The Time for Credit Union Digital Transformation is Now!

Improve Member Engagement & Enhance Digital Presence with Modern Contact Center Solutions

Introduction

Credit Unions have always been a lucrative option for customers seeking lower fees, higher saving rates, and personalized services. However, there’s more to credit unions’ popularity than just local commitments and financial gains. Owned by people who use its services – a credit union’s overriding goal has always been to provide the best service to its members compared to banks that are driven by a profit-making motive.

To excel in service delivery, it’s crucial to have a member’s support. Sure, direct communication with individual members can be a great way to show genuine care for them. But the world today has tilted towards digital-first services, and relying solely on traditional channels might not cut it. This however does not mean that telephone and in-branch support would be rooted out, but it’s high time credit unions made space for more channels to cater to the rising expectations of their current members and also meet future members’ digital needs.

As more and more members turn to conduct their financial business online, they should be able to trust contact center agents with sensitive information and receive quality customer service to remain loyal. That would require credit unions to find a balance between online access and human interaction.

This blog discusses the roadblocks faced by Credit Unions in ensuring higher member engagement and how modern contact center solutions can help them sail through with ease.

Contact Center: The Face of Credit Unions

Credit Union members are slowly becoming tech-savvy and for younger members the importance of physical branch locations is decreasing.

As per a PwC report, only 30 percent of members under 35, say they selected their credit union based on the location of the nearest branch or ATM.

As the importance of physical branches continues to decline, members will primarily interact with their credit unions online and over the phone. That makes call center agents, the face of your credit union for an increasing number of members. Members need to feel confident that they are being served with accurate information. To deliver services as per member expectations, contact centers need to have efficient processes and empowered agents.

A Checklist of Challenges & Opportunities

Credit Unions share some of the challenges that their bank counterparts face, having to compete against the digital offerings of megabanks with fewer resources. However, the personal connections credit unions forge with members give them an advantage they can build on. Here are some challenges that Credit Unions face in today’s world, followed by the opportunity that contact center solutions present by overcoming them.

1. Challenge: Adapting to Member Preferences

One of the biggest challenges Credit Unions face is to keep up with members’ expectations and the need to constantly evolve to stay relevant. This might be for reasons that everyday transactions and interactions for members have changed. This is partly because instant gratification has become a norm with merchants like Amazon and with many non-traditional entities like Apple joining the financial service landscape. They have the means of unlimited resources to capture their current users quickly.

Opportunity: Reimagine Member Experience with Unified Agent Workspace

Credit Unions need to be their member’s and prospective members’ trusted financial partners. This they can achieve by providing personal and personable service tailored to each member. An Agent Desktop can help achieve this. Equipped with a 360-degree view of the customer information fetched from multiple systems and applications like Jack Henry, even before connecting with the member, allows agents to understand what is it that the member wants.

For example, an agent would pick up the phone and inform the member – “ You took all the steps you needed to rebuild the credit and we are going to approve that loan for you today” rather than start with rhetorical introductory questions and then keep them on hold while they try to fetch member information from multiple siloed applications.
Such a holistic view of customer details also equips agents with options to cross-sell and upsell based on member preferences and buying history.

2. Challenge: Streamlining Multichannel Support

Most Credit Unions globally resort to traditional communication methods owing to the average age of their members which is usually mid-to-late-40s. However, the tide is slowly turning with members becoming more digitally confident and capable. The PwC digital banking consumer survey highlighted members becoming less reliant on physical branch locations and becoming more active users of digital channels.

The demand for digital banking means the need for omnichannel services. Credit Unions need to be meeting their members where they are, not where they were. But Credit Union Contact Centers often raise doubts like- “ We can’t manage so many channels without increasing team size” or “Knowledge and information between the channels will become siloed.”

Opportunity: Integrated Omnichannel Platform

Opting for an omnichannel strategy in a credit union contact center, not only offers members a channel choice but also gives them the ability to seamlessly switch between channels, without losing the context of communication.

