To start your journey to greater member retention, loyalty, and growth, it is imperative to keep the members happy. And, this can be executed well if we know much about the members. Gathering knowledge about their preferred modes of operations, engagement with other financial institutions, and transaction history among others will help in not only establishing better grounds for relationships but also recommend your services & support to their known ones. 

St. Mary’s Bank – The Nation’s First Credit Union – is a 1.2 billion dollar institution. St. Mary’s Bank is an inviting and inclusive credit union that strives to create opportunities for individuals, businesses, and families in New England. Ken Senus oversees operations as a Chief Operating Officer at St. Mary’s Bank. “With more than 25 years of banking experience, Ken guides operational strategies as St. Mary’s Bank looks to increase its membership and geographic presence.” He explained the journey of creating an interactive dashboard at the Transformation Challenge summit organized by CULytics. Here is the detailed information:

Problem Statement

The existing system’s 360-degree view helps in finding information on relationships, available balances, deposits, etc. Moreover, it tells what members have but not how they are using it. The data team helped with sorting the transaction history based on which front-end staff started scrolling through the history to understand the members. How can it be changed and make a better version of it? So, a better tool is required to understand the members and to be able to identify not only what products they utilize and their balances but also how each member transacts with St. Mary’s Bank. Also, the entire information of the member should come on a single page.

Solution

Working on the requirements, a Member Overview Dashboard was created. It has different sections giving different information about the member but all are on the same page.

• The first section tells the member's name, birthday, financial activities – online or offline transactions – to understand what the member prefers. Login activities to understand the active/ inactive status.
• 6 Months transaction summary snapshot- Shows transaction history in a summed up manner to understand the member engagement.
• Recurring Transactions (ACH & Bill Pay Items have the same description/varied amounts) - Checking the recent transactions that are done by the member can help in knowing the mortgages and credit cards that the member is using from other financial institutions. Similarly, if the data shows that a member has any sort of loan so, for a credit union, there are opportunities to refinance the loan, etc.
• Debit Card Transactions – It can help in knowing what types of things does the member likes to do, what kind of consumer is the member, and how do they spend their money. Knowing what the member is doing in terms of money-related transactions can help the front office staff to converse with the member and build a strong relationship.
• Balance Summary & Branch Physical Visit Tally – This helps in keeping a check on if member’s deposit balances increasing or decreasing and when are they likely to visit our branches, among others. 

Results:

• Creating an interactive dashboard helped in attaining the followings:
• Proven sales in the branch! Refinance of mortgages and auto loans
• Referrals to Financial Services and/or Insurance Providers
• Discussion / Demo of Digital Banking Services

Every organization is different; there is no “One size fits all” method to increase and maintain member engagement. So, know the requirements of the organization and members both, compile the best components and make strategy accordingly to win the trust of the members and build long-lasting relationships.