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Rochdale Paragon Group and Constellation Digital Partners forge fintech due diligence alliance

RALEIGH, NC (July 9, 2019) — Constellation Digital Partners is excited to announce a new strategic partnership with leading vendor management solutions provider, Rochdale Paragon Group. The exclusive partnership with Rochdale Paragon offers one-stop vendor due diligence reviews of Constellation service providers in order to deliver complete transparency and confidence to credit union buyers within the Constellation marketplace.

Regulations require credit unions to maintain effective vendor management programs. This new partnership will aid credit unions in making their vendor due diligence processes more efficient. Once fintech providers complete the Rochdale Paragon assessment process, credit unions will be able to obtain a pre-completed vendor due diligence review package in order to evaluate the suitability of potential technology partners. This alliance helps both credit unions and fintech providers improve speed-to-market by saving valuable time and effort throughout the sales process.

“After Constellation fintech providers are assessed by Rochdale, they will be given a special designation inside the Constellation Marketplace,” says Constellation Founder and CEO Kristopher Kovacs. “This special designation will allow credit unions to browse certified tiles knowing that due diligence is already taken care of. Without Rochdale’s partnership, separate due diligence processes for every potential credit union fintech combination would be tedious and redundant for all parties involved.”

Rochdale Paragon, formed in 2016, has quickly become the industry leader in both enterprise risk management and vendor management solutions and looks to expand on their expertise by providing complete due diligence reviews on all Constellation partners. By assigning an objective, risk-based score to each service partner, due diligence will be “built in” to every purchase. Creating a culture of accountability and transparency, Constellation and Rochdale Paragon look to systematically change the way digital services are purchased throughout the credit union industry, thus giving the advantage of exposure and confidence to all parties involved.

To learn more about Constellation, visit www.constellation.coop. To learn more about Rochdale Paragon Group, visit
www.rochdaleparagon.com.

About Rochdale Paragon Group’s Vendor Management Framework and Risk-based Scoring

Rochdale Paragon Group (RPG) has a standardized methodology providing a holistic and risk weighted evaluation of third parties. RPG’s vendor program is built off the foundation of the leading third-party standards group, Shared Assessments® for which maintains a best practices approach called the Standard Information Gathering (SIG) questionnaire. RPG’s program builds on these standards to develop a proprietary methodology incorporating criticality and risk evaluations to customize results specifically for credit unions.

RPG’s vendor evaluation includes a standardized evaluation of major control domains and the risk and criticality evaluation for more streamlined comparison and consumption by credit unions. Control domains include such categories as data security, business operations and management, financial strength, etc.  Additionally, RPG has instituted a collaborative process in working with vendors to ensure a thorough understanding and potential remediation activities. This does not influence final ratings but assists new vendors in the development of a formal due diligence package and offers improved understanding of potential or planned remediation activities. This approach allows for a rigorous but standardized method and risk ranking for both the credit union and vendors to more effectively and efficiently focus on true business critical issues that can be relied upon by all stakeholders. This does not provide a “good” or “bad” rating, but rather a risk-based view of the potential relationship contextualized by real business critical information. It is a comprehensive and reliable evaluation detailing criticality and specific business risks. It answers the question of, “What should I care about and why?” and provides for formal follow-up and ongoing monitoring for potential changes in the risk posture.

RPG’s framework and vendor risk-based scoring includes a comprehensive set of due diligence materials, but more importantly, an executive summary which provides risk and criticality scoring for each of the control domains and overall scoring along with a specific write-up of the key areas of focus and what risk they may pose. This gives the vendor opportunity to improve critical controls over time and credit unions the ability to identify quickly any potential issues for their own understanding and evaluation, effectively providing a roadmap for making solid business decisions aligned with the credit union’s risk appetite.


About Constellation Digital Partners, LLC

Constellation Digital Partners is a leading provider of digital banking solutions that enable credit unions to deliver a unique and customized digital banking experience to their members. Constellation’s patented, open development platform allows credit unions to pursue innovative fintech services at the pace of their individual digital strategy. For more information, visit www.constellation.coop.

Contacts

Derek Howard
For Constellation
derek@williammills.com
678-781-7215

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