ANN ARBOR, Mich.-A new study said it has identified the two largest drivers of improvements to member satisfaction: branch staff and online banking.
CFI Group, a customer satisfaction technology and analytics firm, said the findings were part of its inaugural credit union industry study, the 2013 Credit Union Satisfaction Index (CUSI). The study includes industry-focused insights and is used the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) methodology, a patented scientific approach to consumer satisfaction measurement.
Terry Redding, VP marketing and product development for CFI Group, told Credit Union Journal the study allows the firm to determine what is most important to credit union members via statistical analysis.
"Then, with modeling, we try to understand how movement in one driver will cause movement in satisfaction," he explained.
The CUSI research rates six drivers of satisfaction on a 0-100 point scale according to responses from 400 active CU members from across the U.S. Overall, credit unions score consistently high across the board, with drivers scoring in excess of 80 points. This data is consistent with CFI Group's own work in the credit union industry. The company said credit unions score significantly higher than other industries, including retail banking.
Redding said the drivers most likely to impact member satisfaction are branch staff, online banking, branch convenience, and information/communications, but the first two far outshone the latter pair.
A Surprising Development
Branch staff's role in driving satisfaction has not changed over the years, Redding said, as members "have always and will continue to respond to the helpfulness and knowledge of this group."
"More is better, and there does not seem to be any diminishing returns to investment here," he assessed.
That online banking is the other significant driver of future satisfaction is not a surprise, noted Redding, given the rapid emergence of e-commerce.
"What was really surprising was that member focus has shifted so dramatically to the Web versus the branch to the extent that online banking is actually more important than the branch and the people in terms of growing future satisfaction," he said. "We thought there would be an age difference in terms of the importance of the Web on member satisfaction, but it just was not there. Members both old and young are looking more to online banking as a primary way to work with their credit union."
Since 2007, the credit union community has seen membership grow by slightly more than 5% and assets under management grow by roughly 33%. This growth has come primarily at the expense of for-profit banks, CFI Group said.
The New 'Face' Of CUs
The credit union industry could be seeing a transition right before its eyes, Redding observed. He said while branch staff is what brought credit unions to the fore in terms of satisfaction and loyalty in the past-something he does not see changing-what is happening today is the Web is becoming the new "face" of the credit union.
"The online component looks to be the key to continuing and building on the branch staff's good feelings and the bridge to the future satisfaction and loyalty," he said.
For additional details regarding CFI Group's credit union customer satisfaction survey methodology and findings, CUs are invited to download the firm's new "Credit Union Satisfaction Index 2013" whitepaper at www.cfigroup.com.
