Member service remains as important as ever for credit unions - if not more so, as fintechs and the big banks steal market share. Call centers are not what they used to be, and AI continues to be integrated into digital member service experiences.

At GAC 2024, our Co-Founder/Publisher/Editor Sarah Snell Cooke chatted with Talkdesk VP & GM for Financial Services & Insurance Rahul Kumar on how the company is helping credit unions to improve the digital service experience and the steps it is taking to pair technology with personalization for the member.

Read the full transcript below:

Disclosure: Transcript is automatically generated

Sarah Cooke 00:00

Hello, welcome everybody to The Credit Union Connection. We are here live at the Governmental Affairs Conference 2024. I'm sitting with Rahul from TalkDesk. And why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself.

Rahul Kumar 00:11

Thank you, Sara. Hello, everyone. Rahul Kumar, I am the GM for our financial services business at Talkdesk. We are a cloud-native Contact Center as a service provider. That purpose-built solutions that we've brought to market specifically for credit unions and community banks. We are a global organization operating in 106 countries. But what makes us truly different is our Industry Focus industry investment, where we are helping organizations like credit unions and community banks truly retake, utilize the power of technology and innovation and deliver the best experience possible to their members and customers. So we're very excited. We've you know, last year, as credit, more and more credit unions are looking to invest in modern technology and focusing on making member experience their differentiation. That's where TalkDesk has seen incredible momentum. And we are very proud to be part of the credit union movement that is ongoing right now.

Sarah Cooke 01:14

Yeah, the credit unions are great have been in over 25 years. So I, you know, as you were talking, you kind of mentioned, you were talking about member service, and how credit unions are very proud of their member service. And that has shifted, not to just what's in the branches, but also the call center, the digital experience. And so, talk a little bit about how that is evolving, because call center is not like a bunch of, you know, middle aged women sitting there, you know, answering the phones anymore, what is it now?

Rahul Kumar 01:44

Yeah, so I think traditionally, credit unions have prided themselves by offering that experience, that high touch white glove, right, we are close to our members, we understand our members, and we are going to treat them differently. And that's been how they differentiated themselves against mainstream banks. Because for mainstream banks, the customers are the customers. But over time, the definition of high touch is starting to change. The pandemic had a role where, you know, it forced people to think and behave differently. Or, you know, people are no longer walking into branches as as as much as they did before. So now credit unions are starting to realize that, you know, the brick and mortar model is not going to be enough. If you put an ad on top of it, you know, more and more customers are getting so used to that the retail like experience where, you know, the Amazon, the Netflix, and if they can, the question that they're asking of the credit unions is, if you can get this experience from, from everybody else that we interact with? Why can't you give me the similar experience? So what we have seen the shift has changed from that in person high touch white glove service, to taking that model and incorporating a blend of digital and physical interaction, how can you balance that those two together to still deliver that high touch white glove experience? Right? So that's where the focus is right now? How do we delight our members in every interaction that we are having, irrespective of the channel that the interaction may may occur? So that's what we've seen in the industry. You know, the, the conversation can start anywhere and anywhere, but the journey needs to be connected contextual. And then giving the members the choice, the preference, I am a millennial, or I want to only engage with my bank, I don't talk to a person at all. Can you give me that experience? I am on the other side. I'm a 70 year old, you know, housewife, and all I need is to speak to somebody just for them to reassure me that I have enough money in my bank account this month. So, how do you continue to balance and serve the needs of the different segments that are part of your part of your communities? It's critical.

Sarah Cooke 04:38

Yeah. No. And having that consistent experience builds the brand of the credit union as having that member experience that is consistent and efficient. And because people don't want to just, thinking isn't fun. They want it as quick as possible. So whether whether it's mobile or on the call center, or you know, in the branch, so yeah, yeah. So

