When members do business at their credit union, their digital preferences aren’t just measured against other experiences in the financial services space — but by bigger retail and entertainment companies. So, credit unions need to keep pace with the technology and provide that ideal member experience.

Nicol Matthews, Chief Experience Officer at Carolinas Telco Federal Credit Union, has done just that — up-leveling the digital experience of members as an extension of in-person service.  

Experiencing pain points through the lens of a member

Creating a better member experience in the digital age will look different for every institution. A best-in-class member experience means different things to different institutions, and also needs to tie into the institutions' existing foundation. 

Before Nicol started with Carolinas Telco Federal Credit Union, she opened an account to see exactly what pain points their members were experiencing. 

She explained, “It was a painful process in the beginning. There weren't contact points, simplification of the application, and it felt clunky. So how can we find the opportunities within that? And what can we learn from others? What can I learn from Amazon? From Chewy?”

What it takes to execute and elevate a comprehensive member experience 

With the issues targeted, then came the real work: integrating solutions into the existing framework. Not only does the entire credit union have to share the same customer experience vision to make change a reality — finding the right solutions can be a challenge. 

Taking inspiration from leading companies like Amazon, Nicol began work to make the customer experience seamless. For example, if a member was outside a local network, but still needed to be connected with their loan officer, the member should be able to reach the loan officer over the phone.  

While surveys can help monitor customer satisfaction of these new offerings, Matthews stresses the importance of watching institution growth most of all: “Are we increasing wallet share of our members? That to me is a prime example of us doing the right things for the right reasons,” Matthews said. 

The impact of AI in banking 

In Matthews' mind, being prepared for any future with AI is paramount. 

Keeping pace with other companies, Matthews wants to see AI used in an assortment of ways for banking, such as answering questions quickly for members and eventually enhancing process and procedure internally. 

As long as the member experience is kept central to any decision regarding AI in banking, credit unions can forge an experience on par with Amazon.