How We Helped Sunwest Bank Innovate
in the U.S. Financial Market
Founded in 1969, Sunwest Bank is an American community bank focused on serving small and mid-sized private companies across the western United States.
- 7
Digital Products
- 1h
Account Opening
- +40%
New Clients
The Challenge
Luby became its strategic partner for developing several web and mobile applications — both internal and client-facing — after identifying new business opportunities. We've worked from product conception (prototyping and validation with business teams) through development, deployment, and ongoing operations. Today, Luby manages a portfolio of seven Sunwest Bank projects.
Sunwest Bank sought to innovate in a traditional and competitive market by digitizing key services for customers and employees. Many banking processes — such as account opening and loan requests — still relied on manual paperwork and in-branch interactions.
The challenge was to modernize these workflows, create user-friendly interfaces, and enable digital operations without disrupting compliance or core banking integrity.
Digitize account opening and lending without losing regulatory rigor
Replace paper-heavy workflows with secure, intuitive digital journeys
Integrate fraud prevention and identity tools across new channels
Scale delivery with dedicated squads aligned to Sunwest's roadmap
Our approach
From ideation and design through development, security integrations, and ongoing operations — including seven digital products and two dedicated squads.
Innovation
Luby participated from ideation and design to development and testing of Sunwest's new digital platforms. Today, the bank itself uses these platforms to manage its HSA accounts and employee benefits.
SNAP
Web app for new and existing clients to open accounts digitally in under one hour — conceived, prototyped, and tested with business teams; Luby maintains daily operations. A differentiator in U.S. commercial banking.
Loans
Online lending launched during COVID-19; customers could apply and track loans fully online. Generated a 40% increase in new customers; 45% remained after the pandemic.
Selfcare HSA
Platform for Health Savings Accounts: companies register employees, open accounts, contribute digitally, and employees pay medical expenses or request reimbursements.
Cyber security
Integrations with leading providers to protect data and operations — including LexisNexis (Bridger, InstantID), ID Analyzer, DocuSign, and hardened flows for U.S.–Mexico remittances.
LexisNexis Risk Solutions
Risk data and fraud prevention integrated into applications such as account opening.
ID Analyzer
Document recognition for passports, driver's licenses, and ID cards.
DocuSign
Digital signatures embedded in Sunwest workflows.
Remittance security
Stronger protection for money transfers from the U.S. to Mexico.
Evolution & third-party integrations
Fiserv
Core banking APIs — accounts, data, transactions.
DriveWealth
Investment platform integrated into Sunwest's ecosystem.
Plaid
Connect user bank accounts for transfers and transactions.
Transnetwork
Remittances and financial transactions across parties.
Banking as a Service (HOA)
Sunwest serves the HOA market through API-based solutions developed by Luby: HOA platforms access banking data so residents see payments, fees, and balances. The ecosystem integrates Fiserv, Plaid, ID Analyzer, and LexisNexis — with ongoing support as Sunwest expands.
Outsourcing
Two dedicated squads (Team Blue and Team Green) — about 13 professionals including developers, PMs, QAs, designers, and tech leads — for operations and maintenance. SNAP and Selfcare HSA exemplify a CX focus where UX/UI and delivery directly impacted business results.
Experience
UX/UI improvements from conception to prototyping across Sunwest products, with accessibility and consistency on web and mobile — strengthening retention in the financial sector.
Key outcomes
New customers (Loans platform)
New accounts via SNAP
Average time to open an account
Sunwest Bank has been a Luby client since 2017, and the Luby team has done great work for the bank across several development projects. As with all offshore engagements, setting clear expectations and having solid requirements, use cases, and test cases are key to success — but Luby is certainly one of the best offshore application development teams I've worked with (and I've worked with many over my career).
Matt March
CIO, Sunwest Bank
Skills & technology
Skill set
Tech & stacks
Modernize your banking infrastructure without downtime
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