Visions Federal Credit Union October 2020

Member-Driven Digital Solutions IN ASSOCIATION WITH

VISIONS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

DIGITAL REPORT 2020

Visions Federal Credit Union: 02

Member-Driven Digital Solutions WRITTEN BY

MATT HIGH PRODUCED BY

GLEN WHITE

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VISIONS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

Thomas P. Novak, AVP/Digital at Visions Federal Credit Union, discusses member-centric digital transformation during COVID-19

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echnology lies at the heart of every organization today. But, when that technology has a singular purpose that

transcends the business strategy itself, it can be truly transformational. For Visions Federal Credit Union, technology exists to improve its members’ 04

lives. “Whenever we start any new business endeavor, it always begins with the member as the central focus,” states Thomas P. Novak, AVP/ Digital at the US-based leading credit union. “The technology is out there to achieve almost anything, but unlike some organizations, we consistently approach it with consideration for the member – the person – that will be impacted by the innovation.”

Novak is a highly experienced leader who specializes in digital transformation, specifically in relation to member-facing technology platforms.

At Visions, he is directly responsible for the organization’s digital strategy. When we spoke in late 2019, Novak was in the midst of implementing an indepth and innovative digital transformation strategy across the organization, one which he described as a central tenet for its success. Six months on, the

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1966

Year founded

$25mn+ Revenue in US dollars

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Number of employees w w w.vi si o ns fcu . org

VISIONS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

“ Whenever we start any new business endeavour, it always begins with the member as the central focus” — Thomas Novak, AVP/Digital, Visions Federal Credit Union

adoption and application of new and inventive technologies continues in line with the company’s mission of “Making Visions matter to all its members, employees, and communities”.

To achieve this, he remains resolute in the power of technology to transform members’ lives. “The technology has to meet a member need and a business need, not just technology for the sake of new technology,” he states. “The typical technology development or the adoption process may

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start with research or implementation modeling, but the defining factor is how that process or that piece of technology changes the member experience, as well as the experience of our employees, and how it aligns with our overarching mission. And that does not always have to be complex or over-engineered. If we can save, for example, a member $200 per month on a monthly payment for their loan based on our interest rates against the solutions already on the market by digitizing the process end-to-end, or being top of mind in a moment of need for that member, that’s what really matters.

Money for What Matters Visions Federal Credit Union CLICK TO WATCH

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07 “We’ve carried out a lot of analysis

aim to acquire those new members

to set our strategy, particularly in

primarily through digital channels. Now

terms of how decisions position the

that the first phase of our digital strat-

organization, its members, and our

egy is complete, we are focused on the

communities,” he continues. “It allowed

next level. That means creating a digital

us to establish four key pillars for the

ecosystem throughout the organization

first phase of our digital strategy: online

that fosters digital transformation; from

banking, mobile banking, consumer

the creation of an internal Digital Center

lending, and consumer new account

of Excellence to supporting all member

opening. That has since grown and

needs digitally, we are striving to act on

evolved into a broader strategy for

our advocacy mindset.”

a full-blown digital transformation,

Novak has experience as a leader

through which we aim to grow our busi-

across several areas of the financial

ness by at least 100,000 members over

services industry. And, while work-

the next five years. More than that, we

ing with Visions enables a greater w w w.vi si o ns fcu . org

Don’t fear the FinTech.

Use their playbook, and run your own race.

Extractable has helped over 40 of the largest credit unions and community banks effectively compete in today’s digital landscape.

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Extractable: delivering data-driven and user-centered digital strategy The financial services industry is evolving at pace, driven by new and innovative technologies and a focus on delivering customer-centric, personalized experiences that add value. In order to remain competitive in such an environment, businesses— whether they are incumbents, fintechs, credit unions or insurers—need to develop and implement a robust and forward-looking digital transformation strategy.

Extractable, a San Francisco-based digital consultancy helps companies to do just this. The business works closely with clients in financial services; from banking, investment management and insurance, to accelerate transformation and provide tailored digital experiences to customers. It does this across three core areas: digital strategy, data analysis and experience design.

“Our work is really around applying our actual research, knowledge and experience to ensure that those FSIs we work with get the most out of their digital channels,” explains Craig McLaughlin, Extractable’s CEO. “For us, customer experience and user centricity are essential. So, we look to bring together first person user research in terms of who the FSI’s customers are, marry that to the overarching business unit goals and holistically manifest that into an actionable digital strategy.

A lot of the time, what ‘digital’ is trying to do is not necessarily the same as what the organization is looking to do more broadly,” he continues. “So, we typically spend a lot of time with CEOs and others in the FSI to understand what the traditional strategy looks like and then develop ways in which we can manifest that into the digital realm. It’s about bringing all the disparate teams and departments together into a unifed strategy that is shared and laser-focused on measurable outcomes. This has never been more important for banks and credit unions as fintechs are entering their markets.”

The need for such a strategy, says McLaughlin, is being driven by the broader trend in the sector that sees customers shift from using brick-and-mortar financial services, such as bank branches, to their digital counterparts. This has been accelerated by the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, he explains. “People have been shifting away from visiting branches for some time, but we’re now seeing that they just can’t do that even if they want to. So, for companies in the industry, whatever their learning curve was around switching to a digital-first strategy that’s being pushed and accelerated.

