As the growth and ubiquity of technology tools in the financialservices industry continues to rise, credit unions are quicklyadapting to a wider and more varied landscape of consumerinteraction and self-service. Add to that the millennial generation– likely the most studied generation to date and more than 80million strong, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics – istechnically savvy. A wired, connected world is all thatmillennials have ever known.

What this means for the financial services industry is thatinteractive technologies must, as Jake Wobbrock writing for Wired,notes, provide “the most usable, self-guided, hiccup-free,efficient user experiences in history.” Further, he notes,providing this particular demographic with efficient and intuitiveuser experiences isn't just a matter of appeasing them, it's “anecessity for the health of any … business' bottom line. Industryresearch indicates that by 2017, the millennial generation willcomprise the largest online audience and will have more buyingpower than any other generation that has come before it.”

But thekind of mindset that drives the desire and necessity for the brandof instantaneous, intuitive and engaging member-facing experiencegoes beyond this particular demographic. Art Papas, writing forFortune, notes that “the so-called 'millennial' has becomemore than a demographic age group; it is a mindset. A wayof looking at the world and, regardless of age, declaring, 'therehas to be a better way.'”

Marketing and public relations professionals, CEOs, CFOs andmany others in the industry are now keenly aware of this fact.

“Members are experiencing an increasing array of channel choiceseverywhere they interact, setting the bar ever higher for what thecredit union must offer,” Lori Bocklund, founder and president ofStrategic Contact, a consulting firm that assists organizationswith optimizing the value of their contact center technology andoperations, said, adding, “they want to use their mobile devicesand the web, self-serve when it makes sense and easily get toknowledgeable, readily available assistance when needed.”

Further, Bocklund notes that “technology advances enable servingdiverse channels – for both self-service and assisted service – anddo so in a seamless, integrated (or omni-channel) fashion, withcontact history and cross-channel information available to optimizethe member experience” – one of the many reasons Bocklund's firm isconducting a survey to measure the efficiency and effectiveness ofcredit union contact centers. These advances, then, are crucial toa sustained, convenient and efficient member service platform forcredit unions at large.

Amy Vigil, executive director of the Credit Union Call CenterConference, points out that today's credit union call centers mustnecessarily focus on “meeting the member's choice of access totheir financial needs.” As such, unlike the technology born out ofthe 90s and the early days of the 21st century, the emergingtechnology adapts to humans, rather than forcing humans toadapt to it. In response to this technological sea-change, creditunion call centers “now utilize chat, video chat, email, autodial-back, mobile apps, websites and on-hold queues to managemember communications and 24/7 overflow coverage,” Vigil said.

Bocklund further noted that while members will still walk into abranch and use ATMs, the stage is set by an increasingly tech-heavylandscape, within which the contact center must play anincreasingly important role in meeting member expectations and theability to deliver timely and efficient member service.

As consumer and member needs continue to evolve, so too will thetechnology we utilize to take on the daily tasks andresponsibilities we all bow to, and the ability to consistentlyexamine the tech behavior of our credit union members gives us thepower to evolve. And, in the end, isn't convenience and efficiencythe name of the game when it comes to meeting member needs?

Michael Barriois Director of Public Affairs, Leverage Point, Inc. He canbe reached at 505-338-4228 or [email protected].