How Navigant scaled member growth with Digital Onboarding

The Problem with Using the Same Playbook

Why can’t credit unions compete? For starters, most of them follow the same playbook: They advertise a commitment to their communities and how their not-for-profit status enables them to offer attractive rates. Their marketing is homogeneous, and the products are standard.

Consumers Feel Trapped in Bad Financial “Marriages”

Rhode Island-based Navigant Credit Union recently completed a research study that explored how Rhode Island consumers view their relationships with their financial institutions. What the team learned surprised them: Many participants were unhappy, but they weren’t open to switching. People felt as though they were trapped in bad “marriages”.

Participants assumed moving to a new bank or credit union would be cumbersome, and in most cases, they‘d be right. While institutions have invested considerable resources in advertising and speedy account opening, they forgot to invest in simplicity. It doesn’t matter if someone can open an account in five minutes if they’re met with a pile of paper and an endless maze when they try to activate it. Friction kills relationships and reduces profits.

Outdated Onboarding Hurts Member Engagement

Many credit unions still employ the 2x2x2 onboarding strategy. It’s expensive, outdated, and ineffective. Account openers receive a paper welcome kit, emails, and phone calls. However, they don’t get the support they need in the early days, so they never adopt services and barely use the accounts they opened. 

‍Michael Mattone, Chief Retail Banking and Experience Officer for Navigant believes that most banks and credit unions are myopically focused on acquiring more customers or members, and they neglect to invest in delivering the kind of simple and engaging experiences that build loyalty, “One of the reasons financial institutions are so hard to do business with is because of how much they focus on getting new customers or new members through the door,” Mattone said. “They fail to invest the time, talent, and energy to make other processes easy or efficient for customers or members.”

Rethinking the Member Experience

While Navigant used to rely on paper welcome kits to onboard account openers, the marketing team realized it was wasting money and causing friction for members. Molly Pastore runs marketing at Navigant and helped the credit union overhaul how it engages its members. “We used to give account openers a folder with a lot of paper in it,” Pastore said. “Over time, we realized people were just tossing them in the garbage, and it became very costly for us.

Digital Tools That Deliver Results

Navigant recently implemented a paperless initiative to drive operational efficiencies and more delightful member interactions. In doing so, it stopped printing welcome kits and adopted the Digital Onboarding engagement platform. They’re saving money and improving members' satisfaction and service adoption.

• 50% of checking account openers enrolled in direct deposit
• 25% adopted eStatements
• 50% activated their debit cards

A Campaign That Builds Empathy and Trust

Navigant also wanted to create a campaign that helped the credit union stand out from competitors. It strived  to build empathy with consumers and eliminate the fear of high switching costs. 

The credit union leveraged its research findings and worked with Nail, a Rhode Island-based marketing agency, to launch a campaign called “You Deserve Better.” Using good-natured humor, the ads expose these unhealthy relationships, acknowledge the difficulty of change, and position Navigant as the smarter, healthier alternative.