Blueprint for a Unified Ledger Network

The most radical vision presented at GAC came from Tristan Bietsch, founder of San Francisco-based Pediment. A former Bitcoin developer, Bietsch argued that the industry’s current reliance on isolated legacy cores is a “spaghetti nightmare” that cannot scale for the future. His vision for core processing has financial institutions sharing a single, unified “atomic” ledger. “I envision that all banks will share one unified ledger, essentially turning every bank into a node for the same network,” Bietsch stated.

Tristan Bietsch

Bietsch drew a parallel between his vision and the birth of the internet. He explained that just as universities once had isolated networks before unifying them into a single global system, banking ledgers must eventually do the same. This would eliminate the need for complex messaging between banks and allow for truly atomic, real-time transactions. “If we connected all the ledgers to Pedi-nets (Pediment networks),” Bietsch explained, “we can, I think, figure out the next step from there. And hopefully it's helping the community coordinate a little more economically towards a greater collective mission.”

Understanding that credit unions cannot “rip and replace” their systems overnight, Pediment’s strategy involves building a bridge. This bridge uses tokenized deposits to mirror the institution’s existing ledger on a modern stack. Over several years, the institution can slowly migrate its data and accounts until the legacy system is no longer needed. Bietsch explained that this measured approach is necessary for safety. “Once you had enough, let us say 85% and 90% of the accounts on our core system, you would actually migrate the rest to the new core,” he said.

A major point of frustration Bietsch aims to solve is data accessibility. He noted that many legacy cores make it difficult or expensive for institutions to access their own historical data, often limiting searchability to just a few months. He argued that clean, accessible data is the only way for credit unions to successfully utilize artificial intelligence. “If you could make the data accessible to anybody, especially AI, you could do a lot,” Bietsch commented.

Bietsch acknowledged that his vision is ambitious, even describing himself as a “time traveler” bringing future concepts to a legacy-heavy industry. However, he emphasized that Pediment is a compliance-first company that is working closely with regulators. He noted that the timing for such a shift is open because the current systems are reaching their technical limits. “I believe the correct order is fix banking to fix the money, and to then fix the world,” Bietsch concluded.

Looking Ahead

Whether through the incremental stability of Fiserv, the platform-centric innovation of Jack Henry, or the disruptive vision of Pediment, the message for credit unions is clear: The core is no longer a static product, but an evolving ecosystem. The successful credit union of the future will be the one that aligns its technology stack with a clear, member-centric vision.