Dover Federal Credit Union’s Vendor Selection Journey For Intelligent Virtual Assistant Technology

About Dover Federal Credit Union

Dover Federal Credit Union(DFCU), is the 2010 Winner of the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce President's Award for Excellence. DFCU, with over $603.6MM in assets, has evolved as a member-owned financial cooperative since 1958 and is currently providing its financial services to over 43,618 members.

The Vision

Dover Federal Credit Union’s(DFCU) aims to offer the most seamless banking experience to its members and was on the lookout for solutions that will enhance its member experience & engagement capabilities. With the onset of the pandemic and with member interaction patterns changing, DFCU started experiencing increased call volumes at their call center. DFCU was keen to find an innovative solution to help them handle the increasing call volumes, be operationally efficient, and offer the best member experiences.

Bottlenecks & The Next Step

DFCU was facing increased demand on their call center, resulting in increased call abandonment rates and call wait times.

With the call volumes more than doubling since the onset of the pandemic, DFCU an institution that had traditionally maintained wait times below 2 minutes and abandonment rates below 5% started to experience a sharp rise in both these metrics, showcasing the severe impact on the overall productivity & efficiency of the call center. With the member interaction volumes also predicted to go up in the coming years, DFCU understood that options such as hiring, out sourcing, or setting up an overflow call center would only be short-term fixes. The CU was on the lookout for a scalable solution that would help them maintain high service levels and be efficient in the long run.

Technology Selection

The Road to Artificial Intelligence & Intelligent Virtual Assistants

Extensive research of the technology & case studies of several Credit Unions incorporating Artificial Intelligence(AI) convinced the executives at DFCU that Artificial Intelligence, specifically, Intelligent Virtual Assistant(IVA), was the technology that would help them overcome their challenges and enable them to support their members better, both now and in the future. AI’s ability to create seamless experiences and adapt based on the changing member needs were also crucial to decide on the technology.

Creating a significant competitive advantage for DFCU

DFCU expects to

Handle large call volumes seamlessly
Scale to handle any number of member requests as per the need Reduce abandonment rates & call wait time to 0
Respond to member inquiries instantly
Ensure 100% response accurately
Offer 24×7 availability
Improve operational efficiency across the organization
Increased efficiencies will lead the staff to spend more time tending to the members in need and be proactive in member support
Operational cost optimization
Stay up to date with technology trends and cater to the engagement needs of all member segments

Vendor Selection & Evaluation

Vendor Identification

DFCU identified vendors by

Researching AI & Intelligent Virtual Assistant Implementation case studies in the Credit Union space
Speaking to stakeholders from CUs that have implemented Intelligent Virtual Assistants
A hands-on evaluation of Credit Union Intelligent Virtual Assistant imple mentations which acted as a proof of concept
Evaluating vendors through Credit Union tradeshows
Evaluating vendors that have integrated with their core banking partner

Vendor Shortlisting & Evaluation Criteria

DFCU evaluated vendors based on the following criteria

Vision – Having a long term vision, technology roadmap, and insights into the technology’s possibilities
Functionality – A solution having a wide range of functionalities that can add value to all aspects of the organization and enable efficient member support
Experience & Expertise – Having in-depth domain knowledge and having several successful live implementations delivering impact
Integrations – Having easy integrations with online banking and call center systems

DFCU & interface.ai

After an extensive vendor selection process, DFCU chose interface.ai as its partner for Intelligent Virtual Assistant Technology.

The significant reasons for DFCU choosing interface.ai are -

Several years of experience serving Credit Unions & the most mature Artificial Intelli gence offering for the industry
A well defined long term vision and product roadmap
The ROI possibilities due to the high level of automation
Most human-like neural voice in the industry
Fluidness of the technology to incorporate a wide range of workflows
Managed Services to ensure customer success
Strong customer advocacy
Credit Union background with a deep understanding of the credit union space
Clear communication & transparency regarding the possibilities with the solution
Performance-based pricing

“Today, financial institutions are challenged to manage the ever-rising number of member inquiries. We believe implementing an Intelligent Virtual Assistant is the only way for most financial institutions to offer timely support, provide personalized service to members at scale and manage operations efficiently. We are excited to partner with DFCU and enable them to improve their service levels, engage better with their members, automate calls, and also onboard new members.”

Scope of the project

The IVA will be initially available on DFCU’s call center, website, and mobile app. After the launch of this solution, when members call DFCU’s call center or interact with DFCU’s IVA on the website or the mobile app, the IVA will instantly help them find answers to their questions and enable DFCU to provide full service to members 24/7. With this increased efficiency, DFCU’s staff will also be able to provide personalized support to members in need, thus elevating the overall member experience offered.

Through this partnership, DFCU will be enhancing its member experience from digital to AI-first and enable highly personalized and instantaneous engagement with members.