Since 1961, Wellby Financial has served the employees and families of NASA’s Johnson Space Center and has grown into one of Houston’s largest credit unions, with more than 132,300 members and $2.7 billion in assets. This growth reflects the organization’s commitment to helping members achieve their financial goals while embracing industry advancements.
To further enhance their member experience, Wellby Financial sought a solution to improve member verification efficiency and strengthen fraud prevention measures. On September 14, 2024, they launched IllumaSHIELD™, a voice authentication solution that analyzes vocal characteristics to reduce fraud and shorten call center handling times, ultimately boosting operational efficiency.
Brent Nelson, Vice President of Virtual Communication Center at Wellby Financial, explained, “Fraud isn’t just an inconvenience — it’s a threat to our members’ financial security. Member verification is a critical part of preventing that threat, but it became so cumbersome that some members hesitated to call us, feeling that accessing their accounts was becoming an unnecessary ordeal. We never want to create that experience. However, with our responsibility to protect members from fraud, we were compelled to enhance our verification measures to keep them safe.”
“Before Illuma, our verification process was not efficient. Asking more detailed questions only led to member and employee frustration. It was clear that our efforts to strengthen security were unintentionally creating barriers for the very people we are trying to protect.”, said Tammy Jackson, Onboarding Advisor for the Virtual Communication Center at Wellby Financial.
“Implementation was remarkably easy. We had Illuma set up for testing in about 15 minutes and migrated it to production in under five. It’s one of the most straightforward, low-maintenance deployments I’ve experienced,” said Eric Palmer, Manager of the Project Management Office at Wellby Financial.
Performance Improvements in Action
- 95% reduction in time to verify members.
- 7 out of 10 Wellby members choose to enroll in IllumaSHIELD™ when offered.
- In just six months, Wellby enrolled over 22,000 members—more than 16% of its total membership.
- Wellby has deployed IllumaSHIELD™ across their Contact Center and eBranch teams, with agents using it in 88% of all interactions.
- Reduction in employee attrition.