Remember scrambling to visit your bank branch during COVID, only to find out you needed an appointment—but there was no way to actually book one?
Yeah, Bulldog Federal Credit Union in Hagerstown, Maryland remembers too. And they decided to do something about it.
The community credit union just teamed up with FMSI, a company that specializes in making branch visits less painful (think appointment scheduling and lobby management tech). For Bulldog Federal, this partnership is about more than just adding a “book here” button to their website. It’s part of a complete makeover of how members interact with their branches.
From Mack Trucks to Main Street
Bulldog Federal has been around since 1968, starting out as a credit union for Mack Truck employees before growing into a full community institution. Today, they’ve got about $300 million in assets and a team of 50 people serving Washington County. Not too shabby for a local player.
But here’s the thing: even successful institutions have blind spots. For Bulldog Federal, it was appointment scheduling—or rather, the complete lack of it. When COVID hit and branches had to manage capacity limits, the team was stuck doing everything manually. Spreadsheets. Phone calls. Probably some Post-it notes. You get the picture.
“We recognized that scheduling an appointment was an area that needed improvement,” said Stacy Wright, CEO of Bulldog Federal Credit Union. With a website refresh already in the works, the timing lined up perfectly to tackle this gap. “Based on what we’ve seen from FMSI so far, I’m confident we’ll be happy with both the service and the product. I’d encourage any credit union CEO to reach out and see what FMSI can do for them.”
Why FMSI Won the Business
Bulldog Federal didn’t just pick FMSI because they had the shiniest demo (though that probably didn’t hurt). According to Gary Plummer, Chief Design Director at the credit union, it came down to something more fundamental: the human connection.
“We spoke with multiple vendors. FMSI came in better prepared and more professional, and the connection was real,” Plummer explained. “When we invest in a partnership, we need that total buy-in from the other side and we felt it.”
It’s refreshing, honestly. In a world where B2B sales can feel like you’re being pitched by robots reading from a script, sometimes the deciding factor is simply working with people who actually get it.
Reintroducing Bulldog Federal for 2026
This tech upgrade is part of a bigger story. Bulldog Federal is essentially reintroducing itself to the community—showing Washington County that the credit union they’ve known for nearly 60 years is evolving for modern member expectations.
“This is part of a bigger story we’re telling about what Bulldog Federal Credit Union is in 2026 and beyond,” Plummer said. “We’ve been here since 1968, and we’re reintroducing ourselves to the community in a way that reflects who we are today.”
The credit union plans to launch the new website with integrated appointment scheduling through FMSI’s RelationshipOS platform in October. Right now, they’re in testing mode—using the live site as a sandbox to work out the kinks before the official ribbon-cutting.
The Bigger Picture
Jacob Reeves, General Manager at FMSI, noted that Bulldog Federal’s approach stands out because they’re thinking holistically. “They’re not just adding a scheduling tool. They’re rethinking how members experience the branch from the moment they decide to visit. That’s the right way to approach it.”
And really, that’s the lesson here. Technology for technology’s sake is just clutter. But when you use it to solve actual friction points in your customer experience? That’s when things get interesting.
For anyone who’s ever shown up to a bank branch at an inconvenient time, waited in an endless line, or tried to coordinate a visit during a pandemic, what Bulldog Federal is doing might seem like table stakes. But sometimes the most obvious improvements are the ones that get overlooked the longest.