A lot of us, as a result of COVID, will adapt to and adopt the digital world, and that really changes things for organizations.

“With that in mind, I couldn’t imagine being a CEO of a bank today and saying ‘our strategy hinges on the building of branches’ in lieu of the digital experience,” says McLaughlin.

“Really, they should be considering how they stand for something unique, how they manifest that uniqueness into a digital experience that can be delivered at scale, and which is centered around product and UX design.”

Craig McLaughlin, CEO at Extractable, discusses the development of a member-driven digital strategy with Visions Federal Credit Union

Among Extractable’s customers is Visions Federal Credit Union, a New York based financial institution that offers a host of services including savings, checking, loans, mortgages and investments, and online banking. Visions is currently in the midst of a member-focused digital transformation, working with Extractable. “It’s a fantastic credit union with a very clear vision in terms of growth,” says McLaughlin. “One of the great things about the company is its culture and leadership, which is instrumental when you’re driving a strategy of growth.

“Where we come into that process is carrying out the first person research into the organization’s members and prospective members, with a view to developing that cohesive digital strategy,” he adds. “Every credit union we work with has something different or unique, and Visions has a great opportunity for growth. We’re impressed with the organization’s ability to prioritize and focus on good leadership and using the information we provide to guide the transition. It also has an environment where every department is focused on the ‘whole’ or the singular goal, which is really important.”

The transformation at Visions is still in its early stages, with Extractable focused on the discovery and research that informs the development of the strategy. This, shares McLaughlin, includes developing an understanding of each department’s role and the specific areas of focus for growth.

“It’s really about ensuring we can better serve the needs of the organization and its members,” he says. “Then, how can those experiences be supported with the right digital technologies. Technology never comes first, regardless of what it is or how innovative - understand the goals of the organization and what its members or customers want and go from there.”

VISIONS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

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dedication to members, he recognizes

light on delivering digital with a human-

a general trend towards human-centric

centered focus – it’s about having

digital solutions. “I’ve certainly seen

empathy, being able to balance what is

a heightened need industry-wide

best for a business in terms of efficiency

for visionary leadership over the last

or specific technologies with how that

decade when it comes to digital trans-

is impacting the broader landscape and

formation, and that’s increasingly about

community that you serve. We strive to

the culture or mindset that underpins

have digital solutions in place that are

that transformation. I think the impact of

ready when our members experience a

COVID-19 has accelerated digital trans-

moment of need.”

formation roadmaps and highlighted the

The global COVID-19 pandemic

thoughtfulness needed in the approach.

has impacted every business sector.

From our perspective, it’s really shone a

For financial services – and Visions

in particular – it has reinforced the

is the physical and digital parity that

human-centric trend. “We’re in the

a retail leader such as Wal-Mart has

age of the consumer right now,” says

done. With e-commerce sales up, it is

Novak. “You have some stellar com-

now planning to convert the parking lots

panies and industries that, because of

of 160 of its stores in August to drive-in

where they are on their digital journeys,

movie theaters, where it can sell prod-

were able to react and thrive very

ucts from the store for the patrons to

quickly amidst the disruption. In my

snack on while watching the movie.

view, it’s very difficult for any business

Thanks to Novak and his colleagues’

to truly succeed if they haven’t made

work on its digital transformation strat-

significant headway in putting mem-

egy, Visions has been able to respond

bers first, and we’re seeing that being

rapidly to the disruption brought by the

played out as a result of the pandemic.”

pandemic. “An example is the emer-

A great example of this, says Novak,

gency loans we offered at the onset

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :

Thomas Novak Title: AVP/Digital

Industry: Financial services, credit union

Thomas P. Novak is a vastly experienced financial services leader. Today, he is AVP/Digital at Visions Federal Credit Union, where he is directly responsible for the digital strategy of the organization and overseeing all digital banking, digital payments, and the operations of public and secure digital platforms. Thomas leads on digital transformation in relation to member-facing technology platforms. At Visions, he actively works with marketing, business development, IT, lending and branch administration to assess automation needs and initiatives that include: UI/UX, SEO, digital analytics, voice of the customer, content management, vendor management and strategic planning. w w w.vi si o ns fcu . org

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of the crisis,” he explains. “With that

simplicity for members and employ-

human-centric approach in mind, we

ees. At the same time, we created

developed a 0% APR personal loan

various digital processes, supporting

for up to $5,000 over a 12-month term

over $79mn in residential mortgage

that was offered to any of our members

forbearances, over $150mn in com-

in need. At the same time, we ensured

mercial mortgage forbearances,

that, even though we had to roll this out

19,280 consumer loan skip-a-pay-

quickly to help those in need, it was an

ments, $15mn in SBA PPP loans, and

entirely digital process. Because of our

almost $2mn in 0% emergency loans.

previous digital transformation efforts,

“The digital transformation efforts

this meant very little operational work

we have in place have served us really

and leveraging the same infrastructure

well. Even some of the ad hoc decisions

as we do for our other consumer loans.

we made along the way about how we

In turn, that created familiarity and

set up remote working capabilities for

“ Four key pillars defined the first phase of our digital strategy: online banking, mobile banking consumer lending, and consumer new account opening” — Thomas Novak, AVP/Digital, Visions Federal Credit Union

better, and therefore will take our customers. Through COVID, we learned that we can absolutely compete at that level. By working collectively towards objectives, we can compete against the biggest tech companies and financial institutions in the world.”

