Inside Wescom's Tech Arsenal: Enterprise Solutions on a Credit Union Scale With Jonathon Allen & Joseph Pellissery

This is a summary of an episode of Pioneers, an educational podcast on AI led by our founder. Join 2,000+ business leaders and AI enthusiasts and be the first to know when new episodes go live. Subscribe to our newsletter here.

TL;DR:

• Strategic partnerships in financial services drive technological advancement by leveraging external expertise to streamline in-house innovation efforts.
• Collaborations with industry leaders like Microsoft and AWS enable organizations to access AI-driven solutions without extensive internal development, reducing time to market.
• By adopting AI tools, firms can automate repetitive tasks, enhancing service quality and efficiency for clients.
• Partnerships with AI providers support targeted innovations, like predictive modeling for credit risk and churn analysis, aligning technology investments with business needs.
• Alliances allow firms to focus on client experience and strategic growth, rather than solely managing technology development.

Before we dive into the key takeaways from this episode, be sure to catch the full episode here:

Meet Jonathon and Joseph — The Visionaries Behind Wescom’s Innovation

Jonathan Allen - President of Wescom Financial Services

Jonathan Allen is a financial services leader dedicated to advancing member-focused solutions in the credit union space. As President of Wescom Financial Services, he oversees wealth management, insurance, and deposit strategy, driving innovation in these areas to deliver meaningful financial outcomes for members.

Jonathan brings a unique blend of experience from both large financial institutions and the cooperative sector. His work centers on integrating advanced technologies to support Wescom's mission of empowering communities through accessible financial services.

Joseph Pellissery - Chief Information Officer of Wescom Financial Services

Joseph Pellissery, CIO of Wescom Financial Services, is a technology visionary in the financial sector, leading Wescom's digital transformation efforts. Overseeing technology, payments, and digital channels, Joseph ensures the seamless integration of innovative tools that enhance the member experience across Wescom and its affiliate credit unions.

Under his leadership, Wescom’s technology arm, WRG, has become a trusted resource for over 100 credit unions, delivering state-of-the-art systems, robust API infrastructure, and advanced security measures. Joseph's approach balances high-tech solutions with a focus on operational stability, making him a pivotal force in advancing Wescom's service offerings.

Optimizing Credit Union Operations With Centralized Technology

Centralized technology for credit unions, as implemented by Wescom's technology division (WRG), enables credit unions to optimize their operations while focusing on their core mission of member service.

WRG provides centralized hosting and management of essential systems, including core banking operations, deposits, and transactions. By centralizing these functions, credit unions can leverage advanced, cost-efficient technology without the heavy burden of in-house IT maintenance.

This centralized model includes a robust API infrastructure and a strong data foundation, which seamlessly integrates with credit unions' core systems.

By offloading the technology management to WRG, credit unions can redirect their resources toward member-focused initiatives.

Additionally, this setup supports crucial elements like cybersecurity and innovation, ensuring that data protection and cutting-edge tools, such as RPA and AI, remain accessible.

Wescom’s centralized technology approach offers a scalable, secure, and efficient solution for credit unions of various sizes.

How Wescom Leverages Data-Driven Personalization

Data-driven personalization at Wescom leverages a sophisticated data infrastructure to create a unified view of each member, enabling tailored services that enhance member loyalty and satisfaction.

Using Microsoft Dynamics, Wescom’s Member Relationship Management (MRM) system aggregates real-time data from over 35 sources, creating a 360-degree profile of each member.

“Building a 360-degree view of members enhances loyalty and personalizes financial guidance.” - Jonathan Allen

This comprehensive view, updated in near-real-time, allows Wescom to personalize interactions based on individual member needs, life stages, and financial goals.

Key features include tools like the churn score, which uses machine learning to predict the likelihood of a member leaving. This score informs customer service teams, helping them adjust their approach to address potential concerns and reinforce member loyalty.

