Top 4 Strategies to Improve Credit Union Member Experience

Credit union member engagement is fundamental, and it’s not hard to see why. Engaged members spend 22% more than non-engaged members. Moreover, 43% of members don’t renew because of a lack of engagement with their credit union. As consumers move further online and competition becomes fiercer, improving credit union member engagement should be at the top of every priority list – and it all starts with the credit union member experience. 

In this blog, we’ll take a look at the top strategies that credit unions can employ to improve member experience. Through a combination of innovative services and new technology, you’ll learn how credit unions can improve member experience with current and future members. 

1. Speed up support with live chat 

Live chat should be at the center of every credit union member experience strategy because it delivers on the key want of its members – fast support. This demand for speed isn’t limited to any one generation – it’s felt across all demographics. 85% of Gen X (the majority demographic of credit union members) agreed that they “expect to interact with someone immediately when I contact a company”. 

Traditional phone support tends to result in lengthy wait times as members wait for an available agent. In contrast, live chat’s support of chat concurrency means that agents can handle multiple queries simultaneously. 

Live chat’s digital nature also makes crafting a response to customers faster than phone support. Rather than taking the time to relay complicated directions, a live chat window allows agents to directly link members to the correct page on a site. Features like canned messages also allow agents to have responses ready in advance to increase responsiveness and eliminate the need to type repetitive responses to common issues.  

Cabrillo Credit Union saw that their members placed a high value on fast support so implemented Comm100 Live Chat. While members were accustomed to waiting 45-50 seconds for phone support, live chat allowed for a much faster response time of only 15 seconds. Cabrillo’s Assistant VP of Member Support, Kelli Davis, noted the universal appeal of live chat:  

“It wasn’t much of a surprise to see the younger generations engaging first… but we are starting to see Baby Boomers learning the technology and using the chat. It does require some patience by our agents as they discover the technology, but our members appreciate it, and they love using it.” 

2. Improve financial literacy 

Public knowledge of credit unions can be summed up by the not-so-subtly titled “Research Proves Consumers Know Diddly Squat About Credit Unions”. Poor financial literacy among consumers ultimately hurts credit unions as it can damage new memberships. Highlighting this, 2 out of every 5 non-members think that they can’t join a credit union based around confusion of the services offered and membership qualifications. 

A study by George Washington University shows that financial literacy is lowest among Gen Z and then improves over time across older generations. Unfortunately, even among older generations, financial literacy stays quite low at 55% among both Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation. Because of this poor financial literacy, credit unions may suffer from a consumer perception that they offer less services or are technologically inferior compared to banks.  

The research gathered by The Financial Brand shows just how far credit unions have to go when it comes to spreading public awareness. To improve this financial literacy, credit unions must connect with future members, beginning with education around their services and capabilities. Gen Z consumers present an opportunity for credit unions as they often don’t have a developed loyalty to banks. As a result, they can be attracted to credit unions that embrace digital innovation to offer highly personalized experiences.  

3. Personalize support with an omnichannel engagement platform 

Personalized support is necessary for credit unions to attract new members and keep existing ones. Members want to be treated like an individual, with 67% of Gen Z agreeing that “I expect companies to understand my unique needs and expectations”. In a digital world, understanding a member means being able to follow their online journey, provide personal support, and be responsive wherever they are. 

To deliver this level of credit union member experience, credit unions must adopt an omnichannel platform like Comm100. This platform connects each channel (and the information within them) together – live chat, email, and social media. With this information available, agents have a wealth of information about every member they speak to, empowering them to deliver the best support available. 

With every digital channel connected through a unified omnichannel platform, new scenarios for support are possible. An agent can begin a conversation with a member on a website, seamlessly follow the member to a text message or social media chat, and then provide a final resolution via email. Thanks to chat history and saved member profiles, omnichannel support allows agents to access key details about members right from inside the live chat platform. 

With chat routing, agents can also ensure that members are always speaking to the right department, team, or even agent. Omnichannel creates a seamless credit union member experience seamless experience, as well as a seamless agent experience – more on this in our next point.

4. Improve agent experience 

Put simply, a happy agent will make an even happier member. Research shows that highly engaged employees are 2.25 times more productive than merely satisfied employees. Looking at the 3 tenets of positive agent experiences we’ve explored in the past, it becomes clear that modern digital support solutions are the key to improving the agent experience. 

To be effective, agents first need the best available information, and for that they need to use an omnichannel platform. With an omnichannel platform that has an integrated knowledge base, agents are equipped to respond to any member inquiries with the wealth of the organization’s knowledge at hand. 

LMCU initially introduced Comm100 Live Chat to meet their member needs and bring LMCU in line with live chat offered by competing institutions. However, they soon recognized the platform and the agent-friendly interface was a key benefit: 

“We find it very user-friendly – all of my staff does. We’ve also done training for other departments for them to start using chat for certain things, and they’ve expressed that it’s very user-friendly. Some of the things that we really enjoy are canned responses – that’s something that we use probably most often in chat. The team also enjoys having private canned responses as well as group canned responses.”

Jasmina Duric, Manager of E-Services and Support Department 

Read more: The Best Customer Experience Needs the Best Agent Experience – Expert Commentary 

Improving credit union member engagement

Member engagement is the bedrock of any successful credit union. Read this complete guide to find out how you can transform your engagement strategy with digital support & technologies.

Read more

Learn more