PASADENA, Calif. — At $2.5 billion Wescom Credit Union, the problem wasn't having insufficient information about its members - it was too much info to process.
The solution: MemberGenius, a campaign-management technology platform that allows the CU to integrate information from across multiple delivery channels to analyze information holistically.
David Cerwinski, VP sales & client services for Wescom Resources Group, a wholly owned CUSO of Wescom CU, said the proliferation of service-delivery channels at credit unions has made it nearly impossible to manage targeted marketing and cross-sales efforts across the enterprise.
While vendors have developed unique systems for managing targeted marketing messages, he said products tend to be effective in their respective channels but lack integration across them.
With a clear need for an omni-channel campaign management platform, Wescom Resources Group set out to build a technology platform.
Four Design Goals
Cerwinski said the fundamental design goals were to have a system that: 1. analyzed various data sources about the member base; 2. figured out the right targeted marketing campaign based on configurable criteria; 3. managed the communication and lead tracking across multiple delivery channels; and, 4. reported on campaign outcomes.
After several months of development, on April 1 WRG deployed MemberGenius, a multi-channel campaign management platform. MemberGenius runs on in-house servers at Wescom, and communicates in real-time to the credit union's online banking, mobile banking and desktop CRM platforms.
In addition, it connects off-line to channels such as paper statements and direct mail. In real-time channels, when an account number is entered, MemberGenius receives and analyzes the account, and offers up the best eligible offer to be presented.
Multiple campaigns can run concurrently. The system tracks leads from start to finish, so outcomes can be measured and reported on.
"We built the solution in house and put it on top of the CRM solution we have been using for a number of years," said Cerwinski. "We are really excited about it."
Strong Results
Through credit reports, Wescom identified approximately $1 billion in outstanding loans its members have with other institutions. It then crafted campaigns designed to encourage members to transfer their existing loan balances to Wescom.
MemberGenius is "smart" enough to select the right channel for a given member, based on historic channel preferences. When a member accepts, postpones, or declines an offer, MemberGenius stores that data so the next best offer can be presented, and the original offer is retired.
In the first quarter, prior to implementation of MemberGenius, Wescom saw 1,557 pre-approved credit cards accepted for $10.3 million in new lines. In Q3, 2,769 offers were accepted for $14.8 million in new lines.
On the auto-lending front, in Q1 549 pre-approved loans were accepted, resulting in $10.2 million in fundings. In Q2 the numbers improved to 814 loans for $15.4 million. In Q3 1,048 loans funded for $20.5 million.
"I would love to say MemberGenius was solely responsible, but all the blocking and tackling is done by our folks in the loan department," Cerwinski said. "Certainly MemberGenius is a key technology enabler. Before we implemented it, the branch folks and the phone center did not have all the information. It takes everything from the remote channel and the branch to give us a holistic view at the institution level."
