From Big Bank to Big, Branchless Credit Union

For nearly 20 years, Sumeet Grover worked at the $1.6 trillion Citi Bank where he climbed up the ranks, becoming head of digital, mobile, product and spend engagement marketing, and strategy in 2019 for the fourth-largest financial institution in the nation.

Under his leadership, the New York-based Citi was named best digital bank in 2019 by Global Finance Magazine, while J.D. Power certified Citi’s mobile app as delivering the best customer experience and Business Insider Intelligence ranked Citi No. 1 in having the most desirable mobile banking features for consumers.

So why did Grover, while at the top of his big bank career, take a new job as chief digital and marketing officer at the $14 billion Alliant Credit Union in Chicago?

It was an opportunity he could not refuse. What also helped Grover decide this major career move was that Alliant is now the only multi-billion financial cooperative in the nation that has no branches – not even in its corporate headquarters – which he considers a strong competitive advantage that will continue to grow the nation’s ninth-largest credit union.

“I’ve had the opportunity over the past two decades to work with amazing, exceptional talent across broad functions at a major Fortune 50 financial institution. Our services over the years have gone through a lot of changes with digital transformation, agile adoption, data modeling, artificial intelligence, you name it,” Grover said in an interview with CU Times. “I absolutely enjoyed the journey. Now, I get a chance to continue that journey at Alliant, as I lead digital marketing banking operations and the member care functions. The critical aspect of that, when you think about banks versus credit unions, is sometimes the impression comes to mind that they are operating within an ecosystem, whereas national banks are huge with massive networks and tons of branches.”

But Alliant stands out, Grover explained, because it is a national, 100% digital, branchless financial institution supported by a robust IT infrastructure to serve members’ financial needs whenever and wherever from any device. It’s also a 24/7 member care center focused on delivering human personalization in every single member interaction.

“I’m so passionate about delivering seamless member experiences, so it is an amazing opportunity,” he said.

Grover also said he believes that Alliant’s lack of branches is “an amazing strength” and the way of the future of banking, noting that last year more than 300 bank branches closed.

Alliant closed 10 of its last 12 branches in 2018 and its last two branches were shuttered in June 2020, one in downtown Chicago and the other at Alliant’s Operations and Technology Center near O’Hare International Airport.

“If you just think about the value we need to provide in terms of products, services and solutions, we also need to be able to do that with the best possible digital experiences,” he said. “Member centricity is key, meaning a fully focused environment in which everything and everything we do is aimed for our members’ interest.”

What also has helped Alliant’s growth, of course, is its expansion of Select Employer Groups (SEGs), which now include more than 250 across the nation including big corporations such as Google, BASF, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente and sizeable professional organizations such as the California Association of CPAs, the Chicago Bar Association, other national associations and certain cities throughout the Chicago region.

Alliant’s substantial growth in members, loans and assets seems to indicate that it has been delivering the best possible digital experiences since transitioning to a national digital-direct banking model. Since closing its branches in 2018, membership has grown from 439,028 to 600,000 as of June, while loans increased from $8.5 billion to nearly $9 billion and assets swelled from $11.2 billion to almost $14 billion, according to NCUA first quarter financial performance reports.

A few recent examples of how Alliant has managed to grow loans and attract new members include sponsoring a Suze Orman’s Women & Money podcast that attracted over three months more than 13,000 new members who opened a bonus-loaded savings account promoted by Orman earlier this year. And in 2020, Alliant originated more than $610 million in RV loans and became the nation’s 14th largest automotive leaser with $70.3 million in leases.

In addition to delivering competitive products and services through its online and mobile channels, what has been indispensable to the success of its national direct digital banking model has been its 24/7 member care center.

“One of the strategies that we do to ensure that our [members] are able to experience the best we can offer them is that it is very critical that as we’re building on those experiences, we’re looking at different features and functionalities that tie in with what our members are requesting,” Grover said. “We get that firsthand information from our member care center. So, when members have concerns, questions, suggestions or feedback, we take that extremely seriously. My member experience flows in terms of what I’m hearing from our member care center.”

Grover explained that while members have said they want digital self-service, when they do call for whatever reason, Alliant reps focus on having a conversation with them.

“We’ll talk to you. We aren’t going to rush in terms of managing our average handle time or try to cross-sell you a product just because you called us,” he said. “What we’re going to do is provide the best possible member experience.”

Over the next three years, Grover said his team will focus on continuously improving its digital platforms to make online and mobile processes frictionless – smooth, easy and quick – for onboarding new members, applying for loans, making payments, opening new accounts and buying insurance.

“That is extremely critical because they impact us on a daily basis. When you think about being able to transfer dollars between your accounts internally or externally, that process needs to be as easy as 1, 2, 3.” he explained. “We will also be extremely analytical in understanding members’ needs to provide the right personalization levels. When we think about alerts, notifications and other capabilities like that, they make our life simpler when done right. But when not done right, they create a lot of distraction and disruption in our process. So, the focus is ensuring that we build these processes to provide the right personal effectiveness for our members. It helps them save time and it’s something that they can just do on the fly.”