Clearwater Credit Union Leverages Core to Automate Manual Processes, Streamline Audit Queues, and Analyze Member Feedback

• Feb 12, 2024
• By CUBN News Desk

Taking A Core-Centric Approach Since its conversion to a new core processor in early 2019, Clearwater Credit Union has taken a core-centric approach to its strategic initiatives – asking ‘can our new core accomplish this task?’ before implementing new processes. Using this strategy, Clearwater CU has been able to eliminate some inefficient manual processes and increase the reliability of the results. At the heart of this approach are four basic steps that can be leveraged for many processes that involve working with information:

1. identify a trigger event
2. generate data
3. automatically alert or queue the work
4. report on the results

Following this four-step concept, Clearwater CU has opened the door to more core customization opportunities and automation of repeatable tasks. In one initiative using this approach, the credit union streamlined new member onboarding and form audit processes utilizing the queue system built into its core. In another, they created a dynamic solution to take advantage of the platform’s reporting functionality to gain valuable insight from member feedback. Automating the Audit Process Prior to moving this process into its new core (Corelation’s KeyStone), Clearwater CU’s auditing of new account forms for member onboarding was inefficient and entirely manual, with countless interactions being tracked in a spreadsheet. By taking the core-centric approach, the credit union has streamlined the process by housing all data related to the audit process within the core. The process begins by flagging certain trigger events within the core such as a new account application and generating an XML file of the data. When this information is imported into the core’s API, opportunities are created and placed into a queue to be audited. Using custom defined criteria, relevant details such as the branch location are tracked within the specific opportunity to ensure it is directed to the proper queue. The credit union set up customized opportunity types, each with their own set of defaults, to let staff know specifically what needs to be audited. The opportunities track the user who completed the form or workflow, allowing the auditor to use KeyStone’s “Send Email Notification” functionality to alert the staff member if there are errors that need to be resolved to finalize the work task. The Results: Saving Time & Improving Reliability Besides the vast amount of time saved by replacing a manual process with an automated one, Clearwater CU has increased the accuracy and accountability by eliminating the element of human error in logging information. Standardizing the process and the data that is being collected by staff members has also led to more comprehensive reporting. By identifying trends and patterns in their audit reports, the credit union is able to use that information to coach and better support their staff and provide audit trails to their auditors. “All in all, this has led to a good deal of time saved. We’re talking about no more double entry, no more worrying about missing audits, no more worry just in general,” said Clearwater CU’s Data Analyst Devin Carlson. How Do You Listen to 56,000 Member Voices at Once? With such a large membership, Clearwater CU needed a solution to analyze their member feedback that is dynamic and offers robust reporting capabilities. Prior to developing a core-centric process, their only opportunities to gather feedback were manual – and listening to 56,000 member voices one at a time through paper comment cards or over the phone just isn’t efficient or effective. Much like their automated audit process, Clearwater CU’s solution for gathering and analyzing member feedback begins by flagging events within Keystone. Some of the activities that they watch for include a new member opening an account, a change in a member’s behavior, or the addition of a new product to an existing account. When a trigger event is observed, a survey is generated and sent to the member by email. After the member completes the survey, their responses are recorded into a custom table within the core — directly into the member’s profile. Once the responses are recorded, Clearwater CU has incorporated processes to facilitate prioritization and reporting. For types of responses that require action or immediate attention, the credit union has set up triggers to watch for certain keyword mentions or negative sentiment that alerts staff so they can follow up with the member. For the big picture view of members’ feedback, a comprehensive dashboard was implemented with an interactive word cloud that highlights common themes within the responses. This dashboard feature allows the credit union team to get very granular in filtering the results. The Results: Identifying Trends in Member Feedback From a strategic standpoint, Clearwater CU can address common issues and identify opportunities to coach branches and individual staff members one-on-one — as well as identify overall trends in member satisfaction and feedback. Specifically, the credit union can use alerts to prioritize those responses that require more immediate attention, prompting action to resolve issues such as fraud, theft, or any type of negative experience for their members. Having a member’s survey responses attached to their person-centric profile in the core enables staff to have more informed conversations with members about their individual needs. From the member’s standpoint, this demonstrates that the credit union is listening to them and willing to address their concerns. Using both the overview and the alerts, the credit union has been able to identify systemic issues that need to be addressed as an organization — for example: an ATM being down or drive-through lines being long. The comprehensive dashboards and reports allow Clearwater CU to do what it set out to do – understand what its 56,000 members as a whole are trying to share. Tracking overall levels of satisfaction and trends offer insight to credit union leadership and the board to guide its ongoing member service efforts. Clearwater CU’s core-centric solution has allowed the credit union to replace an inefficient manual process, better understand its members, and follow a philosophy that uses technology to enhance the member’s experience.

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