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WASHINGTON--A new acronym is coming to live in CUland. From the folks who brought you CAMEL comes AIRES, the Automated Integrated Regulatory Examination System.
AIRES is the National Credit Union Administration's bid to bring the examination process to the level of technological sophistication of the credit unions it regulates. It will allow an examiner to download data directly from a credit union's DP system.
Field trials of AIRES (pronounced AIR-eez) began this month. The current timetable for the system calls for full deployment and training of examiners to be completed by March 31, 1995, according to Douglas D. Verner, director of NCUA's Office of Technological Services.
AIRES still is relatively unknown to credit union people, although interest is growing. Verner's presentation on the new system Oct. 10 at the Credit Union National Association's annual convention in Kansas City, Mo., drew an audience of more than 200.
Those who are familiar with AIRES say it has features that can benefit CU examinations. While no one speaks against the concept, some CU leaders and data processing vendors and data processing vendors point out security and logistical problems that NCUA has yet to address.
* VOLUNTARY--AT FIRST
At the outset, credit unions will voluntarily allow examiners to use AIRES. How long it will be voluntary was a question raised by the audience in Kansas City. In the words of one CU manager, NCUA may offer a credit union the choice "between the $5,000 AIRES exam and the $50,000 manual exam."
While AIRES integrates many functions, from telephone lists to examiner time- and expense-reporting, Verner said the heart of the system shortens the process of retrieving and processing financial data that an examiner needs to assess a CU's safety and soundness. That means an examiner can spend less time with his or her laptop, and more time talking to CU employees to learn how a credit union ticks.
"We're using technology more and more to get away from it more and more," Verner told his Kansas City audience.
"We asked examiners what they wanted. They told us they needed more time to talk with credit union people, and simplify data gathering and data management," Verner told CUNews.
Verner calls downloading the data directly from the credit union's DP...