Member experience is the defining competitive differentiator in the banking industry today — and for good reason. Studies show 80% of U.S. consumers say speed and convenience are among the most important customer experiences.
What Is Member Experience?
A member’s journey is a collection of touchpoints that interact with channels like your online banking platform, face-to-face interactions, contact centers, emails, online advertising, and even social media.
The experiences your members have with your credit union will impact your ability to attract and retain members for both the short and long term. As a matter of fact, 73% of people point to consumer experience as an important factor in their financial decisions and 43% would pay more for a friendly, welcoming experience.
Drive Efficiencies For A Modern Member Experience
Convenience, speed, and simplicity play a vital role in member satisfaction. The potential is at an all-time high for exceeding these expectations and delivering quality service by improving efficiencies.
As members embrace a digitally savvy world, your credit union must do the same to develop new relationships while preventing the loss of current ones. One way to accomplish this is by optimizing your digital account opening processes.
A recent study by Digital Banking Report found almost 80% of online account openings take longer than five minutes, with close to 30% taking longer than 10 minutes. This discrepancy indicates most institutions have focused on enabling digital account opening rather than optimizing the process for the member.
While opening a new deposit account will never be as easy as creating a Netflix or Hulu account, it’s up to the credit union to make it feel like it is. When you empower existing and prospective members with the ability to quickly open new accounts through digital channels, you generate core deposits and create opportunities for non-interest income — all while enhancing convenience and reducing abandoned applications.
After all, the average abandonment rate for digital deposit account opening applications is more than 50%, with potential members abandoning their digital application when they find the process is too long or too difficult or requires more information than they’re prepared to give.
To lower abandonment rates and create a lasting impression, loyal members, and trust, your credit union must go the extra mile and cater these experiences to fit the needs of the modern-day member.
Building Trust With Your Members
Your credit union needs to establish trust by addressing members’ concerns, like getting out of debt, resolving problems, paying bills on time, and handling unforeseen large expenses.
Members who trust their credit union are eight times more likely to consider it for a new product or service and five times more loyal. Five times! Additionally, research indicates the most important features members want include high-quality service, low fees, security and fraud protection, and mobile and online access.
While developing a trusted relationship with your members is not always easy, when you provide them with the solutions and support they desire, you’ll likely have a member for life.
Offering education, resources, and low fees to help members build savings and improve financial health are other ways your credit union can build trust and credibility. Ultimately, members need you to guide them in meaningful moments like addressing account fraud, buying a home, starting a new business, planning for retirement, and more.
With the right resources, products, and solutions in place to help your members weather unexpected storms, build short-term financial stability, and improve long-term financial health, you’ll help foster trust, reinforce brand value, acquire new members, increase member satisfaction, and create stronger and longer-lasting relationships.
Learn more about how your credit union can reimagine the member experience at jackhenry.com.
At Jack Henry™ we believe the world is a better place with community and regional financial institutions — and we intend to keep it that way. That’s why we put financial institutions at the center of our modernization. We’re here to help you innovate faster, differentiate strategically, and compete successfully — all with one goal in mind: to improve the financial health of the people you serve.
