For many credit unions, member experience is a key part of internal operations. No matter how it’s structured, MX is an ongoing process that requires constant reevaluation and reinvention.
With 2024 just around the corner, MX leaders from across the industry talk about what’s making MX better today and what’s on the horizon for tomorrow.
Digital, But Make It Ultra-Fast
After a stint in for-profit banking, Eric Sanchez, vice president of sales and service performance at Soarion Federal Credit Union ($645.4M, San Antonio, TX), has been in the credit union fold for more than a dozen years. He currently oversees sales, member service, and business development at the Central Texas cooperative.
What new feature or service has your credit union introduced in the past 12 months to enhance member experience or improve operational efficiency for your member-facing staff?
Eric Sanchez: We are in the process of adding an online chat feature to our website to allow members to interact with our live team members in our member advocacy area. The chat function will attract a new segment of members who appreciate the fast, on-the-go digital experience. Our chat goes live in the next few weeks.
What feature or service will your credit union implement in the next 12 months to further enhance member experience or streamline member-facing staff operations?
ES: We are exploring options to implement a digital-first online account opening platform that will allow our new members to open accounts online in under five minutes. We are also working to leverage the same platform in person at all our financial centers.
Notifications Beyond E-Statements
Lindsay Oparowski joined Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union ($8.5B, Harrisburg, PA) in 2020 as a marketing technology strategist. Today she’s the assistant vice president of digital member experience, where she oversees strategic experience planning and more for the cooperative’s MX department.
What new feature or service has your credit union introduced in the past 12 months to enhance member experience or improve operational efficiency for your member-facing staff?
Lindsay Oparowski: We’ve implemented digital document delivery on letters and notices inside our digital banking platform to have the same functionality with letters that we do with statements. We went through a long list and narrowed down to the top 18 letters we send most often, including those we have to send from a regulatory perspective. That includes everything from certificate-maturity notifications to Google Pay activations, and beyond. We’re sending 50,000 to 60,000 of these digitally each month, and we’re saving a significant amount on postage each month. This isn’t anything the member needs to sign, it’s just for their own documentation.
What feature or service will your credit union implement in the next 12 months to further enhance member experience or streamline member-facing staff operations?
LO: We’re working on the ability for members with multiple accounts, including joint owners, to access to digital banking. Credit unions sometimes struggle with being account-centric versus person-centric. We are account-centric today, which essentially means our members have to log in multiple times if they have different accounts.
We often hear from members that they’d rather not have to have multiple, separate logins; they want a consolidated user experience like other financial institutions have, which is essentially to have a drop-down menu so you can switch between accounts. This conversion to person-centric is live in our core system, but this project is the conversion of digital banking.
We plan to launch this in the second half of next year, and it will mean improved money movement between those accounts. Members won’t have to go through the process of linking their accounts because they’ll already be connected. It will also open the ability for non-primary owners, like joint and co-owners, to have access to digital banking, which they don’t have today.
Meeting Evolving Member Expectations
Brian Melter is chief experience officer at Landmark Credit Union ($6.6B, Brookfield, WI). An ex-banker who also logged time with Fiserv, Melter brings a background in marketing, e-business, and client engagement to his role at the Badger State cooperative.
What new feature or service has your credit union introduced in the past 12 months to enhance member experience or improve operational efficiency for your member-facing staff?
Brian Melter: One of the systems at our newest branch is a first for the United States. It’s a Swiss-made, automated safe deposit box system that uses advanced technology and robotics to streamline and automate the process. Members with a safe deposit box can access their belongings safely and securely without the need to wait for an associate. Plus, there are multiple layers of security to ensure only authorized parties have access to their safe deposit boxes.
What feature or service will your credit union implement in the next 12 months to further enhance member experience or streamline member-facing staff operations?
BM: About two and a half months ago, Landmark opened a new style of branch in Oconomowoc, WI. This innovative branch features updated systems and technology that members and associates supporting members can use. There are options for self-service or guided assistance for simple transactions and traditional support for more involved needs or for members who prefer to work with an associate. This flexibility will inspire the development of future branches. Although there aren’t new branches in progress, our approach is to apply the feedback and learnings from our new branch in Oconomowoc when it is time for the next new build.
Design Your Own Checking
Deb Vollmer has spent more than two decades at Langley Federal Credit Union ($5.3B, Newport News, VA). She has been chief experience officer since 2017.
What new feature or service has your credit union introduced in the past 12 months to enhance member experience or improve operational efficiency for your member-facing staff?
Deb Vollmer: We implemented the MyDesign checking account product in September. MyDesign allows the member to choose from three options or the all-in bundle to design their checking account to fit their individual needs.
What feature or service will your credit union implement in the next 12 months to further enhance member experience or streamline member-facing staff operations?
DV: For our contact center, we will go-live with a cloud-based telephony system completely integrated with Salesforce. This system will keep the staff from having to swivel chair between systems while talking to the member. Additionally, the use of AI within Salesforce will help the team be more efficient in their documentation of members’ interactions and needs.
Meaningful Member Interactions, Fewer Questions
A longtime financial services marketer, today David Eldred is chief experience officer at Solarity Credit Union ($823.1M, Yakima, WA).
What new feature or service has your credit union introduced in the past 12 months to enhance member experience or improve operational efficiency for your member-facing staff?
David Eldred: We have evolved to completely tellerless operations, freeing up staff for more consultative experiences and more quality time with members.
We made the decision three and a half years ago during COVID to transition to tellerless. We just completed the process this year by converting our drive-thrus to fully tellerless with smart ATMs like we have in our lobbies. We’ve calculated the smart ATMs are about 50% faster than a human teller working through a transaction, so there are no lines in the lobbies and the drive-thrus work much quicker.
Nobody lost their jobs. This isn’t an efficiency or cost-reduction play, it’s about providing members with consultative staff. I’ve been in financial services for about 38 years, and it’s the rare, rare event where members and prospects think of tellers as being consultative.
What feature or service will your credit union implement in the next 12 months to further enhance member experience or streamline member-facing staff operations?
DE: We are implementing biometric authentication so call center staff can have high confidence during high-value telephone interactions. We’re putting in place a biometric authentication that enables us to feel more comfortable with the kinds of digital transactions [our ideal member] wants. Fraud needs to be mitigated, and biometric authentication helps our staff and our digital systems mitigate some of that risk.
An Easier Life With AI
Craig Meyer is vice president of marketing and business development at Arsenal Credit Union ($414.0M, Arnold, MO). Prior to joining the credit union, Meyer served in marketing leadership roles, member experience, and senior research leader roles in Fortune 500 and privately held companies.
What new feature or service has your credit union introduced in the past 12 months to enhance member experience or improve operational efficiency for your member-facing staff?
Craig Meyer: We have updated our online banking experience to meet members where they are. This includes AI-driven chatbot support, online account-opening capabilities, video banking, and a host of other functionality at their fingertips.
What feature or service will your credit union implement in the next 12 months to further enhance member experience or streamline member-facing staff operations?
CM: Continued optimization of our online platform and frictionless ITM features that provide a personalized touch, regardless of how the member chooses to have us address their financial needs.
Interviews have been edited and condensed.