Founder/CEO of the Sandy, Utah-based POP/io, Gene Pranger, said, "Banks and credit unions across the country are tasked with providing branch services without jeopardizing the safety of their staff or customers. POP/io is uniquely positioned to address this challenge and eager to help with our proprietary mobile and web video platform."

Gene Pranger

While Pioneer does select services in lobbies for members by appointment only, its personal teller machines and myPPA, two completely different platforms, are its primary connections to members during the outbreak.

Members can perform check and cash deposits and cash withdrawals using the PTMs, which resemble traditional ATMs with touch screens that connect members to a live video teller.

Miller noted the PTMs grew out of staff limitations and member requests to expand service hours. "It takes so much to staff a window just in the hopes that somebody comes through," she explained. "We are very heavy users of ITMs in the drive-thru; probably about two years ago we also introduced them inside the lobby." The ITMs allowed Pioneer to expand the credit union's hours to 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday to Saturday.

The ITMs can only run basic transactions. "They cannot start a new account or do a loan application. It would take too long," Miller said. "PTMs still provide members with the face-to- face interaction with Pioneer team members, but members have to come to our drive-ups." The credit union noted due to coronavirus concerns, members often use a stylus or gloves to touch screens even though the credit union does its best to keep machines as clean as possible.

"We're very strong believers in people helping people. So, any video platform, or any piece of technology that we put into place, we want to make sure our employees still greet our members and provide the level of service we would expect," Miller said. "We didn't just want a self-servicing model, per se; a self-servicing model was an ATM. We wanted to extend hours and make it not only convenient for our members but also efficient."

myPPA, strictly a mobile application, can help members with anything they might need from an MSR in the branch, such as maintaining and opening accounts, checking balances, submitting loan applications, making wire transfers, account fraud and emergency assistance. "Our average daily calls on myPPA were around 30 before closing our lobbies and we are now averaging 130 calls a day," Miller said.

Example of a Pioneer FCU video branch.

Although Pioneer also has a call center and home banking platforms, with myPPA members still get to see and work directly with a trusted credit union team member. In addition, members can receive and sign documents immediately in most cases; have access to specialists, such as a mortgage officer; and, as of March, make check deposits on the video platform. Before the lockdown, Pioneer began to use POP/io inside some locations including an all-video branch.

Pioneer utilizes a centralized video contact center with 11 agents located at its Mountain Home headquarters. Those agents run the ITMs at the drive-thrus and in the lobby at two branch locations, and also service the POP/io platform.

Miller pointed out POP/io has allowed Pioneer to reach members it would not normally see on a regular basis, and utilize more Spanish-speaking MSRs. "We are able to transfer calls, if one of our members decides they really like to work with one particular video employee."

Pioneer has continued to define the process to make sure members' transition onto the video platforms is seamless and does not feel intimidating. Miller maintained, "It truly does feel like we're always in our members' back pockets."

PTMs in a Pioneer FCU lobby.

Pranger praised Pioneer for building a complete video banking platform that allows members to engage with their credit union without having to go into a branch. The POP/io founder created the personalized interactive video ATM experience around 2005 with uGenius video, which NCR purchased in December 2012. He described three components to a video banking strategy: ITMs located in drive-thrus or at offsite locations; the ability to have live discussions and share paperwork, including legally binding signatures, on a mobile handset or website; and a video banking branch serviced remotely.

"Now, there are pros and cons when it comes to COVID-19," Pranger advised. "Some people were reluctant to touch a machine somebody else had previously touched."

Many financial institutions ended up putting sanitizing wipes or liquids out for people. "Now, that's an even more critical issue in terms of how people engage with any type of technology device," he said.

Pranger said a fully operational video contact center allows financial institutions to centralize their entire lending and new accounts platform or disperse it in multiple remote locations, as is taking place during the current crisis. "In the COVID-19 environment, this is the ultimate perfect tool, to allow the financial institutions to remain open and able to conduct business as usual, without having to worry about their employees on the frontline or their members coming into the branch environment. You can do any type of transaction that you can do face to face inside the branch environment, over a mobile handset, including check deposits."

Pranger noted beyond the solution's practicality during the outbreak, consumers engaging in a mobile video platform are overwhelmingly positive toward POP/io in consumer satisfaction scores, giving it 4.7 out of five stars. "Transactions are shorter by a significant amount than going into a branch environment. This is clearly a direction that works and will transform the world of banking." He added although a fairly small percentage of financial institutions use video, especially mobile video banking, this will no longer be the case in the future. "COVID-19 is a reason why that's true. But it's also because of other issues related to efficiencies and effectiveness of employees over video versus having them in multiple branches."

POP/io allocated 10,000 free video seat licenses to help financial institutions and consumers stay safe and maintain critical access to financial services connected via web-based video collaboration during the coronavirus crisis. The free video seat licenses are available to any financial institution in need of a safe method for providing branch services while protecting staff and customers.