Corning Credit Union Replaces Weeks-Long Data Requests With Self-Service Search Using Tursio

Natural language search gives staff direct access to member data locked in the credit union's core banking system, without writing a single query

SEATTLE, WA, UNITED STATES, July 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Corning Credit Union has connected its core banking data to Tursio, a structured data search platform, giving staff the ability to ask questions about member data in plain language and get answers without submitting a ticket or waiting on a data team.

Before Tursio, a routine data request at Corning Credit Union went through an intake committee, then waited for an open slot in the next sprint or the backlog. Tom Foster, the credit union's VP of Product, Project Management and Data Analytics, said that process took two to three weeks for anything non-urgent, and the delay often meant the request didn't matter as much by the time it was filled.

"By the time the data could be delivered, the requester had often lost focus on the problem," Foster said. "A lot of questions simply didn't get asked because it wasn't worth the trouble."

The credit union's core system, Jack Henry's Symitar, added a layer of difficulty on top of the wait. Symitar tracks records by account, not by person, so a single member can appear under several name records with small inconsistencies between them, a street address written one way on one account and slightly differently on another. Corning had already built a fix for this: an internal householding process, originally developed to support a Salesforce rollout, that rolls accounts up under the member they belong to. That existing work turned out to matter for Tursio too. Exposing that relationship structure to the platform meant it could answer questions about members directly, instead of working through a chain of account-level joins first.

Corning connected Tursio to data cubes drawn from its on-premises warehouse and its Salesforce Data360 environment, blending Symitar records with information from digital banking and other internal systems.

Foster said the credit union already used similar cubes for reporting through SSRS, Tableau, and Salesforce, and wanted Tursio pulling from that same consolidated source rather than standing up a separate pipeline.

Product managers at Corning now use Tursio to size member segments for marketing offers. Support staff have started using it for operational checks, such as identifying members about to turn 18 or flagging account combinations that shouldn't exist. Branch leadership access is next, so managers can spot member relationships that need attention without filing a request first.

Foster described the rollout as intentionally slow. "We only have one chance for Tursio to make a first impression with the team," he said. "Success with Tursio depends on the team trusting the data it provides." Corning spent time training the model on what it knows and doesn't know, including guidance on appropriate use of its answers, before expanding who could use it.

Data privacy was the reason Corning went looking for a tool like this in the first place. "In early 2025, we wanted a solution that completely walled off our data from anything external," Foster said. "Tursio was the most compelling option for data privacy." The credit union currently uses Tursio for ad hoc analysis and data pulls, with fraud detection among the operational use cases planned next.

Alekh Jindal, CEO and co-founder of Tursio, said Corning's situation reflects what keeps many credit unions from adopting AI tools for member data in the first place. "The barrier we hear about constantly is the risk of breaching sensitive member data," Jindal said. "Our approach is to bring the AI to the data instead, so it runs inside the credit union's own security boundary and nothing leaves that environment. Corning had already done the hard work of organizing their data around members instead of accounts, which made that connection straightforward."

Tursio and Corning Credit Union were featured together in coverage of Fintech Meetup 2026.

Foster's advice to other credit union leaders considering a similar deployment: be precise about what the tool can do before turning people loose on it. "One misunderstood question can sour a user from returning and build on impressions about AI that are already in place," he said. "Be clear about what it can and cannot do, and what they should and should not do with the answers."

Corning plans to add trending member data and transaction-level data to its Tursio deployment over the next year.

The full Corning Credit Union case study is available at tursio.ai.

About Tursio

Tursio is a structured data search platform that lets business users query operational databases and data warehouses in natural language, with no SQL required. By automatically generating a context graph from existing data structures, Tursio delivers accurate, governed answers while deploying fully on-premises, keeping data inside the customer's own security boundary. Tursio connects to systems including Symitar, SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Cassandra, and Microsoft Fabric, and integrates with tools such as Microsoft Teams, Copilot, and Claude. To learn more or request a free trial, contact info@tursio.ai or visit tursio.ai.

About Corning Credit Union

Founded in 1936, Corning Credit Union began with just 42 members and $420 in assets. Today, the credit union has grown to over 160,000 members worldwide, with $2.4 billion in assets and locations across New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. Its membership also includes over 1,700 employer groups, associations, and businesses, reflecting its commitment to serving diverse communities.

Steve Jensen
Surge PR
Steve@surge-pr.com
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