Members expect frictionless banking experiences regardless of where they transact — in the branch, at the teller counter, or from home via their mobile device. Yet, with unique solutions deployed by business unit and often no centralized point of reconciliation or review, it’s no surprise disjoined user experiences are common, and the risk of fraud is increased as more systems present more points of vulnerabilities.
Everyone talks about a seamless user journey and personalizing member services, but how does that become today’s reality rather than just a goal?
Different Solutions, Different Vendors, Different Experiences
Not all platforms treat check images the same. Different channels and varying software often mean credit unions have distinct business rules around how they interrogate and handle checks within the workflow. This impacts employee efforts in the back office around balancing, posting, and managing exceptions and might also cause disjointed member experiences across the varying deposit channels — leaving members frustrated.
At the same time, because institutions have historically leveraged unique solutions across each of their lines of business, navigating a siloed approach without access to cross-channel data is a real struggle. As a result, many existing solutions require manual efforts or custom integrations to enable the exchange of data from one to the other.
This holistic view isn’t just important for management insights, it’s also needed to truly know your members and build a complete member profile and related scoring model based on one’s banking history, risk, and unique deposit habits. This type of data allows your institution to offer personalized services, and the decisioning model streamlines user experiences with auto-decisioning as well as moderates fraud by detecting anomalies in transactions. The results are two-fold: better member experiences with less manual effort, lower overhead, and added risk mitigation for your credit union.
The Power’s In The Data
Think about these scenarios. Are they commonplace at your institution?
Scenario 1: John’s a longstanding member who wants to deposit a high value check. John goes to the teller, who has access to enhanced member information within the system, can see his transaction history, and can verify John’s identity. The teller deposits the check, and John is on his way.
Scenario 2: John wants to deposit the same check at a self-service kiosk after branch hours. Deposit limits are in place to mitigate risk, so John’s transaction is flagged for review and his transaction will not be reviewed until the next day.
If a holistic profile score was available, your credit union could have the option to allow larger value checks at remote channels from known members like John, eliminating friction and enabling true deposit consistency across all deposit channels.
Scenario 3: Sally’s a new member without much transaction history at your institution. As a result, her deposit limits through self-service channels are low. One afternoon, Sally deposits a $100 check through mobile RDC. Later that day, the same check is submitted for deposit through the ATM channel. Again, accepted due to the low dollar amount.
Unfortunately, since deposits from the mobile channel aren’t processed until later in the day, the duplicate check isn’t detected in real time when resubmitted through another channel. If real-time image and data validations were in play, the same centralized database would have been leveraged across all deposit channels, flagging the second attempt as a duplicate and ultimately rejecting the deposit.
The Benefits Of Real-time Image And Data Validation
Personalization in banking is more than just customized offerings and campaigns — it’s also the ability to enable flexibility and consistency in the user journey. Truly know your members based on their end-to-end banking history and assess their risk on a holistic level across all channels and transactions.
Alogent’s patent-pending platform, Unify, approaches image acquisition and processing differently. As the only solution of its kind on the market, Unify allows your credit union to go to market your way: power all full- and self-service workflows with the same platform, or leverage Unify’s unique capabilities by line of business, such as at the teller station, remotely through mobile channels or at the ATM, within merchant or commercial deposit channels, and more. With real-time image and data validations, user journeys are streamlined, risk is minimized, and balancing and posting is near-instantaneous.
Learn why financial institutions of all sizes are switching to Unify in this e-book, and contact us today to see a live demo and learn more.
Wendi Klein is vice president of marketing and communications at Alogent.
