How Call Centers Can Maximize Member Experience With Digitization

Credit unions may not have the edge on big banks when it comes to glossy marketing or digital sizzle, but they do have the advantage of the human touch.

Since the founding of the first U.S. credit union more than 100 years ago, cooperative financial institutions have always been about building trust and putting people first. Members know they can expect a warm smile and a personal greeting whenever they walk in the door. They rest easy knowing the familiar team at their local branch is invested in keeping their money safe.

However, what happens when more interactions shift from their local branch to the call center? Is it possible to keep these relationships intact? Can technology humanize call center conversations while effectively safeguarding member accounts?

Higher volume in call centers presents credit unions with an opportunity to innovate.

COVID-19 and resultant branch closures provided our movement with the opportunity to explore answers to these questions. As call volume surged at TruWest, we deployed emerging financial technology in our contact center. Our call center agents were under more pressure to handle calls efficiently and with fraud on the rise, we couldn’t afford to skimp on member verification.

Social engineering is at new levels of sophistication and more information than ever is available via the dark web. Our contact center team noticed the same fraudsters calling over and over, trying to catch an agent they could trick. With over 93,000 members across Texas and Arizona, we have a lot of members to protect.

Our members were accustomed to being regularly recognized by face and greeted by name at our brick-and-mortar branches, and they were understandably frustrated by this new remote process. When they called the contact center, Q&A authentication involved up to a minute and a half of answering out-of-wallet questions. Members weren’t in the mood for this awkward and uncomfortable process to prove who they were before being able to address the reason they called in the first place.

Fintech solutions can help make contact centers fast, friendly and fraud resistant.

Until now, it’s been hard to replicate the warmth and trust of the brick-and-mortar branch in credit union contact centers. Member experience, account security and operational efficiency are often seen as difficult trade-offs to navigate. However, this doesn’t have to be a balancing act. We tested this hypothesis and deployed a real-time voice authentication platform, TruWest Voice ID, in our contact center.

Voice ID combines signal processing, artificial intelligence and machine learning to create an AudioPrint of each member’s voice, coupled with unique characteristics of their usual calling device. This AudioPrint is stored in the cloud without capturing or compromising any personal identifying information.

The next time a member calls in, Voice ID runs passively in the background during natural conversation, matching the member’s voice to the AudioPrint on file. An authentication decision is sent to the agent within seconds. This convenient process allows members to experience a friendly welcome on the phone rather than being faced with an interrogation.

We ran the numbers, and this improved the member experience.

Validation time dropped more than 80% (from 90 seconds to around 14 seconds). Over 90% of our members offered the opportunity to enroll said “yes.” More than 6,000 members had already enrolled by the third month after launch. We received 100% positive feedback from agents on ease of use and account security improved (since voice biometrics are nearly impossible to duplicate).

Our contact center agents use Voice ID, powered by Illuma Labs, to recognize members by innate characteristics, as if they were walking into a local branch. Authentication happens seamlessly in the background during natural conversation with no security questions required.

Despite popular opinion, fintech biometric solutions like this are well within reach for credit unions.

Voice authentication products have been available for larger financial institutions for some time, but the cost and complexity has been prohibitive. While big banks can afford to spend millions of dollars and wait months for implementation, credit unions don’t have that luxury. They must be nimbler and more cost-conscious in their technology investments.

With a budget-friendly solution that is right-sized for functionality, cost and deployment effort/time, there is no reason to delay. As the technology reduces fraud and improves operational efficiency at the same time, the return is both significant and immediate. From an adoption standpoint, contact center agents and members easily understand and appreciate this step forward.

What does this mean for credit unions? When it comes to making rapid strides in digital transformation, frictionless voice authentication is the right call.

Chris Kearney is EVP and Chief Information Officer for the $1.4 billion TruWest Credit Union in Tempe, Ariz.