The Member Tracker System: An Overview

The Member Trackers system is a helpful and easy-to-use tool to help credit union staff keep on top of important member requests and issues. Tracker records can contain reminders to contact a member, follow-up on payments due, schedule an appointment, and more. Because they remain attached to a member's account until manually purged, they can also serve as documentation about an issue for future reference.

Each tracker record is made up of a series of one or more conversations, which are simply notes or records of a specific contact with a member. CU*BASE automatically records the date, time, and employee ID on each individual conversation note. Some Trackers might have only one or two conversations, such as an issue that comes up and is then resolved and put away, while others, like the Collection Card tracker, might retain many years' worth of conversations about the member's delinquency history.

In order to ensure that you have an intact historical record for auditing purposes, past conversation notes cannot be deleted or modified, although you can add new conversation notes at any time.

A follow-up date can be assigned to each individual tracker conversation so that the system will automatically remind an employee of important tasks and instructions. Because each conversation can have its own follow-up, you could even have separate follow-ups for different conversations under the same tracker record—one about a repossession, another about a bankruptcy proceeding, another about a payment being sent, etc. (and each follow-up could even be assigned to a different employee!).

As a rule, there should be only one Collection Card tracker (type XX) and one Audit Tracker (type AT) per member.

To follow-up with a member after sending a credit application or other requested paperwork, to be sure that everything was received and to answer any questions.
To make sure a member received a recent order for replacement checks.
To ensure that a member is satisfied with the resolution of a recent complaint they made.
To review the history of prior contacts with a member in preparation for an upcoming meeting.
To record the “employee's side of the story” regarding a recent problem involving a member.
To serve as a “heads up” for any employee regarding a member issue.

Non-Member Notes

Learn more here about Non-Member Notes

Trackers are not available for non-members, however you can use the Non-Member Notes feature to record interactions with a non-member prior to them becoming a member at your credit union. With the Non-Member Notes feature, you can record notes about non-members (co-borrowers, new applicants and joint owners) via the Non-Member Information screen, the Underwriter Comments screen (for pre-membership loan applications), and the New Member Application screen. If configured in the Workflow Controls: Open Mbrships/Accounts, these can be converted to Tracker conversations once the non-member becomes a member. Once the membership is created, the non-member notes will be converted into Tracker conversation on the membership base share (000) account. If no Tracker and Memo Types are configured, the non-member notes automatically purge if the non-member converts to a member.

Tracker Types

Tracker Types are credit union-defined codes that let you separate different types of records at a high level. (Memo Type Codes, described below, are more granular to describe different types of conversations you might have under the same tracker.) In addition to the standard Collection Card Tracker (type code XX), you might have a Member Services Tracker type for making a record of member service issues that come up over time, or separate Phone Contact Tracker just for things that come up in your phone center.

Collection Cards: A Special Kind of Tracker

A Collection Card tracker is used specifically to maintain a complete record of all collections efforts pertaining to the member. There should generally be only one Collection Card tracker (type XX) per member. For more guidelines on using Collection Card trackers, refer to CU*BASE Collections Overview.

Remember that any Tracker type can contain as many (or as few) individual conversations as needed. That means you can choose to create new Trackers every time a new issue or topic comes up with the member, recording just one or a few conversations on that particular issue. Or, similar to the Collection Card tracker, you could create a blanket “member service” tracker that records every member service issue that ever comes up throughout the life of the membership, simply adding new conversations over time. It's up to you! Read more about the difference between one or multiple Trackers per Tracker type..

Tracker Types are configured using Configure Tracker Types. Using this screen, you can allow and restrict selection actions per Tracker type, such as limiting the number of Sales Trackers (ST) to allow for only one Sales Tracker per member. Read more about configuring Trackers.

Using Memo Types

In addition to the Tracker type codes, each individual tracker conversation can be flagged with a credit union-defined Memo Type Code. These codes let you organize individual tracker conversations any way you wish.

For example, in the Collection Card Tracker record you could flag a conversation note as “Promise to Pay” or “Bankrupt” or “Disability Insurance Coverage Begun” or “Disability Insurance Claim Pending,” and so on. For other tracker types, you could use memo types such as “Left a Message” or “Referred to Manager” and so on.

CU*BASE features such as the Work Collections screen will show the memo type from the most recent conversation (the collector can also see memo types from other conversations, too, of course).

Memo Types are configured via Configure Memo Type Codes.

Using Key Word/Phrase References

As each tracker record is created it can be flagged with a key reference word or phrase to make it easy to locate and sort trackers in Queries and reports. Remember that this key word pertains the entire Tracker record, while Memo Types are assigned separately to each individual conversation record.

It is helpful to set up a system of key reference words or phrases that will aid in analyzing and organizing tracker records. For example, you might use the reference field for a note such as “Order” if the tracker pertains to an order for replacement checks or other items, or a note such as “Meeting” might be used if the tracker pertains to an appointment requested by a member. These reference words could then be used when defining a custom report or inquiry in the CU*BASE Report Builder to locate similar tracker records.

CU*TIP: The combination of Tracker types, Tracker key word/phrases, and Memo Type codes makes the system very flexible to organize things any way you wish!

Other Features

When a Tracker record is created, it is “attached” to a specific account suffix. Trackers that pertain to the member but not to a specific account are generally attached to the 000 share suffix. (The Collection Card Tracker is attached to the 000 account as well.) Other trackers, including ones generated automatically by the system, may be attached just to the single account to which they pertain.
Trackers remain on the system until a batch of tracker records is purged. (Trackers cannot be deleted one at a time.)
In addition to the trackers created by individual employees, the CU*BASE system also generates trackers regarding delinquency status for a member's loan accounts. These are attached directly to the loan account suffix, and will generally have only one conversation note each.
NOTE: This feature is controlled using the Delinquent Notice Configuration. For more information, refer to the Configuring Tools for Collections booklet.
Each time a change is made to the member personal information, a Tracker entry is made on the Audit Tracker that records the old and new values. The Tracker also notes if the Employee ID of the person who made the change in CU*BASE or 96 if the change was made directly by the member in home banking.

Trackers vs. Member Comments

It can sometimes be tricky to decide exactly how to communicate an issue regarding a member to other credit union staff. Should you use a Member Comment? Are there situations where a Tracker would be better than a Comment? Following is a comparison of the two features to help you decide:

Member Comments	Trackers
Appear automatically when accessing the member's account via Inquiry, Teller Posting, and other processes. These comments are designed to actually interrupt a member transaction to ensure that the instructions contained in the comment are read and followed. There may be times when it would not be appropriate for a note regarding a member to display in this fashion. For example, it might not be desirable to interrupt teller processing with statements such as “Member visited safe deposit box on Jan. 3” or “Discussed changes to member's money market fund on Feb. 28.”	Do not appear automatically, but can be flagged with a follow-up date so that a report is generated reminding the employee of the follow-up required. Trackers can also be accessed at any time even if no follow-up is required. Because of the ability to assign a follow-up, trackers are the best vehicle for relaying time-sensitive information. A tracker also works well when you wish to record general information that does not require a follow-up but needs to be recorded for future reference.
Limited to one line of text each (60 characters total). If more room is required, additional comments can be created.	Each individual tracker conversation note can have 99 lines of 60 characters each (that's 5,940 characters!). The entire Tracker record can have up to 9,999 individual conversation notes.
Maintained until the purge date is reached; automatically purged during daily processing.	Maintained until purged manually using a batch purge process (by Tracker type and/or member account number).
General; can apply to any or all employees.	Can be directed to a specific employee. Can be used for any topic, from member service requests to collections notes.