By capturing and analyzing data across banking, insurance, and wealth management, Wescom’s MRM supports cross-selling opportunities and enables meaningful, context-aware interactions, encapsulating the "show me you know me" philosophy central to Wescom’s approach.

Innovation in Financial Services: Combining RPA & AI

Innovation at Wescom integrates advanced technology solutions that enhance operational efficiency and member service across financial services.

Wescom combines Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and generative AI to streamline processes and elevate member interactions.

• For example: RPA has helped Wescom save over 25,000 manual hours, particularly by automating repetitive tasks like ATM management and call center quality assurance.

Generative AI further refines these processes, automatically analyzing call transcripts for emotion and accuracy, allowing quality assurance agents to focus on areas needing improvement.

To keep pace with technological advances, Wescom partners with industry leaders such as Microsoft and AWS. This enables them to access cutting-edge solutions without exhaustive in-house development, allowing them to tailor tools for specific financial applications, like credit risk and customer support.

By integrating these innovations, Wescom positions itself at the forefront of technology in the credit union space, continually advancing its services for clients and members alike.

Automation Saves Wescom Thousands of Hours

At Wescom, automation significantly enhances operational efficiency, allowing team members to focus on higher-value tasks.

Through robotic process automation, Wescom automates repetitive activities such as ATM wake-up processes and contact center call management, saving over 25,000 hours of manual work.

“Smaller credit unions share the same innovation needs as large enterprises but face unique adoption challenges” — Ankur Patel

Generative AI further boosts efficiency by filtering and analyzing call transcripts, identifying coaching opportunities, and streamlining quality assurance without needing agents to review each call.

This automation optimizes resource allocation, improves service quality, and lets Wescom's teams prioritize member engagement and strategic growth.

How Wescom Protects Member Information

Security and compliance are paramount in Wescom’s centralized technology model, ensuring member data remains protected and aligned with regulatory standards.

Wescom employs a hybrid cloud approach to manage sensitive non-public information (NPI) by storing critical member data, such as social security numbers and birth dates, on-premise, meeting rigorous compliance requirements from regulatory bodies like the NCUA.

By keeping core member data secure on-site, while leveraging the cloud for analytics and innovation, Wescom combines flexibility with robust data protection.

Additionally, Wescom’s technology division, WRG, enhances security across its credit union clients with dedicated operational support, including vulnerability management and system maintenance.

As part of this comprehensive strategy, Wescom regularly audits and monitors its infrastructure, emphasizing trust as a core value.

This rigorous security framework enables credit unions to embrace technology advancements while upholding industry-leading standards for data protection and compliance.

Generative AI Transforms Wescom’s Contact Centers

Generative AI in customer service offers transformative solutions. Wescom uses generative models to significantly enhance processes in contact centers.

• For instance: AI models automate quality assurance by analyzing call transcripts, flagging calls that need attention, and eliminating the need to review calls that meet standards.

This allows agents to focus on valuable coaching, boosting the member experience.

Furthermore, generative AI automates call categorization post-interaction by analyzing transcripts, ensuring accuracy and reducing manual errors.

AI's ability to provide predictive insights also extends to customer sentiment and engagement metrics, enhancing support teams’ ability to offer personalized service.

Strategic Partnerships Are Key to Scaling AI Solutions in Finance

Wescom’s leaders emphasized the value of strategic partnerships for advancing technology and innovation in financial services.

Collaborating with industry experts and partners, Wescom effectively harnesses resources to implement AI-driven solutions and RPA tools.

These partnerships enable Wescom to access cutting-edge capabilities and build specialized models for financial services, including credit risk and churn predictions.

By working closely with these vendors, Wescom reduces the need for in-house model development, ensuring rapid adoption of new technologies and focusing on enhancing service quality for their credit union clients.

If you’re interested in partnering with an expert AI vendor yourself, contact us today.

Want to learn more about the use of AI at a credit union scale? Check out this episode on 10 key takeaways on AI-driven lending with Andy Mattingly.