MADISON, Wis.—Getting money from the credit union should be as easy as getting a drill from Amazon, asserts one expert who reminds that major retailers have forever changed member expectations for service and ease of interaction with a financial institution.
“Now is the prime time to evolve your digital platform and develop your digital platform to create that hyper-personalized member experience when they interact with you digitally,” said Chris Guild, director of lending program sales at CUNA Mutual Group, during CUNA Mutual Group’s 2019 online Discovery Conference.
Guild emphasized consumers now expect the credit union will make their lives easier and simpler.
“Digital disruption is upon us, and those that don't have an immediate reaction will fall behind,” said Guild.
What Research Shows
He pointed to recent research that suggests 80% of financial institutions will not be competitive or relevant by the year 2030.
“Your brand is judged by your members’ last best digital experience. And it's not just Amazon, it's Airbnb, Uber, Netflix, Zillow…,” Guild said.
Guild said consumers are expecting their financial institution to deliver hyper-personalized services.
“Moving forward they expect us to know them and they expect us to make it seamless for them to interact with us,” he said.
A Good Idea, But…
Guild pointed to what he described as a good idea from Amazon the retailer had tried earlier. He said the “Amazon Wand” was an IOT device that consumers could stick to their refrigerators to easily order products in their home. Consumers could speak into the wand or scan a UPC symbol to order products.
“The Wand never reached scale, but I think it's a good correlation to lending, or digital lending, for crossing that chasm between physical and digital,” he said. “I think today we have that same opportunity to cross that chasm between the digital platforms and our physical branches. And quite frankly, it's what consumers and members are asking for and expect.”
Guild stressed consumers want simplification in their interactions with FIs.
“They want the terms and conditions and options to be spelled out very clearly. They want things to be very simple,” he said.
Members, too, expect you to know them, Guild said.
“That means only asking them questions, say on applications, you don’t know the answers to already. I know we have questions in our applications that are there because they've always been there. I am sure we can get those answers somewhere else and streamline the application process and create a better, seamless and efficient experience.”
Smoothing the Bumps
As many analysts have stated, Guild emphasized the importance of an omni-channel experience that has no bumps for the member whether they start the process online, use the call center, or finish in the branch.
“Your entire team should have the same information and should know the progress of where that member is when they come into the credit union or call,” he said. “They should be able to pick up where the member left off in a different channel.”