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Tim Pranger

African American female agent working at desk

Video Banking: 6 Surprising Benefits

By | Benefits, Blog, branch, mobile, Video Banking, Video Banking Features, web | No Comments

According to a new mobile banking study from Citi, 81% of U.S. consumers use their phone to manage their money at least nine days per month. Nine out of 10 said they preferred using apps over visiting a branch, and one-third of Americans use their mobile banking app more than any other on their smartphone.

“If you don’t have a strong digital and mobile strategy, I don’t know if you’re going to be around,” said Lisa Huertas, Chief eXperience Officer at the $166 million Texas Tech Credit Union in Lubbock, Texas. “I don’t say that to be a doomsday person. Right now, today, you’ve got to be building those bridges between the physical and digital experience.”

Video banking can be that bridge, offering face-to-face service in the palm of consumers’ hands. It’s a holistic solution that allows financial institutions to serve larger geographical territories at lower costs while improving the customer experience.

POPi/o Video Banking also provides robust document support, allowing customers to use the app to submit everything they need to open a new account or apply for a loan. From photo IDs and tax documents to signatures, video banking can provide any service offered in a branch, except dispense cash.

Thanks to feedback from our early adopter clients, we’ve discovered some unexpected benefits of video banking. Here are six exciting uses for video banking you may not have considered.

Lower Loan Loss: Southwest Financial Credit Union, a $63 million institution in Dallas, Texas, reported that mobile video banking’s document support has reduced loan loss. Before the credit union implemented the platform, loan applicants often forgot to email or fax required documents.

“I want to unplug the fax machine,” said Luke Campbell, Vice President of Sales and Service. “I don’t want to use it anymore.”

He went on to say, “Having (the ability to get a) guaranteed signature has been the benefit. Our employees are seeing their loan numbers go up because they’re not losing loans anymore.”

Fraud Verification: Customers who suspect fraud on their account are already under stress, and don’t welcome the added inconvenience of being asked to visit a branch to resolve the issue. Mobile video banking offers immediate assistance. And, the fact that the call happens over video adds an additional element of security. Employees can verify they are speaking to the account holder through visual identification.

Wire Transfer Verification: Whether wire transfers are domestic or foreign remittances, regulations and fraud mitigation responsibilities require verification.  Jennifer Oliver, President/ CEO at the $102 million South Bay Credit Union in Redondo Beach, Calif., said her employees use video banking to verify wire transfers rather than using a phone or making the customer visit the branch.

“That was an unexpected benefit of deploying this type of platform,” she said, noting that it resolves a growing business problem experienced by nearly all financial institutions.

Multilingual Access: Branch employees at the $450 million Pioneer Credit Union in Mountain Home, Idaho, are referring Spanish-speaking members to the centrally-located video call center for immediate assistance when no multilingual branch representative is on duty. A sizable segment of the U.S. population — 21%, or roughly 61 million people — speak a language other than English with Spanish. This is a huge staffing and scheduling advantage, particularly for institutions that serve ethnic populations in their market.

Maintaining Customers Who Relocate: Losing customers and accounts due to job transfers or career changes used to feel unavoidable. In the past, customers simply felt they couldn’t take their financial institution with them when they moved far away. Southwest Financial only has one branch, but video banking makes it possible to serve all Kroger employees – the grocer is its primary SEG – no matter their geographic location or where they may relocate in the future.

Serving Elderly Consumers: We’ve talked about this before, but it’s such a fantastic use of video banking it bears repeating. Elderly members with limited mobility struggle to maintain financial independence because they must rely on family members to provide transportation to a branch. Elderly consumers have adopted POPin Video Banking more than expected because it provides them with the face-to-face service they prefer, and spares them the embarrassment of feeling as though they are burdening their families by requesting rides. The app has a similar look at feel to FaceTime or Skype, which many retirees already use to communicate with family members.

Here’s something that’s not unexpected: video banking also provides exciting brand differentiation, especially because the technology is still relatively new. South Bay Credit Union CEO Jennifer Oliver said, “Right now it’s a wow factor. People think it’s cool. Down the road, I think they’ll start to think of video first rather than getting in the car and driving to us. And when that happens, that’s when we’re super-convenient.”

Busy consumers are searching for time-saving technologies in all areas of their lives, and banking is no exception. And yet, they also want personalized service. Mobile video bridges that gap between declining brick-and-mortar branches and rapidly rising digital and mobile apps. According to recent research, two-thirds of banks and credit unions anticipate offering both in-store video systems and mobile video platforms in the near future. As more of them provide mobile video capabilities, more customers will demand access to this technology — and the convenience it brings.

