Credit unions have always served as an attractive alternative to the big banks. Customers often choose credit unions for their banking needs because of credit unions’ commitment to serving their local communities. Credit unions pride themselves on their ability to deliver an outstanding, personalized level of service.
However, with pandemic-related uncertainties still looming, can credit unions deliver the same superior version of customer service in digitized form?
The answer is yes, and one of the most critical moments of providing excellent digital customer service is at the very beginning, during the customer onboarding process. The customer experience at the very beginning, even before the customer has transferred funds or applied for the credit union’s products, provides three key benefits. These benefits are not only for the customer but also for the credit union and even the industry as a whole.
1. Improved User Experience
As for user experience, the credit union makes its first impression during the customer onboarding process. For something so important to the customer’s relationship with the financial institution, something that establishes perhaps a lifelong relationship, how can an in-person, face-to-face experience be completely replaced with one that is digital?
As counterintuitive as it sounds, customers today actually prefer to do their banking online or via a mobile app. Since 2018, over 90 percent of banks in the United States offer some mobile banking feature, and customers are becoming accustomed to using them.
It stands to reason that if for several years, customers have been made aware that they can check balances, pay bills, or deposit checks via a credit union’s mobile app, they would accept or even welcome the idea that if they were to open an account with another credit union, they would most likely do it completely digitally.
2. Cost Savings
The cost savings of any traditional business process moving from offline to online are well documented across all industries, but what is that cost-saving for digital customer onboarding for a credit union?
For one, the credit union does not need to staff its branches as it once did, or it might not even need some of its branches overall. A reduction in human capital and real estate expenses is realized once the credit union moves some of its key processes, such as new account setup, to online or a mobile device.
3. Fraud Prevention and Security
In-person customer onboarding at a credit union branch obviously limits the opportunity for fraud. New customers have to provide a government-issued photo ID, in addition to other documents, and the credit union’s staff are trained to detect clues of suspected fraud or potential misconduct.
This all changes when processes move online. The anonymity of the Internet enables criminals to use fraudulent or stolen credentials to become a customer of the credit union, and then engage in further manipulation to apply for loans and credit cards with no intention of repaying.
While in-person interactions limit the instances of fraud, credit unions should consider Instnt to manage their digital customer onboarding. Fighting fraud is important in any industry, but it’s not a credit union’s main line of business. Working with a partner that harnesses advanced AI and machine learning tools to determine that a new customer is indeed who they say they are is key to acquiring the right customer while not turning them away because of insufficient onboarding tools.
Instnt Credit Union Membership Onboarding
Instnt is the first fully managed digital customer onboarding service for businesses with up to $100MM annually in fraud loss insurance. With codeless integration on websites or apps, Instnt can reduce rejection rates by 50% without friction or fraud, grow top-line revenue, and lower operational costs by 30%. Try a demo today!