InTouch Credit Union taps Kobalt Labs to automate vendor risk reviews

InTouch Credit Union said it is partnering with Kobalt Labs to modernize third-party risk management and cut the manual work tied to vendor due diligence. The rollout is aimed at helping the Plano, Texas-based credit union review security documentation faster, flag gaps sooner and shift more of the process to business teams.

Why it matters: - InTouch Credit Union is trying to reduce the time its Information Security team spends on vendor paperwork and administrative coordination. - The partnership is designed to make third-party risk management a shared process across the credit union, not just a security-team function. - Faster, more consistent vendor reviews can help financial institutions spot missing controls and potential risks earlier.

What happened: - InTouch Credit Union announced a partnership with Kobalt Labs on August 5, 2026. - The credit union said the first rollout will modernize its third-party risk management program. - The initial deployment will automatically review hundreds of pages of information security documentation tied to vendor due diligence. - The credit union is based in Plano, Texas, and serves more than 70,000 members.

The details: - Kobalt's AI-native compliance platform lets contract owners initiate vendor requests and submit documentation directly in the system. - The platform shifts vendor intake and information collection closer to the business teams that own each relationship. - Kobalt automatically analyzes vendor artifacts against InTouch Credit Union's internal requirements. - The platform identifies gaps, extracts evidence and generates review-ready findings across the vendor review lifecycle. - The credit union said its Information Security team had become the operational hub for third-party risk management as its vendor ecosystem grew. - That team was spending time coordinating vendor intake, collecting documentation and managing review workflows in addition to technical risk assessments. - Kobalt performs substantive analysis of vendor documentation rather than only storing files like traditional vendor management systems. - The platform is built for financial institutions and is intended to reduce the manual steps in third-party reviews of vendors and fintech partners. - Kobalt says the platform is synced to evolving state and federal regulations and can extract critical evidence and highlight documentation gaps within minutes. - InTouch Credit Union serves members across all 50 states and more than 20 countries. - InTouch Credit Union was founded in 1974.

Between the lines: - The move reflects a broader push among credit unions to use AI-powered tools to modernize back-office operations. - The staffing and workflow shift could free security leaders to focus more on risk decisions and less on document handling. - The partnership also signals that vendor risk management is moving from a compliance archive model to an analysis-first model. - Kent Lugrand, president and CEO of InTouch Credit Union, said the institution wanted a platform that would make vendor risk management a shared responsibility while giving security and risk teams tools for deeper, more consistent reviews.

What's next: - InTouch Credit Union's initial Kobalt rollout will focus on streamlining vendor due diligence. - The credit union is expected to use automation to reduce manual review work across its broader third-party risk program. - Kobalt will continue positioning its platform as an AI-native tool for financial institutions handling vendor and fintech risk reviews.

The bottom line: - InTouch Credit Union is betting that AI can make vendor risk reviews faster, more consistent and less administrative-heavy without weakening oversight.

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