Using Data to Find Your COVID Hero Members

As the nation continues to fight the pandemic and the economy slowly starts to reopen, many credit unions are looking for ways to honor members who are among the pandemic’s heroes. These are the heroes who were and are still on the front line – battling COVID and ensuring communities continue to function. If a credit union leader decides to give special recognition to these heroes, how can they find them? It is not as easy as looking for capes. Here, we’ll lay out an approach to identifying these heroes for the recognition that they have so unselfishly earned.

The first step in this process requires the credit union’s leaders to be declarative in the definition of what they consider a COVID hero member. There were many people who kept communities running during the peak of the crisis. Heroes can encompass individuals from a multitude of careers and they are all owed a debt of gratitude, but for purposes of this article the definition of a COVID hero will be medical professionals. Specifically, those who were and still are at the intersection of community necessity and professional commitment.

The recognition of their service can take a multitude of forms. It could include loans with special rates, payment deferments, or any other specialized programs that resonate with a credit union’s mission and core values. There are several strong sources for the data that credit union leaders can use to inform and direct these special programs. After setting the definition and program, the next step is to identify these heroes by their occupation and then continue to refine and focus the list.

The strongest signal in a credit union’s data is what a member’s listed employer is in the core. However, this information is notoriously bad, as data governance may not have the dedicated resources available to keep this information updated and accurate. The next source leaders might turn to is a credit report from a recent pull to guide a card or refinance program. These reports typically have the member’s employer listed and are generally reliable. The next and likely last source of employer information is direct deposit data. As community financial institutions, credit union leaders can match the direct deposit sources to known community pillars like hospitals and ambulance services using their local knowledge.

The next way to identify these heroes is by identifying behavior patterns hidden in the data. There are many members who work for hospitals, doctor’s offices, and other medical community pillars that were and are on the front line. However, for this example, credit union leaders set a definition of medical professionals. Using data to determine behavior during the pandemic’s height of March through May, and into June for states that began peaking later, can be a strong indication. It is highly probable that these members were commuting to work on a daily or near daily basis.

The transaction data can provide strong indications of daily commutes with purchases such as gas and other transportation-related expenses. COVID heroes commuting daily will likely have gas consumption similar to or higher than their pre-COVID levels. Trending transaction data on transportation charges prior to COVID for all members, and then comparing to our hero-member subset, will provide a baseline that can be compared to transaction data during COVID periods. When the two trends are similar in expenditure or frequency, that’s a strong indication of a member who is commuting daily to their place of medical employment. Incorporating local COVID case report trends and even data coming from news and social media can provide that much-needed context for the fluctuations and trends in the data at-hand.

An increase in the amount or frequency of direct deposit is also a strong indicator of an increased workload for a credit union’s hero-members. While examining known payroll sources, a credit union leader should also examine new sources of deposits. Activity from new ACH sources or a spike in activity through the check deposit channels can also signify medical professionals supporting or being “on loan” to care facilities outside of their regular employer.

A credit union’s data can provide additional behavioral insights that indicate a member is a frontline medical professional. These insights can be found in the transactions involving food and beverage. Often medical professionals worked long shifts during the height of the pandemic and were likely to visit their favorite coffee house, nearby fast food restaurant or a hospital cafeteria. This pattern of consumption would have regularity similar to or higher than a pre-COVID period. Again, that data can indicate trends. If the trend is similar to a pre-COVID period or higher, this is a strong indication. Comparing trends and relationships between members can even go so far as to highlight who some of your hero members are caring for “off the clock.”

What about non-medical professionals that happen to work at a hospital? This is where having a tight definition of who a credit union considers to be a COVID hero comes into play. Some credit union leaders may take a more whole-organization approach like NASA and our nation’s race to the moon, and some may not. Should a leader use a strict definition, turning to the transaction data again is instructive. Reviewing the transaction data and trending card merchant classification codes (MCC) for medical supplies is likely a good indication of medical professionals, who undoubtedly purchased more job-related materials during the height of the pandemic. Specialized third-party data suppliers and good data governance practices on transactions can enrich and increase the detail even further than the raw data flowing in on the card network rails can.

In this article, we’ve outlined an approach to how credit union leaders might use their data to find their members who are COVID heroes. Of course, any special financial consideration for these members would need to be reviewed by a credit union’s compliance professionals to avoid any unintended complications. However, this approach can be used just to say thank you in a direct and heartfelt way, honoring that community-credit union bond. Using some basic techniques and data can help your credit union stand out and recognize those special members who are going above and beyond to support your shared communities – your credit union’s COVID heroes.

Ray K. Ragan, PMP is the co-founder of Clear Core, a data cleaning and transformation provider focusing on increasing the value and accessibility of data for financial institutions, in Tucson, Ariz.

Timothy “Buck” Strasser is the founder of Clear Core in Tucson, Ariz.