CHICAGO—For more than a year, financial institutions have been urged to move from a multichannel environment to an omnichannel environment. Omnichannel refers to the creation of a consistent user experience that extends to every channel through which a credit union operates.

At the same time, popular thinking still mandates that credit unions shop for best-of-breed solutions in each channel. Thus, the question has become: How can a credit union create a consistent user experience using products that it has purchased from several different, unrelated vendors?

One company exhibiting at BAI Retail Delivery claims to have solved this problem.

Originally a portal company, Backbase has leveraged its portal technology to create a digital retail banking platform called Backbase Engage.

“We've taken that and wrapped it in a set of products and services, built widgets on top of it, to really allow a financial institution to use it for everything they need out of the box for a retail banking experience,” Peter Chapman, Backbase's principle fintech strategist said. “This includes everything from the marketing website to the origination piece to online banking, mobile banking and tablet banking.”

The goal, he said, is to create a single, consistent member journey.

Not only is the user experience consistent, it can be entirely customized by the credit union. In other words, two credit unions can both run Backbase Engage and each can deliver a truly unique experience to its members.

“We built it so that business and marketing people can completely control the UX,” Chapman said.

Chapman admitted that Backbase cannot provide every digital component a credit union might need. The company has therefore partnered with other software providers for feature sets like remote deposit capture and bill pay.

Even so, the Backbase Engage design is able to maintain that consistent user experience.

“All of our partners are API driven,” Chapman said. “Each partner needs to be comfortable working behind the scenes. If a company wants to control any of the UX, we won't partner with them.” He added that every Backbase partner must also be a good cultural fit.

“It's all about a credit union regaining control of its digital strategy and being able to differentiate itself,” Chapman concluded. “That's something we believe in passionately.”

Instant Insights /

Solving the Omnichannel Conundrum: Onsite Coverage

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