With members in mind, Novak explains that the impacts of COVID will be far reaching for people’s financial well-being. For many, he explains, sur-

our employees and the various enter-

vival mode has been the immediate

prise collaboration tools have really

new normal, and their job was to give

made the difference. Quite simply, we

them the tools they needed to succeed.

had the right infrastructure in place at

“We’re here to partner with them, and

the right time,” Novak adds. “From an

the benefit and joy they receive from

employee perspective, we were able

succeeding is the same that we get

to scale up very quickly regarding the

from being a successful cooperative. All

overall remote working rollout, and on

of the technology implementations we

our member side, we just accelerated

have carried out, such as modifications

the adoption of technologies that we

to our ATM fleet, a general increase in

had already been using. Having that

digital services like machine learning

bedrock in place has been a real dif-

powered interactions, and taking a multi-

ferentiator for us in comparison to other,

channel and empathetic approach to

similar organizations that may have

communicating with our members digi-

more manual processes in their back-

tally, have allowed us to help shepherd

end operations. There is a common

them through a challenging situation.”

misconception in the financial services

Naturally, Visions would not be able

sector that big tech companies like

to guide its members without adopt-

Google and Amazon can do technology

ing the latest technologies. One area w w w.vi si o ns fcu . org

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VISIONS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

“ We developed a 0% personal loan for up to $5,000 over a 12-month term that was offered to any of our members in need” — Thomas Novak, AVP/Digital, Visions Federal Credit Union

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of interest, says Novak, is payments and how a member can access and move their money whenever they need.

Visions’ focus on digital banking has been around improving its money movement capabilities, he explains. “We’ve made several UI/UX improvements to the bill pay experience and changed our limits on debit and credit cards. Similarly, on our public-facing website, we’ve rolled out the option for members to pay their loans with a debit card or ACH from another financial institution.”

Other initiatives include the Business Performance Department and the use of robotic process automation (RPA), which Novak says have seen a continuous rate of adoption within the business. While not always directly evident to members, he explains that RPA has streamlined and improved processes to enable better member service and an environment where employees can more readily focus on the highest value work.

When it comes to messaging, Novak highlights a concerted effort to increase the use of digital marketing to communicate with Visions’ members. “We’ve had tremendous w w w.vi si o ns fcu . org

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VISIONS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

success with our COVID-related communications, ensuring that messages were personalized, focused on members’ real issues, and targeted specifically to them. Getting those messages out has allowed us to enhance the overall experience for members at a crucial time and align with our mission.”

Such success has been enabled by close collaboration with technology partners, says Novak. SWBC, for example, has been instrumental 16

in powering Visions’ payments and digital applications. For digital banking, Visions collaborates with Q2.

“ Through COVID, we’ve learned that we can absolutely compete at that level, and against the biggest tech companies and financial institutions in the world” — Thomas Novak, AVP/Digital, Visions Federal Credit Union

This partnership, Novak explains, has proved particularly beneficial during COVID as Visions has had to implement swift and ongoing changes to help members. The massive increase in digital banking adoption and active usage was exponential. Q2 played a key role in Visions being able to seamlessly support the growth in the channel and educate members about convenient functionality, such as Card Controls and FinSavvy, Visions’ personal financial management tool.

payments strategy which is instrumental for ongoing money movement use cases. Because of our partnership with Extractable, we are focused on growing a fully digital organization – not just a financial institution. There is a new normal because of COVID, and so we have to be ready for it.”

There is little doubt that Visions will be ready. In terms of digital banking and the broader digital organization, under current leadership the organization is several years into its plan. “Accelerating digital usage and enhancements across the other areas of the business is in the early stages, but that’s where that full, comprehen“One other critical partner in our suc-

sive digital business plan comes in. We

cess is Extractable, a San-Francisco

realize that ‘digital’ is synonymous with

based digital strategy and UX design

‘business’ – it’s not enough to rely on

agency,” Novak continues. “We’ve

one digital arm or business unit, we

been working with them on a com-

must plan, execute, and deliver as an

plete digital transformation strategy

agile organization to a greater degree

to build our digital business roadmap

than any fintech or tech company, and

beyond our first-generation strategy.

that’s an immensely exciting proposi-

This will include a fintech collabora-

tion because of the trust we have

tion framework that allows us to more

earned with our members.”

readily partner and do business with fintech’s as member needs evolve. It will also let us install a fully defined w w w.vi si o ns fcu . org

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VISIONS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION 3301 COUNTRY CLUB RD ENDWELL NY 13760 13760 T +800-242-2120

www.visionsfcu.org

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