By Ethan Ferrell
When was the last time you opened a new account at your credit union? How about applying for a consumer loan?
It’s very common for institutional “insiders” to be unaware of the pain points and frustrations that are all too common for members interacting with your credit union on a daily basis.
Member surveys and reviews can shine a light on digital challenges but the details may get buried under the broad mix of service, policy and even loan denials with legitimate causes. So, how do you identify digital pain points?
Start with the Data
Measuring your abandonment rates, average online application completion times, and the percentage of loan applications coming in digitally over time is a great place to start. What do these statistics look like today vs. last month, last quarter, last year, five years ago? The trends can be very enlightening and may point you in the general direction of any challenges.
Go through the Process
Next, use a test account to go through the process personally. How does it compare with other online experiences you’ve had lately? Is it easy? Would it be easy if you didn’t have any “insider” information, such as understanding common terms and banking jargon? Could a friend or family member follow along as well, or might they give up at a certain point?
Put It All Together
Now that you have a better sense of potential pain points, it’s time to ask what your front-line team is hearing and look back at that member feedback. Call center staff will undoubtedly have heard about many, if not all, of the challenges that make it harder for members to do business with you. Branch staff and the IT team can also shed new light on opportunities for improvement.
This is a great time to look back at member surveys and reviews as well. Is that feedback pointing to the same issues you’ve discovered internally? Are there other items you hadn’t considered?
Set your Goals
Once you understand where you are, it’s much easier to map out a plan of action for the future. If your online application currently takes 10 minutes to complete, how about a goal of five minutes or less? If key pieces like online funding are missing or your systems aren’t talking to each other, consider new partnerships that can complete those missing pieces and better fulfill your members’ needs.
The eCU Technology team has assisted credit unions of all sizes with flexible and agile solutions that integrate with any core system and slash online abandonment rates for business, member and loan applications.
Wherever you are in the process, we invite you to contact us to discuss how to improve your digital experience in 2022.
Ethan Ferrell, is VP of Development Operations with eCU Technology. Prior to joining eCU Technology, Ethan served as Manager of Programming for First Service Credit Union in Houston.