GLASTONBURY, Conn.-Highly efficient branches using teller capture are saving the front-line team 80% of their daily keystrokes and significantly shortening end-of-day activities.
Open Solutions' Sue Pinsonneault said those efficiency improvements at astute credit unions are being put to use to drive deeper member relationships. "Credit unions are using the additional time to interview members to find out if there are other services they can offer that maybe the member did not know about. It's not just about cross-selling, it's making sure they are meeting the needs of their members."
The Open Solutions' product manager for retail delivery, and Dave Reim, director of imaging and loan origination, talked to Credit Union Journal about some of the best practices and trends in branch efficiency.
The need to look inside the credit union to generate more business in the current economy is not the only reason demand for teller capture is on the rise for Open Solutions clients, said Reim. The consolidation of the corporate system is prompting more credit unions to bring item processing in-house, working directly with the Fed. "Many are migrating now to teller capture."
What's Driving Trend
That is happening not only due to some corporates shuttering operations or merging, but due to new prices being charged by numerous corporates that now lack the investment income to subsidize item processing. "Those corporate fees can be pretty hefty and our clients that are going with teller capture are seeing a huge payback quickly," said Reim. "The teller is approving the transaction and they are not paying a third party to handle that item."
Credit unions on the leading edge of branch efficiency are employing a system that identifies members and displays their entire relationship to the teller with the swipe of a debit or ATM card, added Pinsonneault.
"With our Veri-Fast product, members walk up to the teller line and swipe their debit or ATM card, get prompted for their PIN, and once authenticated, a teller is displayed with a screen called a relationship profile that shows the entire relationship with that member. Now tellers can immediately start transacting and they have gained a great deal of efficiency, cutting out a lot of keystrokes."
Pinsonneault said some credit unions are getting to the point where they are so comfortable with their efficiency improvements that they are creating service level agreements with members, committing to the amount of time it will take to complete various transactions. "If the CU fails (to resolve it), the branch is held accountable and the matter is escalated to senior management."
Pinsonneault noted that as more credit unions push some of the load onto the member through self-service channels, it's important that the interface used, and the experience, is the same across all channels. "I am a former teller and I can tell you that mobile banking and consumer capture are the coolest things to happen to the teller line since the PC. But as we open these new channels we have to have a single experience-the same kind of products offered, the same messaging, members are treated the same-no matter if the member accesses the credit union in person, through the call center, or via mobile."
