What Every Credit Union CEO Should Be Asking About File Transfers (But Isn’t)

If you manage a credit union, here’s what you need to know about the file transfers responsible for your company’s data security.

Every day, a credit union quietly moves massive amounts of data—loan files, member records, payment batches, regulatory reports, vendor feeds. Each one is critical to operations, yet many credit union presidents and CEOs have no idea how those files move, who oversees them or how protected those transfers really are.

It’s a blind spot hiding in plain sight.

File transfers might sound like back-office plumbing, but they’re the arteries of your institution’s data flow. When those arteries clog, slow down or leak, the impact isn’t just technical—it’s financial, reputational and regulatory.

The problem? Many CEOs assume IT “has it covered.” In reality, the difference between a compliant, efficient file transfer process and an exposed one often comes down to governance and the right questions from leadership.

Here are 10 questions every credit union president or CEO should be asking their IT team to uncover risks, close blind spots and strengthen the systems that keep member data moving securely every day.

1. What is our current file transfer process, and what protocols and security controls are in place?

At the outset, you need to understand the architecture. Ask: Are we still relying on ad-hoc FTP, email attachments or homegrown scripts? Or do we have a centrally managed, secure MFT platform (for example, the Progress MOVEit solution) that supports SFTP/FTPS/HTTPS, encryption in transit and at rest, audit logs and non-repudiation features?

Also ask: When was the last audit of file transfer security practices? Are we using the right tools given the volume and sensitivity of our member-data, vendor files and regulatory disclosures? If the answer is “we just rely on standard FTP and some scripts,” that’s a red flag. You want a solution where transfers are visible, centrally managed and subject to policy control, not fragments of “shadow transfers.”

2. How do our file transfer processes align with regulatory compliance and industry standards?

For a credit union, compliance is non-negotiable. Ask: Do we require certain file transfers to comply with PCI DSS (because of card data), GLBA (because of financial privacy), FFIEC guidance or other applicable mandates? Are we using a Web-Application Firewall (WAF), inspection, intrusion detection in our file transfer architecture?

In simple terms: Make sure your IT team is prepared to answer how they meet those standards when data moves not just externally but also internally between applications. For example: If your core system sends nightly deposit files to your analytics vendor, is that transfer tracked, logged and under the same governance as your member-card-data transfers?

3. Are our current file transfer methods the most efficient? How much manual work remains, and do we have systems sprawl?

Efficiency matters—especially when IT budgets and staff resources are constrained, as they often are in mid-sized credit unions. Ask: How many different tools, scripts, FTP servers, email-dropboxes or external vendor portals are we using instead of a unified platform? Are we doing manual steps (for example, “someone manually uploads a CSV each night”) that could be automated?

From your vantage as CEO: ask about the human cost. If the file transfer process breaks, how many people must scramble? How many manual checks occur? If there is significant manual overhead, you may be risking both inefficiency and error. A well-implemented MFT solution should reduce that risk and free up staff time.

4. How reliable are our file transfer processes, and what is our downtime or failure rate? Do we need high availability (HA)?

In a credit-union environment, timely transfers matter. Ask: What’s our failure rate or error rate of critical file transfers over the past 12 months? Do we have broadband trends of late transfers or missing files? Do we have an architecture that supports high availability?

If your file transfer system is a simple server in a closet with no failover, you may have a single-point-of-failure. As CEO you should ask: What happens if we have a data-center outage, or if the server hosting file transfer goes offline during a vendor deadline? The answer informs your operational risk.

5. Do we have a security-conscious culture and governance around file transfers? Are we avoiding ‘shadow IT’?

Technology alone isn’t sufficient—the human and process dimension matters. Ask: Do end users or business units ever bypass IT’s managed file transfer system and use their “favorite FTP” or email service? Do we have accountability, audit trails and reporting to show compliance with policy (for example “all partner file transfers must go through our managed platform”)?

Ask whether staff are educated about the risks of ad-hoc transfers. Are business units empowered (or required) to use the chosen platform? Is there oversight to detect “shadow transfers” (systems or transfers that bypass IT’s visibility)? Verifying that file transfer processes aren’t just technically secure but also governed by strong processes is crucial.

6. What new technologies or methods could improve our file transfer processes?

Innovation isn’t just a buzzword—it pays off. Ask: Are there emerging technologies (e.g., cloud-based MFT-as-a-Service, API-based integrations, workflow automation) that could enhance our file transfer infrastructure? Should we consider add-ons like High Availability (HA) nodes, a Web Application Firewall (WAF), additional nodes for redundancy or geographic separation?

Ask your IT director whether your file transfer environment is “future-ready” for increased volumes (e.g., open banking APIs, third-party vendor integrations, cloud-data-feeds). A solution designed today without scalability may become a constraint tomorrow. Consider the flexibility provided in a cloud-native, SaaS-based MFT product, like Progress Automate MFT software. 

7. Do we have full visibility and audit capability over all file transfer activity?

Transparency matters. Ask: Does our file transfer platform provide comprehensive audit trails (who sent what file, when, to whom, with which protocol), reporting, alerts on failures or delays, and integration with our SIEM/DLP systems?

It’s important to ask whether you receive periodic executive-level briefings (e.g., “Monthly: 100 % of transfers completed on time; <1% error; no unauthorized transfers flagged”). If not, then you may lack the oversight necessary for operational health and regulatory readiness.

8. How much of our current setup involves legacy scripts, manual intervention and disparate tools—what’s our technical debt?

Ask your IT lead: How many of our transfers are still managed by old scripts, disparate FTP boxes or one-off vendor portals? How many connections do we maintain manually (e.g., vendor A uses FTPS, vendor B uses email attachments)? This legacy sprawl introduces risk and cost. When you unify under a managed platform, you reduce maintenance overhead, reduce error rates and simplify support.

Ask also: What is our plan to retire manual-process transfers or vintage FTP servers? Do we have a roadmap to consolidate onto one platform so that we minimize different “islands” of file movement?

9. What is our recovery plan if a file transfer process fails or is compromised?

Operational resilience needs planning, not just hope. Ask: If a critical vendor file fails to arrive on time, what is our backup plan? If a file transfer system is compromised (e.g., unauthorized access, failed encryption), what is our incident response?

It’s vital to understand how often you conduct full failure drills, test disaster recovery (DR) for your file transfer environment, and whether you maintain an SLA with external vendors or internal teams for critical file‐deliveries.

10. How are we measuring ROI and what KPIs do we track for file transfer operations?

Finally, although as a leader you may not dive into every tech detail, you should ask about the business value. Ask: What KPIs do we monitor (e.g., average file transfer latency, error rate, manual labor hours saved, number of different systems consolidated, cost per transfer)? What cost savings or risk reductions have we achieved by moving toward a managed platform? If you already have MOVEit or a similar MFT platform, ask: What metrics can we show to demonstrate value to the credit union (reduced manual workload, fewer errors, better audit compliance, etc.)?

You want your IT partner not only to handle the “plumbing” but to show how file transfer operations are a meaningful part of your risk-management, member-experience and cost-structure strategy.

Turning Questions into Action

As a CEO, you don’t need to understand every technical detail of file transfer protocols—but you do need confidence that the systems moving your institution’s most sensitive data are designed to be secure, resilient and aligned with compliance requirements. Asking the right questions is how you bridge that gap between technical operations and executive oversight.

By engaging your IT leaders around these 10 questions, you’ll uncover hidden inefficiencies, strengthen your security posture and equip your credit union for the demands of digital banking—without adding unnecessary complexity.

Learn more about the file transfer option that may be right for you!