Improving digital capabilities is the top investment priority for financial services company leaders, according to Gartner, and the percentage of consumers using digital services will reach 80.4% by 2025, eMarketer reports, up from 75.4% in 2021.

“Members who were reluctant to use digital services before the pandemic are staying in those channels,” says Jim Phillips, executive vice president/chief information officer at SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union in Tustin, Calif. “It’s critical to get it right.”

Phillips moderated a discussion at the 2022 CUNA Operations & Member Experience Council and CUNA Technology Council Conference Thursday in Las Vegas.

Joining him were Cindy Hancock, contact center director at Spokane Teachers Credit Union in Liberty Lake, Wash., and Carey Price, senior vice president, digital strategy and delivery, at BCU in Vernon Hills, Ill.

Phillips lists five elements of digital adoption:

1. Awareness. Do employees know about the technology, how to access it, and what it does?
2. Consideration. Do employees know where to find information about the technology and how to use it?
3. Learning. Have you provided flexible education options, including on-demand and live training?
4. Support. If employees have questions or problems, can you provide timely support?
5. Referral. Once staff have successfully used this technology, can they share their knowledge with others?

The increase in digital tools has made member interactions more complex, Phillips says. “The type of calls are more complex, longer, and difficult due to all of the digital options. In a way, the call center becomes part of your help desk.”

Equipping teams for digital advancements requires explaining the “why” for the improvements, Price says. “We need to share the ‘why’ because their jobs might get more difficult. Talk about the benefit to members and the credit union. We as leaders know the why, and we need to explain that.”

BCU recently migrated to a new digital banking platform, and brought in front-line staff early on to set up a change management workstream, she says.

“We brought in people throughout the organization to ask critical questions up front,” Price says. “This was a big component of our digital journey.”

Other best practices for rolling out new digital technology:

• Set up a playground in the demo site that lets employees see what they can expect. User testing also creates advocates for the upgrade in different departments.
• Communicate early, often, and extensively. “We spent months communicating with employees and members,” Hancock says.
• Provide in-person and self-guided training, as well as education via newsletters and videos.
• Pre-enroll members to make the launch more effective. 
• Provide a feedback mechanism and a process for reporting the status of suggestions.

“We get lots of suggestions,” Phillis says. “It’s important to recognize them, and let people know where they are in the pipeline—or why they’re not.”

This article is part of Tech22, CUNA News’ special focus on innovations and developments in technology. Follow the conversation on Twitter via #Tech22.