Rahul Kumar 05:05

we we talked about what we are doing in the space is we have completely taken the channel out of the equation. So our platform can support an omni channel experience for members. And because all of those channels are offered natively by talkdesk, on on a single platform, we can we can help credit unions orchestrate those member journeys, the way, you know, members are expecting. So think about about a scenario where the interaction for the member is starting on the website. So a member they're looking to refinance their mortgage, they're browsing the, the refinance rates on the website, and suddenly they get engaged by a chatbot to say, hey, is, are you looking for something? Can I make it easy for you to and the Chatbot sort of answers. And, you know, the Chatbot is a much maligned, you know, technologies, especially with but but it's the technology is getting better, right? The with generative AI, a bit knowledge connected into the Chatbot is getting much more smart, much more intelligent. So the way we talk desk, we call it autopilot, talk to talk, this autopilot can engage, you know, and interact with, with members in a natural way to really identify what they're looking for. So when the in it identifies an opportunity to say, hey, maybe a 30 year mortgage at a fixed rate with the current environment makes the most sense to you. If the member agrees, the conversation can then shift from that chatbot interaction and the Chatbot can route it intelligently to the right person that can help the member in that moment. So it could be a certified loan officer that the chat goes to, and not a general contact center agent, right. So the platform can allow the smart routing, due to using AI, using the intent around the conversation to smart routed to the right person that can really help that member in that moment. And once the loan officer engages with a member, think about a scenario in which is which is very common, if the member suddenly realizes oh, I need to rush out to the house to pick my son from school. And the conversation needs to now shift to a phone call. Talkdesk allows the immediate seamless switch from a chat to a phone call. So you're talking to the same person, you're not having to repeat the information here, you know, you're you're still continuing the conversation, right? And and once they're safe you, they come back home and now they're like they've they're very comfortable. And they just want to complete the the application, the conversation can turn from a more phone conversation into a video or a cobrowse session where the loan officer can walk them through the form get to help provide them the help. And in one seamless interaction. A low value interaction on the website with somebody was just browsing pages trying to understand turned into a high valued interaction where the actually the member got what they needed in the credit union got the business, right. But these are the sorts of experiences you know, which are multi channel, which are AI infused much more smart is what we as a platform we're trying to help our credit unions realize, yeah,

Sarah Cooke 08:40

AI has been such a buzzword. I mean, it's been around for years, but of course Chat GPT kind of like, sent it through the roof. And, you know, a lot of credit unions are having these conversations about we need to use AI we need use AI. But you know, not necessarily, at a strategic level, like thinking about what is this do? What is thinking about it and outcome level? What do you want from it?

Rahul Kumar 09:11

So yeah, you're absolutely right, Sarah. So if you think about, and I mentioned, and that's one of the reasons chatbots got so much, you know, such a bad reputation. Because chatbots were treated just as a capability like, Hey, can you answer these five questions and, and that's about it. And if it's a sixth question, the whole experience circles, right. So but I think what AI what the way we are approaching a dog as we are approaching AI is really working with our credit union customers and partners to understand what are the use cases that make the most sense to be automated and the lowest hanging fruit with our Industry Focus. We have brought prescriptive use cases already pre built into the platform that is taking care of the 70 to 80% of the sort of most common scenarios? What are your hours? What is your balance? Do you want to transfer money? Do you want to make a primary payment to your credit card? What's my payoff code for my loan? All of those things are are already sorted. Now, once where we are going next is to say what what do you want to do next? So we are going with in this co creation co innovation journey with our customers, there we are, you know, AI is not going to be it's not it's yes, it can be magical, but it's not instant magic, right. So you need to give it time to learn your business. And you need to give it time to mature over time. But, you know, we are very, very bullish about what it can do. One of the other things that we we need to be very cognizant about is the AI is only as good as the data it has access to, right because it does rely on the data to drive those insights to drive that intelligence. And one of the challenges credit unions have faced in the past is because they have all the equal technology ecosystem is so fragmented, think about the scenario, the chat is with one vendor the the voice or the call center is with another vendor. Or I like voice biometrics, let me find a voice biometrics vendor or I like you know, SMS get let me go sign, find an SMS vendor. And over time, the ecosystems are so fragmented that the ability to centralize all the data, so that the AI can be effective is completely neutralized. So that is where progress is bringing the value because now you can integrate all the member touch points, irrespective of the channel and bring all the data back. And you know, centralized repository, which then the AI can, can start delivering much, much more better results module that will give you the the ability to become predictable, proactive in the way you are engaging with your members. So that's the bigger piece that Talkdesk is helping our credit unions solve

Sarah Cooke 12:21
for. So you were saying it's, it can be predictive as well. Yeah.

Rahul Kumar 12:25

So think about a scenario, let's just talk about a scenario like, hey, we know that, you know, the AI, the first step is, can the AI identify that it's that the member is Sarah, right? So we can use voice biometrics technology to identify and authenticate Sarah. And as soon as we know it, Sarah, think about the fact that if the AI has the data to say, Hey, Sarah calls on the fifth of every month, to see if her paycheck got deposited. So if the AI already knows it, it, it can proactively predict that it's the fifth, Sarah's talking about a balance, let me just give it to her and like, hey, let's, let's make it quick, easy, you get what you need. And let me you get on
with what you need to do. And you know, we can do what we need to do. But so that's the predictable, that's a very simple use case, but where that's where the predictability comes in, right? So, and the proactiveness. Think about a scenario where Sarah as a small business owner is calling and she is anxious and upset because she thinks that she she won't be able to make her you know, small business loan payment system, then she's looking for help to see if it is possible to defer it by a month, right? Typically, in that experience, the contact center agent can can only do so much for Sarah in that moment, right. But that's who Sarah is with right now. If the AI is listening, and is able to detect the intent, then using, you know, real time sensor capabilities that progress offers, we can send a notification in real time to somebody who can actually help Sarah rather than it might not be the contact center agent. So it might be the branch manager at the branch that Sarah generally banked with or it might be a loan officer who is responsible for Sarah's small business loan. So now you you were able to predict you were able you are proactive in identifying the scenario. And then you you became you you proactively send out a notification. And now you can deal help Sarah deal with that situation much more empathetically? I think that's the future. That's how that's the you know, member experience, which is much more predictable, much more proactive, much more empathetic. And we see that delivering the best Um, experience for, for members for credit unions, and that's how credit unions can truly, you know, that's something a credit union can build their brand around, right, like empathy proactiveness predictiveness. Yeah. So, and we that's, that's where we are very excited about, that's the stories that we want to tell to trade unions that are willing to listen to us.

