SEATTLE – The simplicity of the "InfoGuy" who so helpfully shows members the way to financial insight through the Web site at Whatcom Educational Credit Union (www.wecu.com) disguises the complex, growing knowledge base driving the self-help solution.
It's driven by the Fuze Suite, a module-based ASP that provides such services as public and private knowledge bases, e-mail and contact/feedback management, two-way communications, alerts, third-party system integration, chat, usage analytics and reports and personal finance content.
"The Fuze Suite is a benefit to our members and our staff," says Colin Naylor, vice president of IT at $463 million Whatcom. "By allowing us to manage and grow our organizational intelligence, we will provide a layer of true consistency for our staff with regards to our policies and procedures."
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The system also will grow with the Bellingham-based credit union as it adds to its 42,000-member base, says Jean Van Court, vice president of marketing for Fuze Digital Solutions, a 4-year-old startup in Seattle that now has about 90 clients, about 40 of them credit unions.
"I love what they did with branding the InfoGuy," Van Court says of Whatcom. "It's now a fun and inviting way to dig in and see what kind of information your credit union has for you there."
Along with the Whatcom launch, Fuze (www.fuze.com) has gained traction in the CU space in the past several months with the signing of $3.4 billion San Diego County Credit Union and Open Technology Solutions, a Colorado-based service provider owned by $1.4 billion Bellco Credit Union, $2.3 billion Bethpage FCU and $1.5 billion First Tech CU of Oregon.
"Those have been huge for us, of course," Van Court says.
Fuze and its competitors' growth mirror the growth of knowledge management technology as it evolves from its original iteration as basic FAQs.
"You move the clock back four years ago and no one really knew yet what the value of knowledge management would be. Now it's become, for us, a focus on member care," Van Court says. "You're going to see more MRM-type features from us, because it's not only about answering questions from members who come to your site, or answering staff questions about policy and procedures, it's about taking that information and doing something with it."
Target marketing someone who asks about auto loans, for instance, could be one way of doing that. Usage analytics and robust report functions help facilitate more.
Looking forward, adding more knowledge to the knowledge bases and functionality to the various modules always is high on the to-do list for the small firm, headed up by Jean Van Court's husband, Chuck Van Court.
She adds, "We don't have any venture capital. We're not going after a big-growth strategy. We're small and nimble, and we're happy with the numbers we have and with our ability to serve our clients." -
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