Improving Member Experience in an Omni-Channel Environment

First Tech Federal Credit Union members embrace technological innovation in their daily lives and they expect their financial partner to innovate with them, providing banking services when, where and how they need them.

That’s why First Tech CU created an omni-channel digital platform with a 360-degree view of our members. Having a single pane of glass through which our employees can see members’ online and offline activities enables us to provide more relevant and personalized sales and service experiences. We believe this approach can be beneficial at other credit unions and make a real difference across the industry.

 First Tech FCU partnered with Salesforce to create the omni-channel digital platform that consists of a six key components:

• Member Relationship Platform – Within one screen, employees can see all the business lines a particular member utilizes with First Tech FCU. By making this information readily available to our employees, the member relationship platform facilitates a more efficient and seamless experience for the member. When seeking assistance, members need not repeat themselves as they switch from online to the phone to visiting a branch. 
• Digital Marketing Platform – With the 360-degree view of the member provided by the member relationship platform, the DMP enables First Tech FCU to provide relevant and topical messaging to members based on their current engagement and business-line utilization.
• Digital Sales Platform – This application platform provides members with a consistent experience for membership, deposit and loan applications, regardless of the First Tech FCU channel. This program also allows members to open multiple accounts simultaneously.
• Content Management System – The structure behind First Tech FCU’s member-facing digital properties allows us to update and create new content and rapidly respond to trends, issues and changes.
• Knowledge-Base System – Using the data gathered by the member relationship platform, the knowledge base provides insights on member service trends and issues. With this information, First Tech FCU has created new member self-service tools, including how-to videos (called e-tip videos) and frequently asked questions to empower members to manage their finances without assistance from the First Tech FCU service team.
• Enterprise Analytics – Gathering the data from the above systems, First Tech FCU’s Enterprise Analytics team can model how the CU is engaging with members, including identifying trends in member service calls and messages, which can portend gaps in service processes. For example, we were receiving a number of member calls relating to travel alerts so we made an e-tip video explaining how to notify First Tech FCU of upcoming travel plans. As a result, about 90 percent of those requests are now completed as self-service.

Utilizing these systems in concert, we are developing a clearer picture of how members connect with us online or offline. This allows us to better anticipate their needs, creating a more relevant and personalized service experience while suggesting appropriate products and solutions that will help members achieve their financial goals. Ultimately, the objective is to enable members to transact with their credit union as effortlessly as possible in a multi-channel environment, whether that is online, over the phone or in branch.  

Through the omni-channel digital platform, First Tech FCU made drastic improvements in multiple areas:

• First Contact Resolution – 81 percent, up 47 percent over the previous year. The member relationship platform provided the foundation to create a complete view of each member. By tracking interactions, we know how the member is doing business with us and who has worked with them, enabling First Tech FCU to drastically increase first contact resolution.
• Fraud Prevention – $1.1 million saved. By implementing more automation and process improvements, the digital sales platform application provides “red flags” that alert to account anomalies, enabling us to quickly identify potentially fraudulent deposit and loan applications.
• Increased Sales – 203 percent year-over-year increase in products acquired online or through the contact center. Armed with a complete view of each member’s First Tech FCU experience, we can more easily identify product and service solutions that make sense for each member.
• Decreased Contact Center Calls and Messages – 7 percent decrease in service calls and messages, due to increases in self-service resolutions generated through the knowledge base.

We are now able to do a much better job in following up with members to turn each interaction into a relationship-building experience. By documenting and tracking member contact every time, over time, more fruitful and engaging interactions will happen—a win-win-win for members, employees and the bottom line.

Mike Upton is chief digital and technology officer and Stephen Owen is chief retail & marketing officer at $7 billion First Tech Federal Credit Union, Beaverton, Ore.