Bank of America, Citizens Bank and America’s Credit Union all earned awards at the annual BCX Awards.
One of the main events at the Bank Customer Experience Summit is the BCX Awards, which honor innovators in customer experience technology and tools in the space. This year was no exception, as the event was jointly held in Charlotte, North Carolina from Sept. 11 to 13 with the Interactive Customer Experience Summit’s awards ceremony, the Elevate Awards, which honors CX innovators in retail, restaurants and hospitality.
Of those nominated, judges carefully selected three winners this year, with one being declared Innovator of the Year. Those awarded include:
- America’s Credit Union for CX Excellence.
- Citizens Bank for CX Excellence.
- Bank of America as Innovator of the Year.
America’s Credit Union
Nominated by Erin Mondt, marketing manager at DBSI Inc. for its next generation banking solution, this credit union was looking to expand its presence into Dallas, Texas and planned to open a full-sized branch. However, the timeline to open was longer than the union wanted, and their administrative office in the area wasn’t sufficient.
As a result, America’s Credit Union turned to DBSI Inc., a design company, which helped them create a micro branch called a JunXion. The credit union planned to use this space until a larger branch could be created, and then they could pick up elements from the micro branch and move it to a larger space.
The JunXion included a variety of services such as a teller cash recycler that was able to cut operational costs by automating cash counting, along with three digital signage displays to provide information for clients. It also provided an office space for meetings with clients.
These micro branches can be deployed in as little as 18 weeks.
“DBSI has helped us to realize our brand, our vision and define the blueprint for our retail experience. Our partnership with DBSI has well-positioned us for success and growth for years to come,” Jason Steele, CIO, America’s Credit Union, said in the nomination.
Citizens Bank
Nominated by Selena Taliento, senior customer experience and change management partner at Citizens Bank for its FastLine home equity line of credit process, this bank delivers a faster experience for customers. Through a digital application process, FastLine offers real-time personalized offers at point-of-sale with no appraisal necessary and minimal paperwork.
The bank designed this process to handle the often long wait times for HELOC, with an average turnaround time of more than 50 days. Many times, customers do not know the credit decision, rate or line amount until later in the process. FastLine rapidly collects data and provides this information up front.
“The Citizens FastLine portal also includes alternate pathways for customers who do not qualify for a pre-approved offer, further increasing the population that can be served by this superior, low documentation experience. FastLine was developed following agile delivery methods, ensuring continuous innovation throughout the process,” Taliento said in the nomination.
The solution uses historical data, modeled income and stated income to triangulate user’s gross annual income and deliver the right offer for them. In the future, Citizens Bank plans to add multi-offers to the platform and give customers offers such as shorter origination timeline, lower documentation or a custom line.
Bank of America
Lastly, Nanci Wright, SVP of client experience at Bank of America, nominated the bank for its customer financial health support solution. Bank of America partnered with J.D. Power to be certified in financial health support, and it would become the first financial institution to earn certification for outstanding client satisfaction in financial health support in both 2022 and 2023.
It earned this honor for its Financial Health Framework which aims to accomplish the following:
- Simplify finances through transparent products and services.
- Provide spending tracking, goal setting and financial security tools.
- Deliver expert advice.
- Make managing finances easy to learn.
- Provide help to clients during significant events.
For each of these aims, Bank of America delivered products such as Balance Assist, a short-term, low-cost loan for unexpected expenses along with Keep the Change for savings automation and Secured Card. Its virtual assistant Erica offers financial advice alongside its financial planning tool, Life Plan. The bank also provided Security Center to help customers set goals and manage spending.
Bank of America delivered Better Money Habits, a program that offers insights into homeownership, investing and protecting financial information. Customers visited the Better Money Habits website 7.4 million times in 2022.
Lastly, the bank dedicated itself to help during significant events such as natural disasters through its partnership with the Red Cross to offer supplies, counseling and other services.
“Creating our Financial Health Framework was only the beginning. We receive 1.1 million survey responses monthly through our industry-leading client feedback program, Voices,” Wright said in the nomination. “Along with data from our 44 million active digital users, we understand actions our clients take throughout their relationship with us. These insights are continuously evaluated to inform and enhance our ability to better support our clients along their financial health journey.”
For this solution, Bank of America received the top award: Innovator of the Year.
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