The CXInfinity Omnichannel Platform, for example, brings together every channel into a unified agent console so if a member initiates a conversation via email and then moves to live chat, the agent has access to all the previous interaction history.

Members then don’t need to repeat their issue even if it’s passed between agents or changes channels themselves.
Agents also have access to the member’s purchase history, web page visits, geographical location, and other key data stored in integrated systems and applications (Jack Henry/Symitar). With this much member information at the agents’ disposal, responses will be accurate and personalized every time, while call resolution times will be much faster.

3. Challenge: Legacy Systems

Credit Unions often face a lot of challenges in modernizing their current systems. First off, is the challenge of integrating the legacy systems with new technologies. In particular, the concern can be integrating these systems with online business applications since the Internet has become an integral part of credit union operations and has had a fundamental hand in changing how credit unions do business.

Without implementing technology-based integration solutions, Credit Unions would run the risk of losing their members and revenues to competitors with more streamlined processes and customer service models.

Opportunity: Integrated Systems for Automated Processes

Your core business platform is the heart of your service, innovation, and efficiency. When coupled with automated, employee-friendly complementary solutions like Jack Henry/ Symitar, it stands to be the difference between members who leave and stay for life. This is because branches that offer automated solutions for repetitive processes can make more time for financial counseling, relationship development, and learning about account holder’s needs.

Adopting a CTI Connector can retain members and reduce agent workload by integrating legacy systems with modern Credit Union Applications and systems. By automating and streamlining the complex and manual processes, the CTI connector reduces the likelihood of errors and delays.

A well-implemented CTI is further designed to be adaptable and scalable which allows Credit Unions to integrate with emerging technologies in the future. Without multiple logins, lengthy information searches, or being confined to a desk, tellers, and advisors can offer faster service – creating a more satisfying experience for everyone involved.

4. Challenge: Rising Standards of Member Security

Credit unions have always been known for creating a welcoming environment for members. In fact, member experience is one of the top reasons people choose a credit union over a big bank. It builds a sense of trust and familiarity when employees can recognize a member’s face and greet them by name when they walk into a local branch.

In contrast, interacting with a credit union contact center often has the opposite impact. Calling in means going through a lengthy and frustrating security Q&A that requires members to prove who they are every time they call.

Most credit unions are still stuck with the age-old security questions asking members to recall their dog’s birthday. Credit Unions need to switch to a convenient digital experience, one without complicated passwords, and multi-factor authentication.

Opportunity: Ease of Member Authentication and Identification

In today’s digital age, where even a few seconds seems like an eternity, asking members to stick through a minute-and-a-half of red tape can make even the friendliest call center agent seem less helpful.

A practical authentication strategy balanced with a good member experience approach needs to address two key issues:

• Detect potential frauds to lower risk/loss due to fraudulent accounts or transactions
• Providing members with a safe and convenient way to protect their accounts and streamline business

For Credit Union Contact Centers, this authentication process can be simplified with the unification of disparate contact center systems and core business applications like Jack Henry/Symitar. An integrated view of the member helps agents to identify them even before a call begins.

This can be achieved through integration with back-end databases, CRM, and third-party applications to identify members directly from their numbers. Another way could be to integrate with multi-factor authentication applications to authenticate members based on voice patterns, behavior, and profile matches.

Wrap-Up

Secure and seamless digital banking is the first step towards ensuring a better credit Union member experience. It means making sure that account holders get the support they need when they need it. This requires modern-day contact centers to offer conveniences to members like end-to-end lending and digital account opening.

While the credit union industry has been moving in the right direction when it comes to improving member experiences, the unfortunate part is that this transformation has been rather slow. There is a lot of room for improvement from online account opening, to digital loan management and personalized services. To achieve all this, there is a need to strengthen the foundation which is the contact center and the agents working therein.

NovelVox modern unified contact center solutions can be the guiding light for your Credit Union in achieving optimal efficiency and ensuring better member engagement. Reach out to us!