How Voice AI Helped Prospera Credit Union Transform Member Service and Efficiency

In a recent webinar hosted by interface.ai and Prospera Credit Union, Prospera’s mission to help members prosper financially took center stage. Todd Thiel, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Prospera, shared how they transformed member service and scaled rapidly using interface.ai’s Voice AI solution. By seamlessly automating routine interactions and empowering staff to focus on high-value conversations, Prospera delivered a future-ready, efficient, and highly personalized member experience.

This blog explores key insights from their journey, showing how they turned challenges into opportunities to achieve exceptional results and set a new standard for member engagement.

Key Insights from Prospera CU’s AI Journey

1. Aligning AI with Strategic Business Goals

At Prospera Credit Union, AI was approached as a strategic business decision rather than just another technology initiative. Todd Thiel emphasized that every AI project should align with three primary pillars: enhancing member experience, improving team member efficiency, and managing risk.

Their objective was to implement personalized self-service solutions that empower members while streamlining internal workflows. This business-first approach ensured AI investments directly supported their mission to help members prosper.

2. Turning Volume Surges into a Strategic Advantage

As Prospera planned for major system upgrades, they knew member call volumes would surge dramatically. Peer institutions warned of call volumes rising three to five times during similar transitions. With a lean call center team, simply adding more staff was not a sustainable or strategic solution.

Instead of seeing this as a setback, Prospera saw it as a chance to innovate. By adopting interface.ai’s Voice AI solution, they transformed a potential service bottleneck into an opportunity to scale effortlessly, maintain high-quality support, and deliver faster, more reliable service to their members.

3. Tangible Results from AI Implementation

On go-live day, Prospera experienced an extraordinary tenfold surge in calls, jumping from 220 calls to 2,500 in a single day. With interface.ai’s Voice AI solution in place, 43 percent of these calls were fully handled without needing to transfer to live agents, significantly reducing the load on the call center team.

In the first five days alone, interface.ai’s Voice AI managed 142 hours of member conversations, the equivalent of adding 3.5 full-time employees working eight-hour shifts.

Fast forward to 18 months later, monthly call volumes increased from 5,700 to over 8,000. Despite this growth, Prospera’s answer rate improved dramatically from the low 60s to over 90 percent, while average wait times dropped to just over a minute.

These impressive metrics highlight how Voice AI solutions from interface.ai empower credit unions to scale operations, improve efficiency, and deliver exceptional member experiences.

4. Seamless Integrations Powering Efficiency

One of the major factors contributing to Prospera’s success was the seamless integration of interface.ai’s Voice AI with their core system, Symitar, and their VoIP system, RingCentral. The solution passed detailed context, including member information and interaction history, directly to call center representatives. This allowed staff to immediately understand members’ needs without asking repetitive questions, significantly improving resolution speed and overall service quality.

Prospera also used interface.ai’s robust analytics to continuously identify common questions and develop new self-service options. This data-driven approach ensures the solution evolves alongside member expectations.

5. Essential Tips for Financial Institutions Adopting AI

Todd Thiel shared practical advice for other financial institutions considering AI adoption:

• Start by identifying clear business problems and secure alignment with leadership before beginning implementation.
  
• Build a cross-functional coalition early to encourage collaboration and ensure shared ownership of the project.
  
• Choose a partner with deep expertise in financial services and proven integration capabilities to avoid delays and technical challenges.
  
• Focus on delivering tangible value to both members and employees to drive lasting success.

Summary

Prospera Credit Union’s journey demonstrates the power of integrating AI into core business strategy. By introducing an Intelligent Virtual Assistant during a major core conversion, they not only managed an unprecedented surge in call volume but also significantly enhanced member experience and operational efficiency.

Interested in how interface.ai can help your credit union or bank deliver exceptional service and achieve greater operational resilience? Watch the webinar replay to learn what your institution can accomplish with the right AI partner.