Using technology to drive results

An “anything is possible” kind of guy.

That’s how people who work alongside Todd Wolfe at Empower Federal Credit Union describe him.

Wolfe is the director of application development and business intelligence at the $1.5 billion asset credit union in Syracuse, N.Y.

Although he has held the job for less than two years, Wolfe already has made a positive impact in all areas of the credit union.

A small but increasing number of credit unions now have business intelligence units to gather and analyze data to help drive business initiatives.

“I have the application development as well,” Wolfe explains. “We’re able to integrate the data and analytics directly into the systems we build.”

One application he and his team have developed so far is Empower Federal’s sales and service program, which won the best practices competition at the 2016 Analytics and Financial Innovation Conference, which was sponsored by OnApproach, a credit union service organization.

The program provides front-line staff data that is relevant during an interaction with a specific member.

For instance, if a call center employee has a member on the phone and pulls up information on-screen that shows the member doesn’t have online banking, the employee can present reasons why that service might be helpful for the member.

The employee can then sign up the member for the service on the spot. The system will track the member’s use of online banking to see how transaction behavior changes.

Online banking enrollments by the call center rose 450% in May 2016, the program’s first month, compared with the previous month.

“I also have a passion for the marketing side,” says Wolfe, who brought 18 years of information technology experience with him to Empower Federal. “I like to apply technology solutions that drive business results.”