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Finalytics.ai releases report on digital experience at top 50 credit unions

Report uncovers series of critical member experience challenges and industry trends

SAN MATEO, CALIF. (November 11, 2021) — Finalytics.ai powers segment-of-one digital experiences for credit unions and community financial institutions. The company recently published a report that evaluates the digital experiences offered by the 50 largest credit unions in the United States, highlighting several key industry trends.

The Finalytics.ai 2021 Credit Union Digital Experience publication is the result of a comprehensive review of digital presence in the country’s leading credit unions including their commercial website, online account origination, digital marketing, key features and functionality, SEO optimization, web analytics and overall member experience. Finalytics.ai scored the credit unions based on both quantitative and qualitative criteria.

The credit unions who achieved the highest average scores across all categories, earned their place as digital experience leaders. These include PenFed Credit Union, Patelco Credit Union, and Desert Financial Credit Union.

PenFed Credit Union placed sixth in the report, scoring high in all categories. Gaurav Bhatia, SVP and chief marketing officer at the credit union, commented, “Digital is a vital channel for our 2.3 million members who rely on us for support 24/7. It is crucial we continue to invest in improving our digital capabilities for our members to ensure their experience is seamless and they are able to interact with us on their channel of choice. We are on a journey together!”

Only 34% of the credit unions surveyed had highly customized analytics, applying a combination of Google Analytics, ad tracking and retargeting tracking to gain a holistic view of consumers. Patelco Credit Union placed second in the Analytics and SEO category. Rina Johnson, VP of Marketing at the credit union commented, “Enhancing our digital capabilities has been a strong strategic initiative of ours over the last few years, so when COVID-19 hit and our digital adoption increased, we were prepared to promptly and smoothly make that shift. This enabled us to put additional resources into analytics tools to gain a complete understanding of user behavior and guide improvements to the member experience.”

Although an increasing amount of consumers are expecting their financial institutions to provide personalized offers that meet their needs, the report found that only 14% of credit unions exhibited some level of personalization. The credit union that placed first in this category is Desert Financial Credit Union. Cathy Graham, executive vice president at the credit union, commented, “Consumers expect the digital experience offered by their financial institutions to be in line with the interactions they have with companies like Netflix and Amazon. That’s why at Desert Financial, we are dedicated to applying a next-level of personalization and relevancy through marketing automation tools that help us not only deliver timely, relevant offers and financial advice but cross-sell products at the right time for our members.”

The report also found that the majority of credit union websites did not cross sell products anywhere within the digital experience and only a handful of credit unions provide members with a holistic view of how their products can serve them in their financial journeys.

Craig McLaughlin, CEO of Finalytics.ai, commented, “Today members compare their credit union experiences not just to banks – but to BigTech and FinTech. And as physical branch use continues to dwindle, digital commands consumer touch more than ever. To continue to play an important role in their members’ financial journeys, credit unions need to embrace new technologies that allow them to delight their members at scale. By unlocking the value of data, they already have to create a digital experience tailored specifically to the needs of the individual member, credit unions will be able to more effectively compete in the market, drive consumer acquisition, increase wallet share and improve retention.”

To learn more about the findings in the Finalytics.ai report, download the 2021 CU Digital Experience report.


About Finalytics.ai

Silicon Valley-based Finalytics.ai is the first community financial institution platform to apply real-time big data and state of the art machine learning in a way that addresses the unique needs of prospective and current members. Its “segment-of-one” experience is based on individuals’ unique identities, orchestrating their financial journeys using dynamic segmentation and content to address their needs.  This allows institutions to compete more effectively, drive consumer acquisition, increase wallet share and improve retention. Visit www.Finalytics.ai to learn more.

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