SAN ANTONIO -
"It is our first impression," he said. "If we get everything right, everything after that goes well. We must compare ourselves to the competitors down the street, because they are trying to take over our members."
Prior to this, Education CU's new account process included a total of seven disclosures required for membership and a new checking account. The member service representative had to distribute two debit card sleeves, two account cards and 12 temporary checks. Bynum said the cost of the computer, toner and paper, cards and checks, plus the MSR's 56 minutes to complete the procedure, totaled $29.36 for each new member.
After several improvements were made, including combining five disclosures into one with a single signature card, the cycle time was reduced by 15 minutes, a difference of 14.9%. The cost reduction was $4.38, which he said has added up to a significant amount of savings for the CU.
"We did not spend a lot of money to improve the new account process, and we did not reinvent the wheel, we simply tweaked the process and reduced the time needed," said Bynum.
The reduction in the cycle time was implemented to increase member satisfaction, he noted, but it automatically decreased the CU's costs-and without spending more money.