Written by: Gene Pranger

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POPi/o on YouTube

By | Blog, Video Banking | No Comments

Below you will find a full list of our YouTube videos:

Why Video Banking – POPi/o Customer – Texas Tech Federal Credit Union

Fight Fraud with Face-to-Face Authentication – POPi/o Customer – South Bay Credit Union

Keep Your Members – Video Banking That Moves – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer Federal Credit Union

Video Banking Focus Group Results – POPi/o Customer – Texas Tech Credit Union

Member Reactions to Video Banking – POPi/o Customer: South Bay Credit Union

Video Banking Helps Reduce Loan Loss – POPi/o Customer: Southwest Financial Federal Credit Union

Aside from Cash, Video Banking Can Do It – POPi/o Customer: Southwest Financial Federal Credit Union

We Are in Your Back Pocket – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer Federal Credit Union

POPi/o Mobile Video is Changing the Face of Banking

CUNA GAC 2018

Collaboration Affordable for All – POPi/o Customer: Texas Tech FCU

Prospective POPio Customers – POPi/o Customer: Texas Tech FCU

How Texas Tech FCU Solves Member Requests with POPi/o Video Banking

POPio Video Banking Integrates into a Single Platform – POPi/o Customer: Texas Tech FCU

Consumer Response – POPi/o Customer: Texas Tech FCU

Video Banking Focus Group Results – POPi/o Customer: Texas Tech FCU

Why Video Banking? – POPi/o Customer: Texas Tech FCU

Fax Machines? Unplug Them – POPi/o Customer: Southwest Financial FCU

Video Banking Helps Reduce Loan Loss – POPi/o Customer: Southwest Financial FCU

Aside from Cash, Video Banking Can Do It – POPi/o Customer: Southwest Financial FCU

Member Acceptance of Video Banking – POPi/o Customer: Southwest Financial FCU

Southwest FCU Closes Houston Branch Replaced with POPi/o Platform

Pricing Not a Barrier – POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

Member Reactions to Video Banking – POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

South Bay CU Uses POPi/o to Replace Saturday Branch Hours

Fight Fraud with Face-to-Face Authentication – POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

Remotely Educate Members on Self-Service Tools – POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

There’s Something Different About Video, It’s Better Than a Phone Call: POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

POPio Pricing? Implementing Has Been Worth Every Penny – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

We’re NOT Going to Force Members to Visit the Branch – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

Convenience is WAY Better – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

Multi-Lingual Benefits of Video Banking – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

We Are in Your Back Pocket – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

Start by Fighting Fraud – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

Banking for Busy Moms – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

Keep Your Members – Video Banking That Moves – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

Serving Shut-ins – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

POPi/o TV Episode 1: Pioneer FCU Embraces Mobile Video Banking

POPi/o TV Episode 2: Southwest Financial FCU Video Banking Case Study

POPi/o TV Episode 3: Cook Security Video Banking Point of View

POPi/o TV Episode 4: South Bay CU Video Banking Case Study

POPi/o TV Episode 5: Texas Tech CU Video Banking Case Study

Member Adoption of Mobile Video Banking – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

myPioneer Personal Assistant Demo – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

Hiring Video Call Center Representatives – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

How to Get Consumers Comfortable with Video Banking – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

What Can’t You Do with Mobile Video Banking – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

Video Banking Work Flow Development – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

Employee Adoption of Video Banking – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

Implementation, Video Banking is Easy to Get Started – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

Video Banking Integrations: Are They a Barrier? – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

How Do You Sell Mobile Video Banking Internally? – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

Is POPi/o Affordable? – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

Why POPi/o Video Banking vs Other Video Platforms – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

Why Should FI’s Consider ITMs? – POPi/o Partner: Cook Security Group

How Important is Convenience to Millennials? – POPi/o Partner: Cook Security Group

Is Mobile Video Banking Optional? – POPi/o Partner: Cook Security Group

What It’s Like Working with the POPio Team – POPi/o Partner: Cook Security Group

Video Banking Roll-Out & Member Response – POPi/o Customer: Southwest Financial FCU

Closing More Loans – POPi/o Customer: Southwest Financial FCU

Unplug ALL Fax Machines – POPi/o Customer: Southwest Financial FCU

POPio Team Support – POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

The Cost Benefits of POPi/o – POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

The Possibilities of Separate Apps – POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

How Members Can Love Your FI – POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

How to Staff Your Video Call Center – POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

