Background
Greater Nevada Credit Union (GNCU), established in 1949 and headquartered in Carson City, NV, serves over 89,000 consumers and small businesses with more than $1.7 billion in assets. GNCU’s mission is to help more people live greater by providing personal and business banking solutions. Their core values include putting people first, focusing on community enrichment, and empowering members with financial education.
Greater Nevada Credit Union received feedback from several surveys that their members really wanted to be able to pay their loans from a financial institution outside of GNCU. Unfortunately, this service was only available by phone, so, to meet member expectations, they started researching new, more modern payment experiences for their members.
One of the biggest challenges GNCU faced due to not having a modern payments platform was call center volume for payments. They averaged between 700-900 calls a month to make loan payments. Members had to wait on hold to make a payment vs. having a self-service channel that would allow them to easily make a payment.
“Not only did it put a burden on our staff, but it also made a less than desirable experience for those members seeking a self-service loan payment experience — whether it’s setting a recurring payment or a one-time payment. We needed to make a change,” said Rick Hassman, VP of Digital Solutions, GNCU.
The Need for Change
Feedback from multiple member surveys revealed a growing demand for the ability to pay loans from financial institutions outside of GNCU. Previously, this service was only available by phone, leading to a cumbersome and inefficient process for both members and staff. Recognizing the need for a more modern payment experience, GNCU began researching new solutions.
One of the significant challenges GNCU faced was the high call center volume, with an average of 600-900 calls per month related to loan payments. Members often faced long wait times and were unable to use a self-service option to make payments.
“We were missing a portal where they could make a quick loan payment when they wanted to fund it from an account other than Greater Nevada.” The call center also requested solutions to lower their volume of calls, as representatives were using a collection site that was costing GNCU about $40,000 annually,” Veronica Gomez, VP of Digital Member Experience at GNCU, explained.
The Selection Process
During their search for a business partner, GNCU identified three key criteria:
1. Continuous Innovation: They needed a partner who could consistently innovate to keep up with evolving member needs.
2. Enhanced Member Experience: The goal was to reduce friction points and improve the overall payment experience.
3. Seamless Integration with Current Technology: It was essential that the new solution could easily integrate with their existing technology
infrastructure (core and digital banking).
After evaluating multiple options, GNCU selected Alacriti’s Orbipay EBPP solution. “It was really important to us that eventually we’d be able to put this into Q2 Digital Banking. We wanted to have a frictionless experience, and we also wanted them to integrate with our current technology. Alacriti met all these requirements, making the decision to move forward with them an easy one,” Gomez shared.
Results
The implementation of Alacriti’s Orbipay EBPP loan payments solution led to immediate and measurable improvements. GNCU saw a significant reduction in call center volume, dropping from 600-900 calls a month to approximately 140 calls. “We average about a hundred calls now a month to our call center for payments, which is a huge savings,” said Gomez. This reduction allowed staff to focus on more critical issues, such as fraud prevention, rather than processing routine loan payments.
Members who had been asking for self-service loan payment options were pleased with the new capabilities. GNCU now offers three self-service options: Guest Web (where there’s no need to log into the credit union’s portal to pay the loan), Enrolled Web, and Text to Pay (which allows members to pay using text messaging). “It lets our members know and just feel so much better about their loan being paid on time,” Boden Dullanty, Digital Solutions Analyst at GNCU, shared. This shift to more flexible payment methods contributes to a significant reduction in call center interactions as members embrace the convenience of using digital channels.
The impact of Orbipay EBPP is evident in GNCU’s growth metrics. Comparing the two years before implementation to the two years after, GNCU experienced:
■ 535.53% growth in loan payment value.
■ 431.29% growth in loan payment volume.
■ 19.62% growth in average payment value.
■ 32.27% growth in fees collected.
Looking Toward the Future
GNCU continues to drive member engagement by assigning specific solutions to each digital team member and promoting the benefits across their organization. The real-time reporting functionality has been invaluable, allowing them to track payment trends and optimize member experiences.
Looking ahead, GNCU plans to leverage Orbipay EBPP’s Apple Pay and Google Pay capabilities, as well as integrating Single Sign-On (SSO) with their online banking platform. They are also exploring the potential of implementing real-time payments, further enhancing the member experience.
Conclusion
GNCU is not only pleased with the tangible results but also with the exceptional support received from Alacriti. “The implementation only took us about three months, and it was a really seamless integration,” said Gomez.
“Alacriti has a really good support system.” Dullanty added, “It was definitely one of the easier projects, that’s for sure, and we’re excited about the ongoing benefits for our members.”
