PSCU Financial Services’ Reports 40% Increase in Member Servicing-Related Call Volume

250 Credit Unions Rely Upon Cooperative’s Total Member Care™ For Comprehensive 24/7 Back Office Contact Center Support  

St. Petersburg, FL, October 26, 2009 – More than 1,300 financial institutions use PSCU Financial Services Contact Centers for product-related support, but the cooperative announced today that it is emphasizing the need for a more holistic and comprehensive approach to member support, which is now offered by its Total Member Care™ solution. The cooperative has 250 credit unions that outsource calls to Total Member Care representatives to increase staff productivity while delivering a higher level of service—and 24/7 convenience—to members.

In addition to supporting traditional product areas such as debit, credit, online bill payment and Internet banking, Total Member Care representatives handle account inquiries, balance transfers, password resets, loan applications, new member enrollment, account initiation and a broad range of topics related to credit union operations—at any time of the day or night. The Total Member Care staff can also boost revenue through collections, outbound calling campaigns and cross selling of additional financial services—as determined by each credit union.

“We are seeing tremendous growth in our comprehensive Total Member Care because we can help credit unions improve member service while containing costs. In the last 60 days, call volumes related to issues other than traditional product support are up by 40%,” said Peter Schmitt, Executive Director, PSCU Financial Services.

He noted that 33 of the credit unions that utilize our company’s Total Member Care Contact Center staff for comprehensive member servicing have more than $1 billion in assets. “Callers believe they are talking to their local credit union. Our training includes detailed information about each credit union and its services, including items like the pronunciation of towns with branches and unique aspects of its credit union’s membership.”

The ability to effectively address member questions on the first call is one of the primary reasons many credit unions have converted to Total Member Care, according to Schmitt. “Our scripting, representative training, call routing processes and technology are unmatched. As a result, members are able to resolve their inquiry quickly and responsively at any time of the day or night—and this creates enhanced loyalty to their credit union.”

Advanced scripting models are key elements in anticipating and addressing member concerns and questions. Customized scripts are developed by Contact Center professionals who work with the staff at each credit union to ensure that the scripting matches the unique needs of their membership.

 “Total Member Care boosts member satisfaction by addressing each question in the first call, at any time of the day or night. As part of the cooperative’s detailed and advanced scripting process, Total Member Care representatives worked with our staff to create scripts that accurately address virtually any inquiry. They are able to answer up to 99% of our calls, so we get very few referrals, which simultaneously boosts staff productivity and delivers better service to our members,” said William  Spearman, President and CEO, Mid-Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union in New York.

Total Member Care also builds an online knowledge database for each credit union’s products, policies, procedures, locations, events and promotions and other services. Information is readily accessible with a simple query. In addition to providing rapid access for Contact Center professionals, this tool can also be used by credit union staff and can be linked to the credit union’s web site for use by members.
“We provide the knowledge database tool on our web site as an FAQ to better serve members, while reducing calls and emails to our staff.  We also provide this on our intranet for our employees to easily and quickly request answers on products, services, policies and/or procedural questions,” said Laura Wygle, Vice President of Deposit Services & Contact Center at TruWest Credit Union in Arizona.
PSCU Financial Services’ Contact Centers handle 16 million calls a year on behalf of 1,300 financial institutions to address general member inquiries, product specific inquiries, lending, new member enrollment and collections—making it a virtual back office for each credit union it serves. Contact Center support is flexible and can range from automatic routing of calls during employee meetings, overflow periods to after hours or 24/7 service. The cooperative’s four Contact Centers ensure disaster recovery/business continuity due to their built-in data redundancy and geographic diversity.

About PSCU Financial Services

PSCU Financial Services offers 24/7 member support through four Contact Centers: its Eastern operations center in St. Petersburg, Fla.; a Western operations center based in Phoenix, Ariz.; and two call centers in Detroit, Mich. These Contact Centers perform member servicing and new member acquisition, cross-selling and automated lending solutions as well as support for debit/credit/prepaid cardholders and online bill payment subscribers.

Established in 1977, the company provides a broad array of cost-effective, high quality financial services that include credit, debit, ATM, prepaid, bill payment, electronic banking and contact center
solutions. PSCU Financial Services uniquely offers its members a full range of processing options, any combination from full service to in-house pass through processing for credit, debit and ATM transactions. As a leader in the credit union movement, the company offers gateway access to national and regional networks. It also provides full function ATM terminal driving services. For more information, visit PSCU Financial Services’ website at www.pscufs.com.

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