How Members React to Video Banking – POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

How 24/7 Video Banking is Now Possible – POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

How to Use Video Banking to Compete – POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

Replacing Saturday Branch Hours with POPi/o – POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

Connecting Members to Experts through Video Banking – POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

POPi/o Video Banking vs Skype – POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

Why Video Banking? – POPi/o Customer: South Bay CU

Member Adoption of Mobile Video Banking – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

myPioneer Personal Assistant Commercial – POPi/o Customer: Pioneer FCU

Laboratory with rainbow of liquids in beakers

Video Banking Is More Than a Cool Science Project

By | Blog, Video Banking | No Comments

Video provides tremendous benefits to banks and credit unions, but beware of meaningless “video science projects”. By that I mean a deployment that merely proves that a team can get video to work, to see if people will use it, or to model the branch of the future.

Don’t get me wrong, I get just as excited as anyone when an experiment works. However, technology is only as valuable as the business problem it solves.

I’ve worked with Gene Pranger for 10 years now, and our goal has always been to use video to transform the bank or credit union business. Video banking, when done right, offers much more than a Skype-like experience. It solves business problems.

In particular, video banking can substantially improve operational efficiencies and service. Here are four ways:

1. Convenient branch hours

For most credit unions and banks, providing convenient branch hours is extremely expensive. According to a 2017 Gallup poll, only 30% of Americans work remotely, which means 70% of your consumers find it inconvenient to visit your branch during working hours. That results in heavy branch traffic early in the morning, during lunch hour or at the end of the day. And it’s not just your consumers who are inconvenienced; your branch employees must manage their time around the ebb and flow of branch traffic. POPi/o Video Banking solves this problem by providing face-to-face service from wherever your consumers may be, at their own convenience. You can extend these face-to-face service hours by using employees at a centralized, secure location without incurring the cost of extending or increasing staff in each branch. And, longer service hours can help with recruiting, especially among millennials, who want flexible work hours that don’t conform to typical 8-to-5 workdays.

2. Compliance Assistance

Does your bank or credit union struggle to collect documentation required to process a change of address from remote consumers? What happens when a borrower submits all of their loan documentation… except one last thing? And then there’s Reg D, the dreaded federal regulation that limits account holders to six electronic transfers per month. Complying with regulations, policies and procedures can be difficult for consumers who struggle to visit a branch due to business hours or because they live in another state. POPi/o Video Banking can provide substantial compliance support because the service supports document and signature collection.

3. Loan Workflow

Market research firm Forrester reported online loan application abandon rates were a staggering 97.5% in 2016. POPi/o Video allows you to provide personalized product expertise during the online application process to reduce abandonment rates. We also offer a structured workflow that ensures all forms are consistently signed and completed as efficiently as possible. So not only can POPi/o reduce your online abandon rate, but also provides a superior experience for consumers and your employees.

4. Security

POPi/o Video Banking provides face-to-face service for your consumers without compromising the security of your tellers. Video banking representatives have reported that they provide better service, particularly to irate consumers, because they know they are physically safe. Whether the consumer is angry because of an error, overdrawn account or loan denial, your employees have the confidence to handle the matter calmly and professionally.

As an industry let’s stop video science projects and start deploying video solutions which solve meaningful business problems. POPi/o Video Banking collaboration is a great place to start. Not only will your bottom line experience relief, your employees and consumers will thank you too.

What is Video Banking?

By | Benefits, Blog, branch, mobile, Video Banking, Video Banking Features, web | No Comments

What is Video Banking?

What is it and where did it start?

Video banking is the concept of utilizing video collaboration services to deliver live agents to you consumers from anywhere for the purpose of serving, selling, and completing banking related transactions remotely through video without the use of a physical meeting place.

Video bankings first introduction in an assisted service format came when Gene Pranger created uGenius technologies. uGenius began to develop the PTM (Personal Teller Machine) which delivered patented video-assisted services to ATM devices and allowed the ATM to expand its functionality based on the video interaction. Gene Pranger and Jed Taylor ultimately sold uGenius Technologies to NCR in January of 2013.

Gene Pranger’s vision was to ultimately take video banking across channels and deliver video-based virtual branches, web Video Banking SDK’s, native video banking applications that include white labeled apps and mobile SDK’s that can give any mobile application full video collaboration functionality.

