"The Metronet [ChoiceLight] will provide us with options for the future that wouldn’t exist if not for its service," he says.

Teachers Credit Union

As an economic leader in St. Joseph County, Indiana, Rick Rice was initially interested in the ChoiceLight because of its potential for furthering the community’s economic development. Yet the more he learned about the ChoiceLight's high speed, data transmission capabilities, and cost efficiency, the more he realized the benefits it could bestow on the organization over which he presides − the Teachers Credit Union.

As a banking institution, the 26,000 member Teachers Credit Union processes online and real-time transactions and thus relies on moving tremendous amounts of information that is critical to its customers. "We complete about 1.5 million transactions each month," says Rice, president of Teachers Credit Union. "Money that is deposited in an account shows up immediately, even though some branches of the Teachers Credit Union are as far away as Indianapolis."

Rice points out that while instantaneous transactions were possible using the organization’s old data network, the increased bandwidth offered by ChoiceLight allows the Teachers Credit Union to move significantly more data, spread throughout its 36 different branches, all at the same time. "The Metronet [ChoiceLight] is what connects all our information and keeps it moving smoothly and efficiently," says Rice. "While that is a significant benefit of the Metronet [ChoiceLight], another important advantage is the big savings in cost."

As subscribers of ChoiceLight, the Teachers Credit Union saves approximately $6,000 in cost each month, compared to the costs of its prior service, for an annual savings of $72,000. "We estimate that due to our switch to the Metronet [ChoiceLight], we will ultimately gain a total savings of $250,000 to $300,000 each year," says Rice. Rice is convinced that this optic fiber, high speed telecommunications network is beneficial not only to the Teachers Credit Union, but to all its subscribers, as well as the future of economic development in St. Joseph County.