BLOG

A Better Member Journey Is Just a Chat(bot) Away (Webinar Recap)

Posted by Alison Arthur on 02 Oct 2019

Chatbots are a hot topic for organizations across all industries, including credit unions. They can enrich member experiences, provide 24x7 support, connect with members on their preferred digital platforms, and streamline internal operations.

On September 25, Alacriti co-hosted a webinar with NACUSO to discuss the ins and outs of chatbots for credit unions. If you’re curious about the basics of chatbots and how they can benefit your members, here are key takeaways from the webinar. 

  1. Chatbots can automate common member inquiries without human intervention.

Where is the closest ATM or branch location? What is my account balance? Can I order more personal checks?

These are just some of the routine questions that members might pick up the phone and call credit unions to have answered. These calls cost time and money, and can easily be resolved with the help of chatbots. Credit unions can enlist chatbots as primary responders for these types of straightforward inquiries to help speed up response times and reduce call volume for member service representatives.

  1. But chatbots can also transfer complex inquiries to human counterparts when the time is right.

Chatbots can’t exist in a vacuum – they must be able to call on their human counterparts to assist with more complicated inquiries. Credit unions can develop strategies to gracefully hand off member service requests from chatbots to humans when the technology is unable to resolve an inquiry. One way of doing this is to limit the number of attempts a chatbot has to handle the question before transferring it to a member service representative. This is typically controlled via a setting in the chatbot itself or the channel where the chatbot is being accessed.

  1. Chatbot data can help credit unions deliver more personalized member experiences.

 A benefit of chatbot conversations is that they are all logged digitally, meaning they can be analyzed for patterns. For example, if a member tends to request their account balance two days before their bill is due, a credit union can use this information to deliver the balance information proactively. Chatbot data gives credit unions sharper insight into their members’ behavior and the ability to deliver more personalized experiences.

Click here to access the webinar recording.

Alison Arthur Product and Content Marketing Manager Alison creates timely product marketing and thought leadership content that keeps Alacriti's community informed on the latest developments in billing and payments technology. With a background in payments and financial services, Alison specializes in composing content related to technology, security, compliance, and overall industry trends.