Why Pacific Service Credit Union Chose Glide

About Pacific Service Credit Union

Founded in 1936 by Pacific Gas & Electric employees in the San Francisco Bay Area, Pacific Service Credit Union has grown from a single-employer credit union into a $1.3 billion institution serving nearly 70,000 members across 12 Northern California counties, from San Francisco down to Fresno and up through Sonoma. Headquartered in Concord, California, the credit union has been named a Top Workplace in the Bay Area every year from 2019 to 2025 and donated over $221,000 to local nonprofits in 2024 alone. The mission hasn't changed much since 1936: help members achieve their financial goals and strengthen their financial lives. The tools for doing that have.

A deliberate search

Pacific Service CU first looked for a new account opening provider in 2024. They reviewed the market, evaluated options — and walked away without signing anything. The right fit wasn't there yet.

They came back to it in 2025, this time with a different starting point. Instead of evaluating platforms first, Jojo's team — which oversees branches, contact center, and training — mapped out what an ideal member experience would actually look like, end to end, for both the prospective member and the back office staff handling new accounts.

Only then did they go back to the market.

"We created an ideal member experience scenario and said: what are all the things we want that experience to look like — both for the potential member as well as the back office folks. We came up with some requirements and then we went out and looked at all the different providers in the space. And Glide floated to the top."

Angelito "Jojo" Cristobal

VP; Member Experience at Pacific Service Credit Union

What stood out

Two things drove the decision. First, the user experience. For a credit union trying to grow membership, a clunky or confusing application flow is a silent killer — members don't complain, they just leave.

"It is very seamless. Part of what excites us is being able to create an ideal experience for somebody that just comes to the credit union and makes it so that the onboarding process is really easy."

Second, Plaid's identity verification tools. Pacific Service was watching applications start and not finish. The combination of a smoother flow and smarter identity checks pointed toward a meaningful improvement in the number of members making it all the way through.

"We believe we're going to see a higher pullthrough — and ultimately that leads to greater member growth, which is really what we're looking for."

The metric that matters

For Jojo, the implementation success will be measured by one number: pullthrough rate. How many people who start an application actually finish it. Jojo shared with their previous digital platform, it has been disappointing for applications to start and then not make it all the way through the funnel.

For a credit union that serves 70,000 members across 12 counties — and has been doing it since 1936 — adding more of them is the whole point.

Want to see what Glide can do for your credit union?

Pacific Service CU built the blueprint for their ideal member experience before choosing a platform. If you're ready to do the same, schedule a demo with Glide.