3 Ways to Build an IDA With Personality

If the pandemic and its aftermath have taught us anything, it’s the importance of supporting call center operations with an intelligent digital assistant to improve member experience and engagement.

An IDA (not to be confused with a chatbot) is a forward-facing, bank-savvy digital solution to address member queries, provide detailed financial information and act as the first member encounter with your brand.

Sounds great so far, right? Before you launch your own IDA, step back and do your homework. While these IDAs are easier and faster to build out and support, they need some brand love — a personality unique to your credit union. Building a personality for your IDA elevates you from the competition, creates a lasting impression in members’ minds, and increases engagement among members and employees.

Here are three factors to consider when building personality into your digital assistant.

1. Employee culture and processes. Building an IDA is like hiring a new employee, so take a look at your employee culture and onboarding process.

• Values. What does your credit union stand for? Is it singular and unique? A quick poll of a dozen credit unions of various sizes and geographies shows a fair amount of similarities: Integrity, teamwork, community, etc. There’s nothing wrong with that, but the challenge is making sure your IDA embodies and reflects them. For example, if one of your credit union values is respect, then make sure your IDA is respectful in its language with members and finds ways to demonstrate how much it values them.
• Onboarding. Examine your onboarding process: Teammate introductions, process orientation, integration, etc. Are there potential hurdles to overcome, like organization siloes and misalignment? Are there teams that traditionally might not embrace, or possibly even feel threatened by, the launch of new digital solutions? A digital assistant can actually help you overcome these issues. If you view your intelligent digital assistant as a new employee with a personality and the ability to converse, then your team is more likely to “welcome” it to your organization.
• Employee interactions. How do your employees interact and work together? Apply this understanding to set expectations for how the IDA will interact and integrate with the rest of your team. By directly engaging all your employees – from the back office to the branch and call channels – in the process of “hiring and training” your digital assistant, you build critical buy-in and support for introducing it to your members.

2. Map members’ digital dispositions. A memorable scene in the Julie Andrews-led “Mary Poppins” featured the two Banks children singing a list of exactly the type of disposition they want in a new nanny. Naturally, Mary Poppins fit the bill. Like Jane and Michael, it’s important to develop an IDA that accurately reflects your members’ “digital dispositions.” Audience segmentation and identification are essential here; identify demographic data points like age, credit score, income and assets with your financial institution. These should be overlaid with an understanding of where your members fit into the three primary types of digital audiences and digital adoption characteristics:

• Digital Natives, or those who are innately comfortable with technology usage. They may even struggle with anything that isn’t digital banking-focused.
• Digital Savvy, which describes those who use banking technology, but occasionally prefer the convenience of physical banking.
• Digital Skeptic, who are extremely tech-wary. They may have an adversarial approach to any new technology.

According to a Chase study of 1,500 Chase and non-Chase customers 18 to 65, Americans have largely adjusted to a primarily digital banking environment, with four out of five customers preferring to manage their finances digitally vs. in person. An Ipsos-Forbes Advisor survey found that “76% of Americans used their bank’s mobile app to conduct everyday banking tasks within the past year.” Clearly, most credit union members are aware of their digital options and are likely the Digital Savvy.

Digital Natives or Digital Savvy members want quick-turn, accurate and relevant financial information, and they appreciate an IDA that promptly addresses their issues. Digital Skeptics, on the other hand, need to have trust built up over a period of time. To win these members over, your IDA could provide contextual information related to their finances, or you could equip employees in your physical locations to educate and explain the benefits of your intelligent digital assistant to this group.

Once you have your audiences identified, it’s time to outline the ways your IDA interacts with your members. Your IDA will need to be flexible in interacting with all three types of audiences and capable of interacting effectively with each one.

3. Pay attention to voice and tone. Your brand has a set of characteristics, likely founded in your values and then either formally established or developed organically. They inform the messaging you develop and its specific voice and tone. According to brand management company Frontify, your brand voice includes the words and language that you use to speak with your audience, but, more importantly, it embodies your brand’s “unique perspective, and the values you stand for.” It also comprises your brand tone and personality. Your brand tone is the attitude with which you convey your values and beliefs; it’s the way you speak and should provide a framework for your IDA.

Building out an IDA with personality requires a bit of thoughtful consideration and brand introspection on the front end, but it will reap worthwhile dividends in the form of member loyalty, engagement and growth for your credit union – now and in the future. Start with these three steps, and you are well on your way to building an IDA that acts as your virtual best banker.

Lindsay Soergel is the Chief Product and Member Experience Officer at the New York, N.Y.-based Kasisto, which makes conversational AI-powered digital assistants for financial institutions.