Channels for Delivery

In-Branch 

Full-service branches are currently limited to the amount of space and the number of experts available based on the branches size and location. With micro-branches becoming more and more popular video banking enables you to deliver full-service branches across your branch distribution channel. Video banking centralizes your workforce allowing you to reduce the number of employees it takes to serve a single branch, continue the micro-branch strategy, and reduce overall branch banking costs while delivering full-service experiences. You can read more about retails journey here: Retail’s Digital Journey

Learn more about in branch implementations here.

Web

Currently, web and mobile traffic continues to grow and will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. However, based on current abandonment rates and overall delivery of solutions websites are not generating the perceived income based on the high friction users have when landing on product education pages and applications. Inserting collaboration through video banking can help guide consumers to the appropriate place while improving their experience, and increase your share of wallet.

Mobile

White-labeled mobile apps and integrated mobile SDKs can help monetize mobile channels. Current mobile conversion rates hover around 0% on applications (Read Financial Brand Article for more info) for certain products and services in a pure self-service environment. Video banking can again deliver highly interactive video-assisted interactions that will enable prospective consumers to get the information they need to make a purchase decision. Often consumers that experience friction due to limited understanding of the product or service on your site and didn’t know which service was right for them, couldn’t figure out how to apply, couldn’t ask you a financial service question or didn’t feel comfortable applying from their mobile device. Read more about friction here. Enabling experts to provide financial service advice at the moment of need can prevent abandonment and increase your conversions across channels.

You can read more about the delivery of video banking here: The Engagement Gap is Digital’s Biggest Challenge

What features that you can expect from a trusted video banking provider focused on Financial Services?

Integrated Video E-Signature: Allow consumers to sign documents electronically while talking face-to-face. Get guaranteed signatures.

Document Sharing: Share documents back and forth with your consumers. Consumers can send you documents you need such as w2s, pay-stubs, and other required documentation. Representatives can share applications and other documents for the consumer to review all while in a video chat.

Integrated Financial Service Workflows: Allow your experts to select which product or service workflows they need to go through with your consumers. This ensures that business processes are followed.

In Video Text Chat: Allow your experts to communicate with everyone. Video services that don’t offer integrated text chat are not delivering an experience that is compliant for use with all consumers of your Financial Institution.

Smart Video Call Routing: Route video calls to the most relevant experts, either to groups or individuals. You can customize call routing to the needs of your organization.

Integrated Screen Share: Allow your financial service experts the ability to share their screen with consumers from any channel: in-Branch Video Banking, Web Video Banking, Mobile Video Banking.

Co-Browse: Easily allow your reps to take control of the screen and work through items with consumers in the branch and on the web.

Emotional Recognition: Understand the emotional intelligence of your organization and how effective you are when working with your consumers face-to-face.

Seamless Video Interactions: Signature actions can happen within and outside a video call. Video calls can easily be added to signatures so questions can be answered and document processes can be finished quickly. You can read more about this here: Science of Friction Blog

Benefits of Video Banking

It is not longer just a cool science project.

Convenience

As technology continues to shape our culture travel to make purchases, complete actions or have conversations is becoming less and less relevant. Video banking takes you direct to the consumers living room, office, kitchen or nearby park in a matter of seconds, without burdening the consumer to drop what they are doing and drive 30 minutes to the branch.

Guaranteed Signatures

One of the benefits highlighted by Southwest Financial Federal Credit Union has been their ability to get signatures completed while on a video call. Anytime consumers are asked to do something outside of the first engagement drop off rates increase dramatically. Video banking can help decrease the number of steps it takes to complete applications and ultimately get signatures.

Serving the Underserved

As Pioneer Federal Credit Union started their video banking project they identified several markets that they thought would be ready for the convenience of banking from anywhere. What they didn’t expect was that underserved markets that include their senior membership and bilingual membership to so quickly take advantage of utilizing video to complete their everyday banking needs. Allowing consumers to complete actions from anywhere at their convenience is a must.

Read more about what Millennials expect from their FI here. 

Full-Service Virtual Branches

Through video banking, several financial institutions are utilizing video to bring services to their branch network. This process allows them to offer a complete array of services at any given branch without having to have an expert located at that branch. Branch banking becomes easier when one service expert can serve the entire distribution of branches as opposed to having 10 experts at 10 different locations.

You can read more about the benefits of video banking here: 21 Benefits of Video Banking.

Want to learn more about video banking?

Video Testimonials. Watch here >

6 surprising benefits from Video Banking Here. Read more >

5 surprising video banking customers. Read more > 

Pioneer Federal Credit Union Case Study. Read more >

Video Banking White Paper. Read more >

The Science of Friction Infographic. Download here >

Get in touch with POPi/o. Start here >