Sarah Cooke 15:24

Yeah. And the data can tell me, yes, you know, your member who walks in the branch every day or every week or whatever, on a personal level, you know, you get to be talking about different things, you might hear about a car loan or something like that, that could be a opportunity for you to, like, help out the member to reply to their car loan, for example. But, you know, with the data on the back end, you can see, all their car loan is like, three years old, they might be shopping for a new car or whatever. And so then, you know, taking that, that step, you know, to show I know you this well, yeah, exactly.

Rahul Kumar 16:08

I think that's, that is the biggest piece, right? If I, as a member, have given my business to you for a decade, that's the minimum I expect from you, right? Like you, you should know all of this about me already, rather than me having to tell these things to you. Right. And so we, that's the sort of intelligence in the member journeys that we are trying to incorporate. And it and it does not even, it's not only focused on the self service side, but it's also on the employee side. You know, just because it's a platform, the same AI is infused across the board, we are trying to make the employees lives much more simple and easy as well, right? Banking is not easy. Somebody, generally, unless they're talking, you know, calling about, hey, tell me my five recent transactions, most of the [scenario] like there are emotions associated to money. And if they're calling and they're already stressed, and they're in front of the employee, can you let the employee know that, hey, this might be a high stress situation, your first focus should be getting the member relaxed, right? So say, this example, if the call comes into the contact center, and we know that hey, the member when we when we are trying to identify the reason of the call, and they say, Hey, I just dropped my credit card, and I don't know what to do I see fraud on my credit card. If you already know it, your first instinct should be let the employee know that the the member is stressed. So they can lead with empathy, like the conversation is about letting them relax will take care of this, rather than trying to get them to share, right, the first thing should get them to relax, and then try to help them. And I think that's where the technology has really evolved, where we can give employees real time guidance, we can give them you know, advice in dealing with certain situations, we can give empowering them with real time knowledge, based on the intent of the conversation. So all of those capabilities are, are available on top of this. And that's where we are really seeing our ability to influence not only the member experience, but also make the employee experience much more empowered and simple. Is is a true differentiation for TalkDesk.

Sarah Cooke 18:42

And you know, among the credit unions, we've been in business in general, everybody's been talking about the war for talent. And, you know, if you're making your employees job harder, you're not gonna keep 'em. Right? Yeah, to make it easier. It can be a powerful retention tool as well.

Rahul Kumar 19:00

Yeah, no, I think one of the things that we did a study and we went and visited a few credit unions, and one that was one of the key challenges that they told talk to us about is we have heavy attrition. In our contact center, we, we are on this constant cycle of hiring, training, leaving hiring training leads, it's a constant cycle, right? So we try and try to uncover the reasons why that was happening. And one of the things that you know, some of the things we're, you know, people dealing with high stress situations, people like I did not sign up for this like the like when we interviewed some of the agents they were like, This is difficult, this is hard. The other aspect of that was on the technology side, like we do not have the tools to be successful. Instead of trying to focus on you know, delivering the best member experience possible. We are looking at these 32 different places. Still trying to find the information we need to serve as the member. And that's what you know, investing in a modern platform that can deliver aggregate information from multiple places and deliver that single pane of glass experience. And then you add AI on top of it to drive that empowerment. That's powerful. That's a powerful experience that you can enable. So that was where, you know, talking to our customers interviewing the agents, we've been able to really focus on delivering on helping organizations deliver on the promise of better employee experience.

Sarah Cooke 20:39
So we've talked about a lot. Today, I'm gonna let you wrap up with your final thoughts. Talk

about whatever you would like, as your as your parting gift to credit unions. Well, I think

Rahul Kumar 20:51

we are, like I said, we're very excited about you know, really, truly, truly being part of this credit union movement, which is all about empowering communities, empowering the members and really, truly becoming a partner to these credit unions as they embark in on this journey to adopt modern technology, we are very excited we are seeing fantastic momentum and and we love our all our credit union partners that have trusted in us and continue to trust in in us to deliver value to them and to their members. So thank you for having me. Pleasure talking to you