Business View Magazine | January 2021

283 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JANUARY 2021 UNI TED FEDERAL CREDI T UNION working on launching a brand-new online mortgage origination application through a partner called Blend to make the online mortgage process very streamlined and efficient. In the first quarter, we also made some enhancements to our online account opening, so that members could open a new deposit account in under five minutes. Recognizing the need to improve virtual messaging channels for members, we made investments in this area, as well. We expanded our traditional chat capabilities and added enhanced text messaging channels through Apple and Google devices and improved the experience of chat through Facebook Messenger, creating more spaces where members could come to us. As COVID-19 hit, we saw members taking advantage of these channels and leveraging our existing online calendaring and appointment scheduling products.” He adds, “It was a great situation where our strategic vision and the external landscape came together at the same time and allowed us to continue to support our members with a high level of service through the pandemic. Within our industry, you hear a lot about the fact that COVID-19 accelerated plans that people already had in place. For us, we were already in acceleration mode, already working on that digital transformation. We were slightly ahead of the curve. I’ve talked to some of our peers in the industry and got the impression that they were more reactive. As for us, we were already on that pace.” O’Rourke concurs, noting, “Several years back, we went down that path of investing in our digital channels. They say luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Well, when our lobbies shut down, our members continued to receive excellent service through our digital channels because of the investments we’d made in the years leading up to that moment. But our goal isn’t to move members from one channel to another. Our goal is to provide the same excellent level of service, no matter which way they decide to interact with us.”