DURHAM, N.C.—The average person looks at their smartphone more than 150 times per day, and more than half of all smartphone users do not go more than an hour without checking the device.
For one Filene i3 team, that seemed like to good an opportunity for the credit union message to let it pass.
“If our members are looking at their phones at this frequency, there is an opportunity to enhance the member’s experience with us in-branch,” said Jennifer Sider, associate director, marketing and development with Duke University FCU.
Sider was one of four people on an i3 team that created “ZeroHour,” an application that seeks to provide CUs with the opportunity to deliver a more friendly and efficient approach to requested in-branch experiences. She was joined on the i3 team by Evelyn Royer, who is now CEO of CU Channels, a CUSO of Purdue Employees FCU; Marquis Boochee, VP-eStrategy and Innovation with Xceed Financial Credit Union, and Megan Armstrong, COO with Sunmark FCU.
“We created the ZeroHour application to work in conjunction with ibeacons to instantly engage the member in the credit union space,” explained Sider, referring to the trademarked name for an indoor proximity system that enables a smart phone to perform actions when in close proximity to the iBeacon device.
What the App Can Do
The ZeroHour app created by the i3 team is capable of communicating, tracking, surveying, monitoring and presenting offers to the member. The iBeacon, said Sider, can be postioned anywhere and programmed to respond via an application that pushes messages to the member. Those messages can include marketing promotions, payments, coupons, and more.
As an example of what the team envisions, Sider said that by linking iBeacons to a lobby management system a creative solution is now in place to instantly engage members with the registration process when they come in close proximity to an iBeacon, thereby “delivering value by providing the right solutions at the right time.”
The name of the solution, ZeroHour, is meant to symbolize the “speed of technology today, the concept of instant engagement as a necessary approach to service and marketing,” according to Sider. “We were envisioning stealth technology and the idea of operations being launched! It’s all about getting the right solution/message to the right person at the right time. We thought ZeroHour emulated that moment in time where everything collides and there is no time left. We toyed with other names and agreed on ZeroHour with a tag line, ‘Deliver, Delight, Done!’”
How Idea Can About
Sider said the idea evolved out of brainstorming sessions at which numerous ideas were tossed out and debated. One of the team members, Marquis Boochee of Xceed Credit Union, had just purchased some iBeacons and Sider said the team members were eager to learn more about the funcationality, having not used them in credit unions.
One issue the team was seeking to address was the concept of the “complete member experience.”
“We were thinking on the lines of how can we connect with members via multiple senses. How do you connect emotionally, physically, visually, et cetera,” said Sider. In other words, the ability to reach the member at various touch points all at once in order to fully and instantly engage with them while also delivering and delighting them.
Lobby Tracking System
Beyond the iBeacons, the team also looked at Passageways’ Lobby Tracking System.
“We selected this area to enhance the service experience for members,” said Sider. “Since the lobby tracking system was something most of us had in place at our own credit unions we thought it could be leveraged for testing during our limited time period for the project.”
Sider credited Lafayette, Ind.-based Passageways for partnering with the team and creating the application.
Specifically, Sider said her team was seeking to “revolutionize the credit union experience” by enhancing speed of service and matching the right products and services with the right member at the right time, whether it be through instantly announcing their arrival in a branch, giving them more information about a product or service they are standing next to, recognizing them individually, measuring their satisfaction, offering financial education, or any other means of personalizing the experience.
The i3 team launched the ZeroHour application tool pilot in early October of 2014 with two beacons placed in XCeed Financial Credit Union’s financial center in El Segundo, Calif. One beacon was placed at the entrance and delivered a call-to-action message to confirm the reason for the financial center visit; the other was placed at the teller line and delivered information regarding a promotional 17-month certificate.
The application was downloaded by 107 users made up of both employees and members. Seventy-eight of those tested the application and received a total of 128 messages. Seventy-four members checked in using the lobby management application.
What Survey Found
Afterward, a survey was conducted among some of the users. Among the feedback received:
- “This would be great if it was integrated into your current application instead of a stand-alone application.”
- “It would work better in a branch with a bigger footprint.”
- “The general messages were good but it would be better if the advertisements were specific to me.”
- From the employee perspective on the check-in process: “I like knowing what the members need before they approach me.”
Sidebar said the feedback generated ideas on enhancements to ZeroHour that have yet to be added to the solution. But Xceed Financial continues to use the app in the El Segundo location with its Passageways lobby tracking system, as well as using it to share special promotions.
Where to from here? i3 is a two-year initiative for those selected for the program, and two members of the ZeroHour team have moved on to their next project. Sider said ZeroHour remains available to be “expanded and explored further.”
The i3 Experience
Sider had nothing but praise for the i3 experience and for the Filene Research Institute.
“The service and support they provide to i3 participants is incredible,” she said. “We work hard for them, however they work even harder for us supporting our ideas, helping us with resources and being our cheerleaders. They are an amazing group of talented individuals. i3 has provided me with a keen understanding of the innovation process – its all about re-inventing inventions, borrowing bits and pieces of various ideas to create something new.(It’s about) the ability to distinctly recognize successful innovations and opportunities in other industries that can be transferred into the credit union industry and built upon. i3 has forced me to explore and learn more about the CU industry in areas beyond my expertise inmarketing and development strategy.”
Sider urged other credit unions and individuals within CUs to “experiment, experiment, experiment. Don’t be afraid to try things. Start small, it can lead to something big!.= Some of us may have a natural tendency to innovate while others can learn the formal processes to innovate. Nothing is gained when we stay the same. I think we all know in today’s economy that innovation is critical for survival.”