These days, modern credit union (CU) members expect more from the financial institutions they choose to bank with. They began a relationship with your CU because they were looking for a personalized level of care and attention to detail that they weren't able to find with larger banks. They'll maintain that relationship if your credit union proves committed to the idea of making members' lives easier and more convenient in any way that you can moving forward.
Increase Efficiency & Member Satisfaction Quickly!
Case in point: digital account opening. Younger members in particular have long communicated that this is something they value--but simply offering it in and of itself is not enough to make an impression. To truly boost credit union digital account opening, there are a few best practices you'll want to adhere to.
Taking the Digital Account Opening Experience to the Next Level
Many credit union leaders often don't realize until it's too late that sometimes offering a poor digital account opening experience is almost worse than not offering the service at all. A poor online account opening experience doesn't just make it more difficult for members to complete what is essentially a very straightforward task. It also harms the other work you're doing in terms of marketing, community outreach, and even your larger digital presence.
Members begin to equate the amount of time it takes to open an account online to what their overall experience will be like elsewhere within your organization. The longer it takes and the harder it is, the more that negatively reflects on your CU as a whole. Believe it or not, the average financial institution has an online account opening process that takes more than 10 minutes to complete. For the best results, the process should take three minutes--tops.
Every minute that exceeds that is time you're giving members to grow frustrated and to start exploring other options.
Research has indicated that a majority of members would prefer to perform functions--like opening their accounts--online. Because of that, the industry has responded in kind. If you can't offer the fast, efficient experience that someone is looking for, rest assured that they will quickly begin to search for another institution who can.
Empower Your Credit Union by Empowering Members
All of this is why your process should be built with efficiency in mind first and foremost. This is especially true in regard to the parts of the process that typically take up the most amount of time, like identity verification. ID scanning technology can streamline the document collection process on behalf of the applying member, all in an inherently secure way as well. Just because something is as important in the process as identity verification doesn't mean it has to be difficult or time-consuming.
Overall, high-quality digital account opening is just one of the many ways that your credit union can create the type of onboarding experience that members won't be able to find anywhere else. At FLEX, we've recently authored an eGuide on that very topic that is filled with other recommendations and best practices that you can leverage to help your credit union stand out in a crowded marketplace. Click the button below to download it to find out more about the techniques you can start using today.
