Balancing Technology & Trust in Credit Union Member Experience

Personal relationships are crucial to credit unions because of their strong relationship and membership model. Prioritizing members’ financial well-being and trust also helps create a positive experience and is a vital component of success. When members feel valued and understood, loyalty and long-term engagement can improve.

While credit unions have seen a significant transformation in member interactions and operations efficiency, there is more to be done to create a frictionless experience. Artificial intelligence presents opportunities and challenges in enhancing member experience across channels to improve satisfaction as members interact with their financial partners. However, as technology continues to advance, credit unions must balance the need for greater efficiency with personalized interactions to maintain satisfaction and loyalty.

Technological Advancements Pose New Challenges

Credit unions have already adopted some technologies to enhance interactions and efficiencies. For example, technology has enabled faster processing of credit applications, portfolio management and other services, increasing productivity and cost-effectiveness. However, too much technology can introduce challenges in building and maintaining member relationships.

Approximately 52% of federally insured credit unions had fewer members at the end of the first quarter of 2024 than a year earlier, according to the NCUA. While there are many reasons for attrition, one way to combat declining numbers is to stay focused on the core value of personal relationships. Today, members still want to speak to humans about complex or private financial matters, so it is important not to alienate them with technology.

When it comes to member support, some people are open to using self-service chatbots, while others feel unfavorable toward bots for varying reasons, such as a mistrust of AI or bots, feeling they won’t be able to address the need, or having negative past experiences where bots failed to meet their needs. Additionally, some institutions may misuse automation, making members feel trapped in systems that make it hard to reach a human representative. Support is nuanced, and chatbots lack the intelligence for more complex interactions.

To protect the member experience, credit unions should consider an approach that leverages technologies while maintaining that critical human touch. While AI can boost productivity, it is not reliable for all aspects of member interaction. Credit unions must carefully balance automation with human oversight, allowing AI to handle routine tasks while ensuring that human representatives are available for more complex or emotionally nuanced interactions to optimize costs without sacrificing the quality of the member experience connection.

AI for Members

Based on a Deloitte survey of more than 2,800 directors to C-suite level respondents across six industries, 75% of respondents expect generative AI to transform their organizations within three years. However, only 47% believe that their organizations are sufficiently educating employees on the capabilities, benefits and value of generative AI. Credit unions have the opportunity to use AI with educated human oversight to help members transition seamlessly from interacting with a bot to engaging in a complex conversation with a human agent.

Amid technological improvements, we need to find ways to preserve personalization and the human touch. This is where responsibility and human oversight come in. As AI is increasingly integrated into business strategies, credit unions need to be mindful of ethical standards and ensure that it enhances rather than replaces human interaction. Responsible AI allows companies to harness the full potential of technology to improve member experiences while maintaining the essential human elements that create trust and connection.

A responsible, human-first approach to AI can provide the efficiencies of automation while protecting members from being stuck in a frustrating loop with an unhelpful bot. For example, when a member calls, they can receive immediate assistance from a human who can evaluate their needs and put them at ease. The human agent can then decide if and how AI is used to streamline the interaction, such as gathering necessary financial data, scheduling a meeting with a banking advisor, processing a loan payment or handling other straightforward tasks. If the member’s needs become more complex or they simply want to speak with the agent again, they can be shifted back at any time. A human-first approach makes the member feel respected, establishes responsibility and leaves them more satisfied.

This is responsible AI, and it offers comprehensive member management capabilities that allow credit unions to streamline administrative tasks such as account management and transaction processing. By tracking member interactions, preferences and financial history while supporting omnichannel communications, members can engage through their preferred channels and advisors can easily access prior data to build rapport, promote efficiency and improve member satisfaction.

AI for Credit Unions

With human oversight, AI fosters a frictionless member experience and equips credit union representatives to be efficient and effective in member interactions. AI can be used to conduct real-time analyses of member satisfaction by analyzing tone, communication patterns and body language. It can make suggestions for increasing satisfaction and even train advisors and representatives to be more “human,” coaching them on how to meet the emotional and social needs of members.

AI provides options to meet changing needs by adjusting workflows, integrating existing member support and back-end systems and scaling operations. Advanced scheduling and workforce management features can optimize agent shift planning, staffing levels and resource allocation, so that credit unions can maximize productivity. Omnichannel integration allows members to engage through their preferred channels for a consistent and personalized experience across touchpoints. Personalized communication capabilities can help credit unions track interactions, preferences, account alerts and financial history for proactive member engagement to offer tailored advice, anticipate needs, improve satisfaction and maintain loyalty.

The Future Is Here

Rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach to AI, credit unions should define how a combination of AI and humans adds value. This missing element – the balancing of AI and humans – can optimize every interaction, increase efficiencies and productivity and decrease costs.

As we look toward the future, 2025 is poised to be the year of emotional management and intelligence. The past decade saw a shift to rely on automation and bots in interactions, creating a huge drop in satisfaction, highlighting the importance of addressing the whole person with empathy, understanding and emotional intelligence.

The integration of AI technology into credit union solutions is not a trend but a necessity for those looking to stay competitive and meet the evolving demands of their members. The future of credit union member experience lies in the responsible integration of AI where technology is balanced with empathy and high-quality, evolving, personalized experience is delivered to members. As AI continues to transform the financial services landscape, those who embrace this balanced approach will gain a competitive edge.